August 2nd, 1995 Jaliek was born to a drug-addicted mother. Due to alcohol and drug exposure during gestation, he was removed from his biological mother’s care within days of his birth to keep him safe. Just days old, Jaliek entered the foster care system where he was shuttled through a series of seven foster and adoptive homes; only to disappear November 1, 2007 at the young age of twelve under mysterious circumstances.

In January 2008 police named Jaliek's adoptive father, Stephen Kerr, a person of interest in Jaliek’s disappearance based on several discrepancies in his story. Below is a glimpse as to what happened the six days leading up to his disappearance at age 12, and what the police know regarding his last foster care placement where he was later adopted and then disappeared.

Our Last Six Days With Jaliek

Over the past several weeks, my husband Tom and I have been asked many questions about our involvement as a respite family for Jaliek Rainwalker, the 12 year-old boy who disappeared from Greenwich on November 1st after staying at our home for six days. The TV stations show the public a snippet of an interview that often lasted over an hour. Below, I have compiled the questions and our responses that we feel are important so that you can come to know this beautiful child as we do.

Why did Jaliek come to stay with you in Altamont?

About five years ago, we had done respite for the family that had Jaliek for four years before their placement disrupted. We provided that service for them because they were going out of town on a business trip. On other occasions, he came to us to give his parents a break. We loved Jaliek and had hoped that placement would succeed. Unfortunately, Jaliek’s behaviors were more than they could handle. We tried to stay in touch with Jaliek when he was placed with Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald, but they didn’t want his former family or us to have a relationship with Jaliek.

On Friday, October 26th, I received a phone call from Stephen Kerr, who described himself as Jaliek’s adopted father. Stephen told me that Jaliek had been unmanageable for a long time, that he had threatened to harm a four year-old in his home-school group and that they were looking to un-do the adoption. We discussed several options that they did or could consider to get Jaliek and themselves the help they needed. Stephen had planned to go to Romania for two weeks and his wife refused to have Jaliek in their home because she was afraid of him. He needed a place for Jaliek to be while he was away and that’s why he called us.

My husband and I had planned a trip to New York City to watch our oldest daughter run in the New York Marathon and offered to watch Jaliek until Thursday night, November 1st. We would also be available the following Tuesday, November 6th, to have him here again. We were very excited to be able to see Jaliek again and anxious to see how he had turned out.

What was Jaliek like when he was with you? How did he spend his days?

Jaliek was so happy to be with us. As soon as he arrived, he started telling us every detail that he remembered about his visits with us five years before. He remembered the dogs, the cats, the rooms of the house, where we went and what we did. It didn’t take long before he discovered the bookshelf in my office. It had several children’s books on it. This began a six-day marathon of book reading for Jaliek. He would finish one and start another right away. One day he asked if he could read the one Harry Potter book I owned. He told me that he had read the first three, but his mom would not let him read the others because they were too scary. I offered him the books on tape to listen to, but he said he preferred to read the book even though he had already read this particular one. He read it in a day!

That Saturday afternoon, my husband and Jaliek went to a high school football game. Jaliek immediately made friends with some younger kids who were tossing around a football. One of them accidentally threw the ball over a tall fence. Jaliek said, “I’ll get it!” and without effort, scaled a 10 foot wooden fence to retrieve the ball for his new friends.

That first night, two of our kids were out with their girlfriends, two were watching TV, my husband was working and Jaliek read. Jaliek could have watched TV with the kids, but preferred to read.

The next day, Sunday the 28th was my husband’s birthday. The two boys that were rooming with Jaliek spent the day and evening with a minister and his family, going to church, a teen party and a haunted house.

