College Student Abducted After Leaving Work… The Murder Of Reagan Tokes

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much for joining me today. And if you're new to the show, then welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. So, you guys, what if I told you that not every violent criminal who is wearing a GPS ankle monitoring device was actually being monitored? That they could just go out and commit several crimes and no alarm bells would be raised in the moment at all? You'd be angry, right? Because that's not what we would expect. Well, that's exactly what happened in this case, and that's why it's so important to talk about. I'm going to be telling you about the infuriating, very, very preventable, senseless murder of Rae. And when I say that the crimes committed against her should have never happened, I mean that literally. Her killer should have never, ever had access to her to begin with. What happened to Raegan absolutely outraged me when I first heard about her case, but what her family has since done in her honor is what really has inspired me to talk about her story and to bring awareness to the failures of our system. And now let's go ahead and get into this case, okay? So Raegan Delaney Tokes was born on March 13th, 1995 to her parents, Lisa and Toby in Lucas County, Ohio. And from the moment she entered the world, in Lisa's words, she was ready to go. And Lisa said that Raegan was born with her eyes wide open. And from that moment forward, she just radiated life. Her parents said that she was a ball of energy and throughout life, she was the type of person that people just genuinely enjoyed being around. Raegan loved to make people laugh and she cared deeply about her family. And she was the kind of person that really cared deeply about her friends and her family. And she really worked hard at anything and everything that she set her mind to. In fact, when she was super young, her dad took her to an Ohio State University football game and she decided right then and there that that was where she was going to go to college. And spoiler alert, she sure did. Now, Raegan had one younger sister, Mackenzie, who she was always very loving to and also protective of, just a great big sister. And their whole family unit was very strong. They had each other's backs through the ups and the downs. They had each other's backs through the ups and the downs and always showed each other support no matter what it looked like. Lisa said that their family had an unwritten rule that if you had the power to make someone's life better, then it was your responsibility to do so. And I just loved that. And not only is it a beautiful sentiment, but it is also something that Raegan genuinely lived by. No matter her age, Raegan was someone who always just wanted to help others. And that really translated into several different areas of her life. For example, she was involved in mission trips through her church, and she would often go and serve meals to people who were less fortunate. And as high school ended and college approached, Raegan knew that she wanted to study something that would allow her to help people in her career. So after graduating high school with a 4.5 GPA, which mind you, she was also a two-sport varsity athlete, she decided to enter OSU as a pre-med student. Although according to Raegan, her organic chemistry class, quote, kicked her butt. So she switched, her major to psychology. And with that, she was hoping to one day open her own practice and help people struggling with their mental health. And man, do we need more dedicated people in that field more than ever. And I have no doubt that if given a chance, she would have gotten to accomplish all of her dreams and really have made a wonderful impact on the world. However, those opportunities were stolen from her during her senior year. It was February of 2017, and Raegan was just weeks away from getting her degree. But after what happened on February 8th, Raegan never got to reach that milestone or any other milestone that she dreamed of. And that day was truly ordinary. It was like any other day in her life. About six months earlier, she had gotten a job to make some extra cash at a restaurant and bar called Bodega. And on Wednesday, February 8th, 2017, she just worked her shift as usual. And then after her shift, her and a co-worker were debating going to Bodega's sister restaurant. But Raegan decided that she was just going to go home instead. So at 9.45 p.m., she left work and presumably went home. But Raegan never made it. And I think this really speaks to the quality of parents that they are. But Lisa and Toby knew that something was wrong right away. Because for some context, Raegan was the kind of daughter who spoke to her parents every single day. And she was especially good at letting them know when she made it home from work. Raegan was the kind of daughter who spoke to her parents every single day. And when she first got this job, they were not wild about it. They were anxious because it was in an area of the city that they didn't particularly love, that they were worried about her being in at night. And so keeping them posted on