Mikayla Raines

Mikayla Anne Raines (March 5, 1995 – June 20, 2025) (While some initial reporting on Raines's death stated she was 29 at the time, However, USA Today and The New York Times, citing her mother and husband respectively, both report her death-date as June 20.) She had two sisters and one brother. At 18, she began taking classes to become licensed as a wildlife rehabilitator, completing the process in 2016. Raines rehabilitated foxes born in captivity with some defect, which she stated would make them unappealing to fur farms that would ultimately kill them. Notchi was never returned to Raines, though it was reportedly last sighted with another fox, with Raines presuming the two mated.

In May, the city considered revoking her interim-use permit, stating she was keeping more than the allowed three foxes. Raines did not deny this, stating her passion for rehabilitating foxes led to her keeping more than three on the property and starting a rescue under the name "Mikdolittles Fox Rescue".

SaveAFox Rescue

In 2017, at the age of 22, Raines founded the "SaveAFox Rescue", an officially registered 501(c)(3) charity. Though Raines's permit in Lakeville was revoked, her followers shortly thereafter donated $60,000 in three months to assist with her cause, helping her open a new operation in Rice County, near Faribault.

With more people, many from the Southern U.S., wanting to surrender foxes to Raines than she had room for, she sought to expand her efforts. her husband stated he had seen her help "birds, reptiles, sheep, [and] squirrels". Though Raines attracted a large following and positive reception for her rescue efforts, she also received some online criticism for her efforts with SaveAFox, with some questioning her ethics in "buying" foxes from fur farms and others accusing her of "hoarding" more foxes than she could care for.

Social media presence Raines maintained an Instagram account about the foxes. which she later used to document the SaveAFox sanctuary. Raines also maintained related accounts on Facebook and TikTok, as well as OnlyFans.

Various viral videos, such as one featuring two paired vixens, dubbed "lesbian goth foxes" by viewers based on the foxes' behavior, helped boost her and the sanctuary's social media presence, often garnering the rescue national media attention. Two of Raines's red foxes, Finnegan and Dixie, also achieved online virality in their own right. At the time of her death in June 2025, Raines's accounts on YouTube and Instagram amassed over 2.4 million subscribers and 500,000 followers, respectively. They married at the rescue on December 23, 2020, and together they had one daughter ( 2021).

Death Raines died in Faribault, Minnesota, on June 20, 2025, at the age of 30. After an investigation by the Rice County Sheriff's Office, her death was confirmed as a suicide by hanging by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office.

Frankamp alleged that an online harassment campaign by social media users, others in the wildlife rescue community, and some people whom Raines had known personally had contributed to her death. Reddit users raised discussions regarding the role of "snark subreddits", communities on Reddit dedicated to harassing and spreading rumors about a subject, in Raines's suicide. A snark subreddit about SaveAFox was set to private and appeared to be scrubbed following her death. Users also initiated a petition requesting that Reddit introduce stricter policies around hateful content and shut down snark communities.

A funeral for Raines was held on July 12 at SaveAFox. Other communities also paid tribute to Raines following the news of her death; the video game Overwatch 2 (2023) used the sounds of Raines's foxes in its design for the character Kiriko, and players of the game paid tribute to her.