That afternoon, my babysitter’s six year-old came over to the house. He was going with Jaliek and me to the three Ultimate Terror haunted houses at the Altamont Fair. The minute he arrived at our house, he and Jaliek played cards until it was time to eat and leave for the fairgrounds. Jaliek was very excited because he had never been to a haunted house before. His new friend had been to several, explained what it was like and offered to bravely go first. As we experienced the three different haunts, Jaliek went ahead of everyone through one, then in the middle of the group in the second and last through the third. He and his friend had a great time and talked about what parts they liked best all the way home. Jaliek’s favorite part was the 3D maze. My sister was General Manager of UT and was happy to see Jaliek again and how grown-up he had become. Jaliek told my sister the following Tuesday, when he accompanied my husband to help pack up the haunt, that he wanted to work for her next year. They hugged when he left.

The next four days were spent with Jaliek doing his homework, skate-boarding, walking our dog, traveling around with my husband as he did several errands, reading constantly and just hanging out talking with us. The only evening he spent with any of our kids was on Halloween when he spent a couple hours playing video games with our second-year college student son. We could not have asked for a better behaved, polite and grateful child.

What did Jaliek tell you about his home-life in Greenwich?

We talked a lot about his living conditions. He lived in a small, two-room house he described as being the size of our kitchen and dining room. There was no electricity or indoor plumbing. Every morning, the kids would have to go out to a well and bring in water for the day. Lately, the well wasn’t working and they had to get water from a neighbor. I asked him if he minded living like that. He told me the worst part was using the outhouse in the winter after his little brother peed on the seat. He said that all five kids and his parents slept in one room upstairs that was accessed by climbing a ladder. His sister had one corner that was curtained-off. They only ate meat once a week and bathed once every two weeks. Sometimes, at night, they would run a generator. He said the house was heated with a wood-burning stove and that it got really cold at night.

They didn’t move into the house until after Jaliek was adopted. Social Services would never place a child in foster care or for adoption with a family who lived in that kind of environment.

We talked about his behavior at home when he got angry. He would yell a lot and throw things. Jaliek said that, if any of the kids swore, as punishment, they would have to put soap in their mouths, ten seconds the first time; twenty seconds the second time, etc. He described how his little brother had a habit of “mooning” his mother. Jaliek said his mother gave his brother a choice between “the soap” or getting spanked with a spatula. His brother chose the spanking because “He wanted to see what it was like.”

Referring to his father he said, “He never knew what he was doing when he got angry.” I thought that was an interesting comment because that’s the way Jaliek was too.

I was very surprised that with all he had been through, Jaliek didn’t really complain about his home-life.

His adopted parents have said that he had violent outbursts. Do you believe that?

We raised an attachment disorder child and I can tell you that it’s not easy. For three years, we were in a support group with other parents of attachment disorder kids, just to be able to parent her. These children know what buttons to push to get you angry. That’s what they do to feel in control. The outbursts and episodes can last a long time if you don’t know how to bring them out of it. Our adopted daughter could sit on her bed and rock back and forth for two hours while shouting “I hate you!” or “I wanna leave!” over and over and over. The anger was unpredictable and often triggered by little things like having to do her homework or chores when she didn’t want to.

Do you think they took him in just for the money?

I don’t think they did in the beginning. Considering Stephen has a fairly menial job now, making plastic body parts, I think they really needed that money. Their oldest son attends a private school that costs $17,000 a year. One of the few complaints Jaliek had was that this brother was spoiled by his parents. They weren’t spending the money on Jaliek. He had to wear the few clothes he had for three days at a time. He arrived here with no jacket. He was not on any meds and had not had any therapy in over a year, despite being described as “mentally ill, homicidal and suicidal”. If Jaliek’s behavior was so bad, so dangerous and so uncontrollable, why did they keep him so long?

Did he befriend any gang members while he was with you for the six days?

My husband, our foster children and I were highly insulted and shocked when Channel 9 reported about Stephen Kerr, "He believes his son could be in the city with three teens he befriended after leaving a respite home the day he disappeared." Then Stephen Kerr stated, "I don't think it is a coincidence. I think these sixteen year-olds have some information about where he is."