when she made it home was just her way of easing their concerns, which also shows what a caring daughter she was. But they never got a hold of her. And eventually, her phone even started going straight to voicemail, which of course didn't make them feel any less nervous. Lisa had spoken to her earlier that day while she was at Walmart. And she remembers that vividly because she had accidentally crashed into a stand of bananas while they were on the phone, which I thought was kind of a funny story. But somehow between that conversation and now, Raegan had gone silent. Then that next morning, her roommates started to get worried as well, because not only was Raegan not home, but it didn't look like she had slept in her room. But at first, they, of course, tried not to jump to the worst case scenario right away. She and one of her roommates did have plans that morning to walk to class together. But because it was midterms, she thought it was possible that Raegan woke up early to go to the library. By early afternoon, though, everyone was in agreement that something horrible had to have happened, that this was just not in her character to be ghosting everyone. Her roommates ended up deciding to just go to Bodega themselves and ask some questions. And when they were there, an employee ended up calling 911 to report her missing. And not because her family didn't want to do it. And this is confusing to me. But Lisa said that Raegan's job had to be the one to call and report her missing because they were the last ones to see her, which is shocking to hear. It makes no sense. And I feel like, I mean, I know anyone should be able to file a report. But let's be honest. There's so much bullshit when it comes to filing a missing persons report. People are constantly told incorrect information. It wouldn't surprise me if that's what happened here. Hi. So we had an employee leave work last night and she has not been home. Her phone is off. Nobody can find her. So I wanted to see what I could do about filing a report or giving any kind of documentation. So she left work and you haven't heard from her? Like she didn't report today? Oh, correct. Her mom's been calling looking for -- we can't find her car around work. I called the jail and they said she wasn't in the Franklin County Jail. So just trying to see what my next step is here. If you have her address, we can send the police to her house and do a well check on her. Well, actually, her roommates are here. She hasn't been home at all either. I mean, that would be the next step is a well check. I mean, do you want to make a missing persons report? Uh, yes. Okay. How old is she? Um, hey, Kristen, how old is Regan? She's 21. 21. And how do you spell her name? Uh, it's Regan, R-E-A-G-A-N. What's her last name? And, uh, folks. But anyway, an employee reports her missing. That's all that really matters. So she is reported officially missing at this point. As you can imagine, the early morning and early afternoon were just filled with panic for everyone, especially her family. Regan's sister, Mackenzie, posted on Twitter about her disappearance, which she actually said she debated whether or not she should share it. She was worried that if Regan was found that she couldn't take back the post. But she did end up deciding to just go ahead and tweet about it, and it gained traction super quickly. But what nobody knew at the time, though, was that Regan had already been found. Hours earlier that day, someone driving into the Scioto Grove Metro Park spotted a body that, at first glance, he couldn't tell if it was real. He sounded pretty freaked out in the call, and he wasn't sure if it was a mannequin or something. But it was real. And it was Regan. She was naked, and she had suffered two gunshot wounds to her head. At the time, though, nobody knew it was her because investigators didn't find a phone or a wallet or anything that would identify who she was. The only identifying features she really had was her necklace and then this small tattoo of a circle that she had on her side. And so for several hours, she was just considered a Jane Doe. There was a girl who had run away just one town over, so they were thinking maybe it could be her. But within an hour, they were pretty confident that it wasn't, because around that time is when they got word that a senior at Ohio State had been reported missing, and her description matched that of the remains they had found. To be sure, though, detectives ended up going to Bodega to speak with Regan's friends directly. And that's ultimately where they learned that she had the same tattoo as their one that Regan wore. And pretty soon after that, Lisa and Toby got the call that no parent should ever have to receive that this body they found was their daughter's. In an interview, she gave, Lisa described feeling like there had to be some kind of mistake. I mean, this was her child who she had just spoken to the day earlier. There was just no way that she could be gone. She could not wrap her mind around it. But this body was Reagan's and their worst nightmare was literally unfolding in front of them. And on top of it all, they weren't there. They no longer