Rainwalker: The Lost Boy

On Nov. 1, 2007, Jaliek Rainwalker went missing in upstate New York. The case was ruled a probable homicide. Times Union journalists reopen the cold case to search for answers.

True Crime
Society & Culture
Documentary
1
Bonus episode 3: Bones
49 min
2
Bonus Episode 2: Stranger Danger
44 min
3
Bonus Episode 1: No Body
34 min
4
7. Colfax Mountain
The search continues for Jaliek Rainwalker 15 years after he disappeared. Students from the College of Saint Rose Cold Case Analysis Center recently explored a property in Washington County they believe could provide clues about what happened to...
28 min
5
6. Marker 30
Four months after his disappearance, a bizarre note sent to local media says Jaliek is alive. But there’s no proof to accompany it. The investigation takes several twists and turns, stretching out over 15 years. The case is classified as a probable...
35 min
6
5. Black and Missing
About 38 percent of missing children in America are Black, yet their cases receive disproportionately less media coverage and law enforcement attention than missing white children, according to the Black and Missing Foundation. The initial days of the...
33 min
7
4. The Yellow Fleece
It was winter in upstate New York, and the child on the school playground wasn’t wearing a coat. A concerned teacher sent him to the nurse’s office, where they found him a yellow fleece jacket to wear. That piece of outerwear would play a crucial...
31 min
8
3. A Boy's Life
Jaliek Rainwalker’s life was not an easy one. Born to a drug- and alcohol-addicted mother, he was placed in foster care immediately. He would live with 5 foster families before he landed with Jocelyn McDonald and Stephen Kerr, the Washington County...
31 min
9
2. It's Green-WITCH, not Gren-ITCH
The upstate New York village of Greenwich is tight-knit and proud. But it’s also haunted. People on the streets of the sleepy town on the Battenkill River remember the disappearance of Jaliek Rainwalker in 2007, and the story doesn’t sit well with...
28 min
10
1. Red Robin
More than 15 years ago, Katie Bonesteel was a waitress at a Red Robin Restaurant in upstate New York. She was in her first weeks on the job, and she wasn’t yet sure of herself. On the evening of Nov. 1, 2007, she messed up an order. It was the order...
34 min
11
Trailer: What happened to Jaliek?
On the night of Nov. 1, 2007, Jaliek Rainwalker and his adoptive father ate dinner at a Red Robin in upstate New York. The next day, the 12-year-old boy was reported missing. 15 years later, no trace of Jaliek has been discovered, and no one has faced...
1 min