The children he referred to are good kids, good students and only travel to Albany for family outings or to do community service for various charities. The only people Jaliek "befriended" during his six days with us was my husband, the six year-old son of my babysitter and me. The idea of Jaliek, a twelve year-old, 105 pound, meek and mild bookworm who has lived a secluded life for the past five years, joining a gang is truly ridiculous. Jaliek joining a gang in Albany would be like Snow White joining Al-Qaeda. We feel these were the desperate rantings of a diabolical, arrogant and egotistical man who has something to hide.

What can you tell us about the good-bye note Jaliek left?

When they arrived Saturday morning, October 27th, Stephen showed us Jaliek’s clipboard which had his homework and schoolwork on it. Stephen stated that, in addition to the printed worksheets on the clipboard, Jaliek had a writing assignment to “write letters of apology to the people he had hurt”. My husband helped him with his homework, saw the lengthy book reports he wrote and confirmed that the apology notes were written. He didn’t ask to see them because we felt they were private. The note, given to police as a “good-bye” note read: “Everybody, I’m sorry for everything. I won’t be a bother to you anymore. Goodbye, Jaliek”. It was in his best handwriting. We believe this was the letter of apology written to his home school group that he was no longer part of because of an inappropriate comment to a young child.

What do you think about the $25,000 reward offered by his parents?

We believe that the reward is nothing more than a media stunt designed to draw attention away from the fact that Stephen and Jocelyn have not cooperated as much as they could with the authorities. I believe that the reward is only for Jaliek’s “return” and not for the truth or if Jaliek is not found alive. No self-respecting gang member would harbor a twelve year-old bookworm when they could have $25,000. This reward reduces by $5000 each month, starting January 1st, until it disappears completely. Their reward offer has not generated ANY leads.

What do you think really happened to Jaliek?

I believe that Stephen was angry about Jaliek having a good time while he was with us. I believe he was angry about the “gifts” we gave Jaliek. We had given him a beat-up skateboard that was older than Jaliek. It had been in our garage forever. We also gave him an inexpensive book bag that my college son had gotten for free and some rattlesnake eggs, which is a joke we use when we’re clowning. Stephen felt that he sent Jaliek to us for punishment and instead, Jaliek had a wonderful time. Jaliek was looking forward to coming back the following week. Stephen probably wasn’t too happy about having to cancel his planned two-week trip to Romania.

I know from my conversation with Stephen the day after Jaliek disappeared that Jaliek was very excited when he told his father about the great time he had here; about going to a haunted house for the first time, about learning to blow a bubble with gum, about learning to make an omelet, about making instant pudding, stirred forever with a meat fork, about going all over, day after day with my husband, just running errands. He would not have committed suicide or run away. He was looking forward to coming back here.

After Jaliek’s inappropriate comment to the child in his home-school group, Jocelyn was so angry that she would not speak or look at Jaliek. Stephen had been told by his wife that he could not bring Jaliek home to their house. I don’t think he meant to, but I believe that Stephen Kerr could have become enraged, lost control and harmed his son on that ride home.

Is there anything else you want to say?

On the morning of December 7th, I received two calls from Jocelyn, Jaliek’s adopted mother. The first came into my home phone on call waiting and it was gone before I could answer it. Within five minutes, another call from Jocelyn’s cell phone came into my cell phone. I answered with, “Hello”. The caller said, “May I ask who this is?” I replied, “May I ask who THIS is?” She said, “This is Jocelyn. I’m just trying to figure out who these calls are on my bill.” Then she hung up. The calls she was checking were from Stephen’s cell phone. It would appear that even she has some doubts.

It’s been over two months since the night I returned Jaliek to his adopted father. My husband and I have to live with all the “if only’s” that haunt us. Jaliek was a beautiful, sweet, intelligent, generous and loving child with some behavior problems. His adopted parents were just unable to parent him. We would have preferred to remain the anonymous “respite family from Altamont”, but feel compelled to be there for Jaliek, to speak for him whenever possible. He didn’t deserve whatever happened to him. He deserves the truth and to rest in peace.