lived in Ohio because they had moved to Florida just a few years prior for Toby's job. And so Reagan's uncle, who lived only a few hours away, ended up having to be the one to make that incredibly difficult identification of Reagan's body. And this was every bit as painful and beyond devastating as you can imagine for everyone. Reagan's murder was just so heart-wrenching and it left a lot of people in the community feeling terrified. Nobody knew if there was some, you know, crazy violent person on the streets. And quite frankly, there was. None of her roommates were even able to go home that night because they knew that her killer likely had her wallet, which meant that he had access to her ID with her address on it. And one of the first people that investigators turned to right off the bat was Reagan's very recently ex-boyfriend, Jake, which, you know, makes sense for them to look at an ex-boyfriend, of course. But that being said, they cleared him very quickly. Not only did they have a very amicable mutual breakup, but he also had an alibi for that entire night. So it was easy to rule him out. So, of course, there's a lot of people in the community who are going to be upset about that. And I think the next step was to retrace Reagan's movements from the day. And that included leaving her house to go to work and leaving work to go back home. And they did find surveillance footage from both of these times. However, in both instances, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. And understandably, the footage of her leaving work was the most critical because that was the last time that she was seen alive. But genuinely, nothing about it really stood out. Nobody got up and left behind her and nobody could be seen out of the window following her into the street. One thing investigators did consider was that her murder could be related to a string of attacks happening to young women in that area. Apparently, there was some sicko pretending to be an Uber driver and they were picking up drunk women and assaulting them. But that possibility was dismissed, too, because Reagan wasn't drunk and she had her car, so she wouldn't have called an Uber. And speaking of cars, that ended up being a very critical component of this investigation. Reagan's body was found. Her car was not. And investigators knew that finding it might lead them to her killer. And I thought this was just fascinating. But a garbage truck is actually what found it. This was new to me, but I learned that some garbage trucks have license plate readers on them to help law enforcement identify missing or stolen cars. And it's pretty simple and pretty smart. I'm surprised I never heard of this, but they basically track plates and then those plates can be cross-referenced. And I think that's really cool. And I think into police databases and they'll see if there's a match. So that's what they did here. And it brought them to Reagan Silver Acura, which was located near a children's hospital. And right away, there were several clues. For starters, the car absolutely reeked of gasoline and had some burn marks on the passenger seat, suggesting that someone tried to light it on fire to hide evidence. And there was also a gas can in the trunk to support that theory. And then after that, they noticed some cigarettes and cigarette butts, both inside and outside of the car. And of course, investigators didn't know if maybe Reagan smoked. So they asked her loved ones if she did. And everyone agreed that not only did she not smoke ever, but she never would have willingly allowed anyone to smoke in her car. And then they also found ATM receipts from more than one bank with the total withdrawal amount equaling just $60. And specifically, the receipts also showed that no money was withdrawn from the other two transactions, but one $60 withdrawal was made on one transaction, which left her balance at $17.89. And surveillance footage from these banks helped paint a very scary picture of what likely happened. Cameras outside of a Chase bank showed Reagan attempting to pull money out of her account. But like the receipt showed, the first transaction didn't go through. Then a second camera at Huntington Bank showed the same thing. She tried to pull out money, but couldn't. So finally, she returned to the original Chase bank where she managed to get $60. And in that footage, investigators realized that there was a shadowy figure in the passenger seat. A figure that they believed was Reagan's abductor and killer. And I hate even having to say this, but they were also able to determine that between the second and third ATM transaction, her car pulled into an alley for 12 minutes. And during those 12 minutes, investigators say that she was sexually assaulted, which is a was confirmed by her autopsy results. So then, after hitting that last ATM, additional surveillance footage placed them at a gas station. However, the footage was too grainy to see much of anything. But based on all those findings, obviously, a pretty clear picture was painted about what exactly happened here. They now believed that Reagan was abducted just after she left work. And while she was held at gunpoint, her