CATONSVILLE, Md. — Two bicyclists discovered the body of Janell Clayborne on the morning of June 10, 2012, in a wooded area near River Road and Frederick Road in Catonsville, not far from the Howard County line. Fourteen years later, her sons are still waiting for answers.
Baltimore County Police say Clayborne was found nude from the waist down and had been choked to death. Investigators believe the wooded area near the Patapsco River may be where her body was left, not necessarily where she was killed.
Sons seek justice 14 years after mother found dead near Patapsco River
Clayborne's sons, Jaleal Clayborne and Tyreese Wilson, were 16 and 12 years old, respectively, when their mother was killed. They lived with their grandfather in South Baltimore. Both say the loss has been difficult to make sense of.
"For a good amount of time, I actually couldn't even process the fact. I still couldn't believe it. Like it didn't seem real," Wilson told WMAR-2 News.
Jaleal said his mother's absence has been felt at some of life's most important moments.
"I had achieved some things. I went to college, graduated high school, and she wasn't there to see those memories," Jaleal said.
Two bicyclists parked and walked into the woods before making the discovery, explained Cpl. Dona Carter of the Baltimore County Police cold case unit.
"They were walking into the woods. They parked their bicycles and walked a little ways into the woods, and at that time they discovered the body of a female there," Carter said.
Investigators say Clayborne had gone out late the night before her body was found. Multiple witnesses reported seeing her walking in the area of Hollins Ferry Road, near the Baltimore County line. The timeline becomes unclear after that.
"We can trace her movements up to a point. And then she just kind of disappears. People see her on foot. They see her walking, and then we don't know where she went from there," Carter said.
Police are currently awaiting DNA results from testing an item found on her body.
"If anybody saw anything suspicious along Frederick Road, especially since we do not believe that she was necessarily killed there - although it's possible - any sort of suspicious vehicles or suspicious movements that people may have seen kind of in that Frederick Road corridor, we just ask that anybody give us a call," Carter said.
Jaleal described his mother as someone whose warmth was hard to forget.
"My mother, she was a very caring and outgoing person," Clayborne said.
Now, he is calling on anyone with information to come forward.
"Something needs to be done about this. There has to be justice. Someone knows something," he added.
Anyone with information is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-887-3943.
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