We’ve spoken to a lot of people in the past few weeks about Jaliek’s disappearance. We do know that thousands of people out there are praying for this child and for the truth. I want them to know that those prayers are appreciated and with God’s help will bring justice for Jaliek.

Elaine & Tom Person

Altamont, NY

All of the topics listed below are from the press, neighbors, friends of Kerr, relatives, community members and concerned citizens who had direct knowledge of Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald’s behavior over the past five years, going back to before Jaliek was placed with them to as recently as last week.

There is nothing here that has not been reported to the police.

Family Naked Time

About five years ago, before Kerr and McDonald were foster parents to Jaliek, three experienced foster parents heard Stephen Kerr state (and Jocelyn’s mother confirmed) that in their home, the family practiced “running around naked time” also known as “Nakey-time”.

Unusual Consequences

In their outhouses at the home where Jaliek lived, the toilet paper was kept in a container with a lid.  Jaliek was repeatedly reminded by his adopted mother, Jocelyn McDonald that he had to put the top back on the container.  One time after a series of ignored reminders, Jaliek’s mother banned him from using the outhouses for several days.  Jaliek's only option for the period of time he couldn't use the outhouse was to either use the woods & brush around the house or try and wait until they went on errands so he could use commercial restrooms.

Stephen Kerr learns his son is missing, but returns movies first

On the morning of November 2nd, after supposedly discovering pillows under his son's bedcovers, and finding a runaway note he claims was written by his son, Stephen Kerr took a shower and returned rented movies to the video store before contacting police about his missing son. 

The Bedroom

In their two-room house, the one bedroom was accessed by climbing a ladder. Stephen Kerr, Jocelyn McDonald, their 4 sons (one adopted) ranging in age from 8 to 14 years-old and their 12 year-old adopted daughter all slept in that one bedroom.

The Child Abuse Hotline

In a TV interview, Jocelyn was responding to a question about their being “Hot-lined” several years ago when they lived in another residence.  This means that a report was made to the NYS Child Abuse Hotline.  According to Stephen, the report was made by the social worker supervising their adoptive placement.  Jocelyn stated that Child Protective Services came to their home and found no locks on any of the bedroom doors.  Both Jaliek and Jocelyn told the Schoens (Jaliek’s former foster parents) that Jaliek was locked in his room at night.  They saw the locks on the doors when they visited Jaliek.  Jaliek’s grandmother also confirmed that the locks were there and used.

Jaliek’s lockable room also had no heat, so the small, portable heater was removed from the room if Jaliek was angry at the time he was locked in.

The Dunking

Three and a half years ago, Jaliek was doing an annoying behavior, tapping his fingers incessantly on a table without stopping.  Stephen asked Jaliek to stop and when he continued, Stephen dragged Jaliek by the scruff of his neck out of the house and dunked him underwater in the stream behind their house.  Jocelyn and the children screamed for him to stop.  When Jaliek came up out of the water, gasping for breath, he shouted, "I'm going to tell my therapist about this."  Jocelyn made Stephen write a letter of apology to Jaliek and do Jaliek's chores for a month.  Jaliek never told his therapist.

Jocelyn removes Stephen from their home in May 2007

In May 2007 Jocelyn had Stephen leave their home for over a month because he had become increasingly violent with the children, especially Jaliek.  On TV, she was asked if it was true that Stephen had left their home three months ago because he had become increasingly violent with the children.  She answered, “No”.  She didn’t lie…because it was SEVEN months ago.

Stephen goes to a birthday party hours after his son disappears

On November 2, 2007, 4 ½ hours after reporting to the police that his 12 year-old son had run away, Stephen Kerr went to his boss’s 50^th birthday party and never mentioned to anyone that his son was missing.  His boss is one of Stephen’s friends and had known Jaliek for years.  Stephen frequently took Jaliek to work with him.

Jaliek’s “Rape” Threat

Stephen and Jocelyn have both stated that Jaliek threatened to “rape” a four year-old at his home school. 