killer forced her to take out money before eventually assaulting her and then driving her to the park where he forced her to undress and where he ultimately killed her. And the autopsy revealed that this monster shot her at close range, execution style, and showed her no mercy. I am grateful to say, though, that they at least were quick with their arrest, thanks to DNA evidence. So as soon as those cigarettes were found, they were immediately sent off for testing. And the lab that processed them actually shut down everything else to prioritize them and get it done right away, which I thought was really cool. And it was going to take a couple of weeks of hours. So in the meantime, investigators worked to figure out where that gas can they found in her car was purchased, which actually didn't take long. Turns out it was purchased at a Speedway gas station in Columbus, which just noting was a different gas station than the one that they were seen at. And to investigators luck, the man who bought it was captured on camera at the register. So now they had a face to the person responsible. And by that point, they also had a name. Within just hours of finding that footage, the crime lab actually finished processing the cigarette butts. And it was determined that Brian Lee Goolsby was a match. And you guys, it turns out that investigators knew exactly who this was because six years and three months earlier, Brian was convicted of aggravated robbery and attempted rape after he held a woman at knife point in front of her child. And it was also similar to Reagan's attack because he had also forced that woman to take money out of an ATM. And I guess she didn't want to, or maybe was just too afraid to testify against him, which is so understandable. And so because of that, he ended up taking a plea deal and only had to serve six years. And it turns out that that sentence ended three months before he murdered Reagan. And that was a shock to investigators because I guess they didn't realize that he had been given a plea. So when Brian's name came up as a match on those cigarettes, they were surprised to see that he was no longer in prison. And as of 4 a.m. on Saturday, February 11th, he was arrested and back behind bars for the crimes that he committed against Reagan. But getting him to admit what he had done was not as easy as bringing his ass in. In fact, he essentially refused to give them any information until they let him smoke a cigarette. You're here because we have a pretty good amount of evidence on what happened. And we want to know the truth. Okay? That's all we're after. We know what's going on. We just want to know the why. Okay? So where were you Wednesday? We're going to want to know. We have to get all kinds of permissions before we do this. Right. To smoke a cigarette? Yes. Because I've got to take you out of here to do that. I can't let you smoke in here. And they're going to ask, is he being cooperative? Is he telling you what you want to know? So the way that that works, you give me a little bit, we'll verify that you're telling the truth, we'll give you a little bit. Give and take relationship. We know what happened. We want to know why it happened. Tell me what happened. Well, I want you to tell me what happened. Do you have a cigarette or a lipstick? I don't know what the cooperation is yet, man. I don't know what he said. He said, I'll give him some. If you give me some, I haven't got nothing. He didn't elaborate on the evidence that they had found so far. And you'll hear this in the next clip, but he mumbles a few things, but it's really not much. He is, however, admitting to being the person with Reagan that night, which of course was a valuable admission. Tell me about the girl. Tell me about why you got in the car with her. Did she invite you in the car? No. No? Okay. See, that's what we're talking about. Cooperation is the way to go. Did you drive or she drive? No. Thank you. - What was her reaction when you got in the car with her? Was she scared, nervous, upset? Did she like you? She think you were nice? Did you treat her right? And you told her you wanted what? - Money. - Right. - So how much money did you get officially? - 50 bucks. - 50 bucks. - That's it. - So after Chase, after you leave Chase, where do you go next? And be true, I'm gonna let you know. - I went to Honeymoon. - Okay. Did you get any money there? - What was wrong? The car wasn't working? Or she-- - I don't know. - She went to Chase. Didn't work, went to Huntington. Didn't work, went back to Chase. Tried a different car, right? $50 out. Then you decided to try the other car again, right? And it didn't work. From there, we leave Chase. You know what, I'll throw a time reference out 'cause we know what time, it was 10:33. - Sure. - Yeah, the second time. In yellow left, up to 11:40 when I got you at Turkey Hill. Getting gas in Grove City. Is that right? - Mm-hmm. - Did you use a card? - I didn't. - She did? - Mm-hmm. - Did you fill it up? Okay. - Brian would not just admit to killing her though. Instead, he said that he dropped her off at the park and left. - I need to know about when you went to the park. - I took the car. - Yeah. - No, you