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Missing Roseland Man Found Dead In Avalon Park

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 23-year-old Roseland man who has been missing for two months was found dead Tuesday near an area police searched weeks earlier.

Bonnette Jernigan said she believed police had done the best they could to find her son, Iaron Brooks, after a tip came in that his body was in Avalon Park.

"They said they did a thorough search," she said.

Then Monday evening, Jernigan got another tip, and she and Brooks' uncle went back to the park on their own on Tuesday.

"My brother and the guys kind of walked ahead, but I was coming behind them. So before I could get up to the gate of the tennis court, my brother told me, 'Don't come back there,' because he found something," Jernigan said. "He was covered, but we saw his gym shoes. We saw his belt."

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Jernigan said she believes her son was murdered.

Police were conducting a death investigation.

Jernigan said she's now planning her son's funeral.

"When they smash their fingers in the door, you kiss their fingers, tell them it's going to be okay, but I was at a loss because I couldn't help my son. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what to do to make it better for him," she said. "But I realized today what I did as a parent, as a mother. I didn't give up the search for my son. I went by every clue. I went by every conversation. I was looking for my son."

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