Here’s what happened, according to what was reported to the police:

Jaliek was lying on a couch during a break at his home school.  A four year-old brother of a student was playing with Jaliek’s shoelaces.  Jaliek calmly said, “Cut it out.” The child continued and once again, Jaliek calmly said, “Cut it out.”  The child continued.  Jaliek then said, in a non-threatening way, “Cut it out or I’ll put my dick up your butt.”  The comment went over the four year-old’s head, but was heard by the older kids.  There was no adult supervision in the room at the time. 

On the way home, one of Jaliek’s younger brothers told his mother what Jaliek said.  As soon as she got home, Jocelyn called Stephen at work and told him to come home and take care of Jaliek.  When Jaliek’s maternal grandmother offered to take Jaliek, she was told “No” because he would have too much fun there. This was very problematic for Stephen because Jaliek was home-schooled, but couldn’t go back to that home school during the day and Stephen had a two-week trip to Romania and his boss’s birthday party coming up.

The Runaway/Suicide Note

When they arrived at the Person home in Altamont on Saturday morning, October 27th, Stephen Kerr showed the Persons Jaliek’s clipboard which had his home school homework and schoolwork on it.  Stephen stated that, in addition to the printed worksheets on the clipboard, Jaliek had a writing assignment to “write letters of apology to the people he had hurt”.  Tom Person helped him with his homework, saw the lengthy book reports he wrote and confirmed that the apology notes were written. He didn’t ask to see them because he felt they were private. 

The note, given to police by Stephen Kerr as a “good-bye” note from Jaliek read: “Everybody, I’m sorry for everything.  I won’t be a bother to you anymore.  Goodbye, Jaliek”.  It was in his best handwriting. The Persons believe this was the letter of apology written at their home in Altamont to the home school group that he was no longer part of because of an inappropriate comment to a young child.

The Money

Stephen and Jocelyn were receiving monthly adoption subsidy checks of over $3,000.00, tax-free for Jaliek and their adopted daughter.  The money was provided to them for the care and medical and psychological care of the children.

Despite the fact that his adoptive parents described Jaliek as mentally ill, homicidal and suicidal, neither he, nor his adopted sister were on meds or had received any counseling in approximately a year.  If Jaliek’s behavior was so bad, so dangerous and so uncontrollable, why did they keep him so long?  However, both Stephen and Jocelyn are on medications and in therapy.

Gang Theory Logic

Stephen Kerr’s only knowledge of any children living in the Person home in Altamont was based on the fact that he saw ONE 14 year-old African American child walk through their living room during the ten minutes he was there to drop Jaliek off.  From that very brief encounter, Stephen Kerr derived that the Persons had “three highly dysfunctional 16 year-old African American teens that Jaliek ran off with to join a gang in Albany”.

Searching the Hill Street House 30 times

Jocelyn stated in her interview with Channel 10 that she searched the Hill Street House 30 times.  However, neither she nor Stephen EVER asked any of the Hill Street or Raven’s Way neighbors if they had seen Jaliek the day he disappeared.

Jaliek – a waste of resources?

On Saturday, November 10^th, Stephen’s family ordered Chinese for dinner.  Before eating, Stephen read the story on the Post-Star newspaper’s front page covering the vigil from the night before and search efforts.  He put the paper down, slapped his hand on it and said, “Look at this.  All these resources for one child.  There are hundreds of children in Egypt, Afghanistan and other parts of the world and all these resources are for just one child.”  The one child he was referring to was his son, Jaliek.

Selling eggs at Jaliek’s vigil

On Friday, November 16^th, after the vigil in Greenwich for Jaliek, John Allen from Channel 13 asked Stephen for a statement about his missing son.  Stephen replied, “I don’t have time to make a comment.  My children have an egg selling business and I have to go back in there (the church) and sell eggs.”