didn't. - No, I didn't. - You went to the side of the park. - I took her car and left. - Did you drop her off there? - Yeah, I dropped her off there and left. When you left there, you got her out of the car. You get in the driver's seat from there. - Yes. - You ever take her clothes off? - No. - All right. - No. - She takes them off then, herself? - I didn't have her take her clothes off. - Yeah, you didn't. - I did not have her take her clothes off. Was somebody with you? - No. - What happened at the park? - I didn't. - There you go. - And they even tried the classic tactic of saying like, "Hey man, you know, "we know this was an accident. "It's not a big deal. "You just gotta tell us what went down. "We can help you," kind of thing. But Brian ended up getting even more defensive. I mean, he has been through this once already. - You didn't mean to do this. Things got out of control. You panicked. I get it. I understand. You spiral and get out of control quickly. We've been doing this job for many years. It happens. It gets the best of everyone, right? - That's not even you. - All of a sudden, you're doing something and it's going on and you just think, "Just get out of control." - What is out of control? - Out of control means you took, you had to take the clothes off, right? - No. - Right. You did. - No. - Well, what is this accident talk you talking about? Y'all keep talking about accidents. - You shot her. - I ain't shooting nobody, man. - How many times have you shot a gun? - I've never shot a gun. - Never? - Never. - Never, ever, ever? - Never. - Why are we at this point here that you're stopping? - What? We're at the point 'cause I done gave you pretty much everything I know. - And after that, there was just a lot of, you know, pointless back and forth, really, and denials that you don't need to just keep hearing. But eventually, the story did change. Investigators basically decided to give Brian sort of an out to see if they could get more information from him since he was being so stubborn. So they brought up the idea that maybe there was a second person in the car. And man, did Brian take that bait. He told them that there was a second guy there who was trying to kill his family if he didn't get him $2,000 to $3,000 that night. And he tried to say that this was like a guy that he knew from middle school. - When you were smoking weed with your buddy up on 3rd and the alley, where'd your dudes go? - Mm-hmm. - Back in the day, he said, "Where's your dudes?" - I don't know who he was, but I think he went back home. - 100%, he wasn't in that car with you? - No, I thought he was in the car. - But I think one way you could have controlled her was with a second guy. And you don't want to give me the name of the guy 'cause you don't want to be his niche. Yeah, you wanted money. You were out there to get money. If there was a second dude in the car, now's the time to tell him. So I can start doing that route. - It's not gonna make a difference. There's a huge difference. - It's not gonna make a difference because in a long run, I'm still going to prison, man. I'm still going to prison, man. - What the is the difference? - The kids are gonna die, dude. - The kids ain't gonna die. We can look out for 'em. Help yourself out. Be the stand-up man. Tell me who the other person, tell me, for that girl's family, God damn it, who was in the car with you? - If I didn't bring the money back for him, he used to know me. I used to go to school. - Mm-hmm. - He was gonna kill me. - So did he tell you to go and get a girl? - Huh? - Did he, whose idea was it to go get the girl? - It wasn't to specifically get a specific person. - To get money. - Yes. - How much money did he expect? - He told me he needed about $2,000, $3,000 tonight, or he's gonna go get my family. - Okay. T.J. is the name of this other guy that Brian alleges was responsible for Reagan's death, and throughout the rest of his interrogation, he described how T.J. was behind it all and how T.J. was the one to pull the trigger. And according to Brian, Reagan's last words were, "I just want to live." And I really wonder if that's what she really said. I actually believe him. I think that's probably what she did say, because I don't think Brian, I don't know, I don't even think he, he seems like a soulless person that wouldn't even come up with something like that. Like he copied it from what she actually said. So I don't know. What's he go by? What name does he go by? TJ. TJ? Is he black guy? Tall? Skinny? Fat? Brown? He ain't fat. He's like, I don't really got it. He's about 5'11", 6'0", roughly like 210, 220 at the most. And this whole interrogation just makes me so pissed off because he goes from, you know, not wanting to cooperate at all to completely playing the victim. And obviously the whole TJ thing was complete bullshit. Investigators, they did have to do their due diligence on TJ. They looked for someone that matched his description, but shocker, they came up empty on that one. So at this point, the one thing they still needed was the murder weapon. And get this. Brian told them that he would. Tell them where it is in exchange for two double cheeseburgers. That's all he wanted. So they got him the cheeseburgers and he told them that it was in a storm sewer in a different part of town. So once they got that, and ultimately with all the evidence they had, Brian's arrest was a given. And he was charged with aggravated murder, rape, kidnapping, and robbery. All of which there was undeniable proof of. I mean, not only did they have surveillance footage and a partial confession, but it turns out that this motherfucker was wearing an ankle monitor the entire time. When Brian was released at the end of 2016, they struggled to find a re-entry program that would accept him because of his prior history. Not to mention the fact that he had 52 infractions while in prison. But eventually, the adult parole authority found him a spot in a center called the exit program. However, this was on the condition that he wear a GPS monitor. Now, just imagine Reagan's parents' anger. How infuriated they were when they found out that nobody was monitoring the ankle monitor. Imagine that. And not only that, but no restrictions were put on it. None at all. Meaning that there was nothing programmed into the device. Nothing to say that he had a curfew or saying what places he could or couldn't be. So for three months, you guys. This violent sex offender was free to roam the streets doing whatever the hell he wanted. And he did. It turns out he committed several other crimes. The coordinates on his device, which were only looked at after the fact, of course, placed him at the scene of six different robberies and attacks that took place in German Village between January 23rd and February 7th. So a pretty short span of time. And that was one day before Reagan was killed. Turns out, four women and two men were robbed at knifepoint and or gunpoint. And one woman reported that he pistol whipped her. They even added six additional counts of aggravated robbery to his charges because of it. So this was entirely preventable, which makes my blood boil. Because what do you mean this violent monster had nobody monitoring him? And come to find out that there were multiple occasions since his release where he had violated the rules that were set, by his reentry program or halfway house and nobody did anything about it. I learned that he was on a three strike policy and he had three strikes. But the meeting set by his parole officer wasn't until the end of February. So while waiting for any potential consequences, Brian could just do whatever he wanted to and no one was paying attention. And not only did that put Reagan's life at risk and cost her her life, but it also put everyone else living in and around Grove City at risk. And on the night that she was killed, he was captured on a bus. security camera getting on and eventually getting off near the area that she was taken. The ankle monitor then showed him walking the streets until he got to the part of town where she was abducted. After that, the monitor showed that he was moving at a high rate of speed, meaning now he was in Reagan's car. And from there, he was placed everywhere she went that night, including the park that he murdered her at. I do have more to say on this. And yeah, it's just beyond infuriating thinking about this, thinking about how this could have completely been avoided, how this never should have happened. And God, I feel angry about it. I can't imagine how her family and friends felt finding all of that out, especially once you realize how preventable it all was. Like this could have so easily been avoided. And of course, that anger was felt by everyone. After he was charged, prosecutors announced that they would be seeking the death penalty, which was something her family was in full support of. They went to the hearings leading up to his trial, and Lisa described how being in the same room as him was one of the most awful experiences. And I can't even imagine, oh my God. And in his trial, which began in March of 2018, prosecutors had to focus on how disgusting and horrific his crimes were because they wanted the jury to sentence him to death. And I don't think there's any reason to sit here and go back through the details because we know what he did, and we know he's guilty. But I do want to mention two key pieces of testimony that happened during the trial. There were two women in Brian's life who took the stand, and both of them said that he confessed to murdering Reagan. Now, keep in mind, this entire time, he wasn't denying the abduction or even the rape, but he stuck to the TJ story when it came to who actually was the one who killed her. Yet, both women say that they visited him in jail, and he nodded his head yes when asked if he pulled the trigger. One of them even testified to the jury that he was the one who killed him. Brian came home after the murder, and he gave her Reagan's wallet and purse. Now, she said that she didn't know they were Reagan's or where he got them, which some people debate that she did know. But the point being is Brian was clearly the only person involved. TJ, of course, did not exist. And thankfully, the jury agreed. After several days of testimony, Brian Goolsbee was found guilty. And this waste of human