Too busy to look for a missing child

After notifying the media that Stephen and Jocelyn would be putting up reward posters in Albany, the media went to film Stephen that day in Albany.  Stephen is quoted as saying, “We have other things to do rather than look for our missing child.”

Tearing Down Vigil Posters

In the days before a planned “Light the Night” vigil for Jaliek, the police received and the media confirmed, that Stephen Kerr was going around Greenwich tearing down posters for the vigil because “There is a group of people going around putting up posters that say I killed my son.”  The posters never mentioned Stephen or anything he may or may not have done.  They only said,” Searching for Jaliek; Searching for Truth; Searching for Justice” and offered free cookies, coffee and hot chocolate.

Where was Stephen?

On the Sunday night after he reported Jaliek missing (until about 2:00am) and then again on the following Monday night (until around 5:00am), Stephen’s whereabouts was unknown.  He claimed to be passing out flyers in Albany and Troy.  He told his father-in-law that it was snowing where he was on Monday.  It was not snowing in Albany that night, but it was snowing in Greenwich and Vermont.

The Raven Way House

Stephen Kerr got a building permit to build a garage on his property. He built the two-room house that the family lived in without a Certificate of Occupancy until Child Protective Services forbade them from staying there.  The house has no electricity or indoor plumbing, a non-working well with undrinkable water and two dilapidated outhouses with no doors.  They did not move into this house until after the two children were adopted.  Social Services is not required to provide any oversight, once an adoption is finalized.

Front Seat Privilege

On the night Jaliek was returned to his father, Jaliek put his belongings in the back seat of the van and started to get into the back seat.  His father told him he could get into the front seat.  Jaliek’s parents had NEVER allowed Jaliek to sit in the front seat of any vehicle.  In their family, it was considered a place of honor and privilege and his parents felt that, because of Jaliek’s behaviors, that he did not deserve that privilege.

Jocelyn McDonald criticizes the Persons’ parenting style

In her Altamont Enterprise interview, it says, “Of the time Rainwalker spent at he Persons’ house, McDonald said that, while she tries to be tolerant of other parenting styles, she was troubled by their treatment of Rainwalker. ‘It is very hard for me…when a child is in crisis and they’ve done something terrible and dreadful, they’re treated as if it’s their birthday and taken out to their favorite dinners,’ she said.  The next paragraph in the article says, “On the way back to Greenwich from Guilderland on Nov. 1, Kerr stopped at a restaurant, the Red Robin, he said,  ‘He had already eaten, so I just got him a set of wings, which are his favorite food,’ Kerr said of his son.” 

During his time at the Persons, Jaliek did go to McDonald’s once and did get a couple “gifts”. The Persons gave Jaliek a beat-up skateboard that was older than Jaliek. It had been in their garage for years. They also gave him an inexpensive book bag that their college-aged son had gotten for free and some rattlesnake eggs, which is a joke they use when they’re clowning.

Drug Dealing and Stealing?

In the December 20 article in the Altamont Enterprise it says, “Confident that Rainwalker will be home again, McDonald is preparing for her son’s return, though she doesn’t think he will come back on his own. ‘I think that the way that Jaliek is going to come home is the police are going to pick him up – probably for shoplifting or selling crack, or something like that – and he’s going to be dragged home, kicking and screaming,’ she said.”

Jocelyn calls the Persons

On the morning of December 7th, Elaine Person received two calls from Jocelyn, Jaliek’s adopted mother. The first came to their home phone on call waiting and it was gone before she could answer it. Within five minutes, another call from Jocelyn’s cell phone came into Elaine’s cell phone. She answered with, “Hello”. The caller said, “May I ask who this is?” Elaine replied, “May I ask who THIS is?” She said, “This is Jocelyn. I’m just trying to figure out who these calls are on my bill.” Then she hung up. The calls she was checking were from Stephen’s cell phone. Why didn’t she just ask Stephen? 

The House

The Kerr-McDonald residence where Jaliek lived with his adoptive family.
Click on the image to enlarge.