life, waste of space, was expressionless. The jury sentenced him to life in prison without parole, plus 66 years, because they just couldn't all agree on the death penalty. And during the penalty phase, there was a lot of talk in court about, you know, Brian's childhood and how he suffered as a kid. And basically, they begged the jury to show him mercy. And some of them, I think, were compelled by that, which is, ironic, of course, because Brian showed Reagan no mercy at all. But yeah, he was given the opportunity to speak, and he did apologize to her family, which, whatever, dude. And he also did admit that he made up TJ, of course. But nothing, and I mean nothing, about it was sincere. Don't forget that Reagan's last words were, I just want to live, which is, oh, God, so heartbreaking. She was, she was literally begging and pleading for her life, and absolutely no mercy was shown. And I've got to say, I'm really surprised that the jury didn't go for the death penalty on this one. When I first started researching this case, I thought they were for sure going to, so I was shocked when I realized they hadn't. And for years, that same prosecutor fought through appeals to get a new penalty phase, but unfortunately, the case was dismissed by the Ohio Supreme Court. And they also dismissed the wrongful death lawsuit that Lisa and Brian had filed against the judge. And they lawsuit, they had alleged that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and other entities as well, failed to properly supervise and monitor Brian after he was released, which is something I think we can all agree to, right? And by them failing to do so, he was free to commit several violent crimes, including murder. The lawsuit outlined multiple failures that I could really spend so much time talking about, but the bottom line is all the same. At several times, the judge the state had no duty to protect Reagan, which just blew my mind and made me so mad. I mean, what? No duty? And obviously it is more technical than that, but that's basically the decision that they came to, and why? And this is just infuriating, but I'm not going to go into too much detail on that. The tokes did try to appeal that at the Ohio Supreme Court level, but the court denied to even hear the case, which is such a slap in the face, just beyond disappointing. But they have handled all of this with such grace. It's very impressive. I don't know if I would be able to conduct myself the way that they have. And the silver lining at the end of the day is they've really taken all their anger and turned it into action, which is really inspiring. When Lisa and Toby really started to learn about the failures that went on here, they realized that Reagan's case, sadly, wasn't entirely unique, that this had happened to other people. Maybe you remember Sierra Joggins' case that I covered earlier last year. That one always stays with me. If you don't remember, she was the girl who was biking home from her boyfriend's house when she was abducted and killed by registered sex offender James Worley. That was in July of 2016. And Reagan's murder was in February of 2016. That was in February of 2017. And both of them happened in Ohio. My point being here, these two innocent lives were lost at the hands of known criminals and could have been avoided. And maybe you remember that Sierra's family fought for Sierra's law, which would require the Attorney General's office to establish a violent offender database. Well, Reagan's family wanted to change some laws, too. And I can see why. Now, some of you may know this and some of you may not. But most of the time when someone is wearing a GPS monitoring device, it's not like, you know, the movies where they step out of their zone and automatically the area is rushed by police right to their location. In fact, when someone violates the terms or restrictions of their device, what typically happens is the violation gets logged into a system and then a parole officer has to manually look up the data to see that. However, and this is shocking if you didn't know, but most parole officers are responsible for monitoring anywhere between 20 and like 100 people, sometimes even more. And that means it can take days, sometimes even longer for them to realize that someone had violated their terms. So law enforcement doesn't usually monitor that data at all, which is terrifying to think about. I mean, in some circumstances they do, but generally they just don't. Anyway, that is terrifying. And the more that Lisa and Toby learned about it, the more horrifying it is. Especially the fact that in Brian's case, his device hadn't even been programmed. So yeah, major fucking failure that the device wasn't doing anything. I mean, what's the point of even having it on? Also, can we talk about the fact that it's a giant failure that a violent felon with 52 infractions, 52 while in prison, was able to be released in the first place? I mean, what? Hence the Reagan, Hokes Act that her family has worked tirelessly to pass. And there are two parts to it. And one of them has already been made into law, which is great. The other they're still fighting for. So the part that has already been made into law has to do with sentencing. And basically what the Reagan, Hokes Act changed was rather than a judge giving a fixed sentence, call it 10 years, judges can give a sentence range, such as 10 to 15 years for people convicted of first and second degree felonies. And this law states that inmates can be considered for up to a 15% reduction in their sentence for good behavior, but they can also receive an increase of up to 50% if they have infractions while incarcerated. And there's more nuance to it, of course, but that's sort of the gist of it. In simple terms, it basically just keeps violent criminals behind bars for longer if they have infractions while in prison. And in Reagan's case, had this already existed, Brian likely would have been locked up for another three years and he would have never had access to her. Now, as for the second part that isn't law yet, Lisa and Toby are fighting for laws to change around GPS monitoring and post-release supervision. There are several pieces to this, but some of what they're looking to do includes requiring better GPS tracking with real world restrictions, create a statewide GPS database, giving law enforcement real-time access to GPS data without having to jump through a bunch of legal hoops, standardizing GPS monitoring, establishing post-release and re-entry programs, for violent felons to reduce inmates being released into homelessness, and offering to better support parole officers via limiting their caseloads. All of which sounds to me like a giant duh. And obviously, that's a very basic summary, but I'm sure you guys will agree that these all seem like very necessary things. But surprisingly, actually, I'm not too surprised to be honest with how awful our system is, but it's been years and it still hasn't been passed into law. However, I'm staying hopeful as I'm sure their family is that it It's coming soon because there's just no reason not to make people safer. And speaking of safety, another thing that the Toks family has been pushing for is increased access to self-defense classes. After her death, they have helped put on self-defense and situational awareness courses through the foundation they created, the Reagan Delaney Toks Memorial Foundation. This foundation aims to honor Reagan's memory, which it has done already in so many ways, but the biggest being the scholarships that they fund to future Ohio State University students. To date, you guys, they have raised and awarded over $500,000 in scholarships, which is just incredible. And what's so cool, too, is that for the next four years, their contributions to the endowment fund will be matched 100% by the university. And every year, they hold a Rally for Reagan community event, which has also included a 5K walk and race, a fundraising dinner, a social event, and even a tennis tournament. And it's all done in Reagan's honor to help spread the joy that she wanted to spread to others and help raise money. And then another beautiful way they've chosen to honor her is through a tranquility garden that was built in the park where her body was found. Lisa said that she never wanted to go to where Reagan was found because it was such a dark and heavy place, which is so understandable. And while the garden doesn't take the pain away, I'm sure it really does provide a lot of, you know, solace and comfort. Her mom, dad, and sister were also able to walk across the stage at what would have been her college graduation. And you can just see the pain on their faces. It is just heartbreaking, but they did accept her diploma posthumously. Lisa has said that grief is a slippery slope, but for them, falling apart isn't an option. And I just have to say, I am just so impressed with all that they have done. Like I said, the way that they have conducted themselves with grace and just all the different ways that they have honored their daughter and keep her memory alive have helped so many people. Which is what she really wanted to do in life. And think of how many people they will continue to help, not only through their foundation and all their work there, but also through getting these laws passed, which I'm confident will happen. And I'm glad they're halfway to their goal. I, of course, plan to make a donation to their incredible foundation on behalf of this channel and all of you who support it. And I will put the link in the show notes of this episode in case you would like to donate as well. And maybe just check it out. You'll be able to find it more easily there. God, it's so difficult to end episodes like this because of how heavy they are. But I really do think there is an important message in Reagan's story. Reagan wanted to make this world a better place. And we have the power to do that for her. So whether it's something small or maybe something big, I'd ask you guys to do something kind for someone else in her honor. The day that this episode airs is actually only one day after the nine-year anniversary. So it would be really cool to honor her in a small way like that or just to keep her in your thoughts. That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon. But until then, stay safe out there.