Ryan Larsen
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Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney, and this is Voices for Justice.

Today, I'm discussing the case of Ryan Larson from La Vista, Nebraska. Ryan was 11 when he walked out of his elementary school on May 17th, 2021. This is something he'd done before. He was well known to leave his school and hide when he became frustrated.

The La Vista Police Department said they'd recovered Ryan at least half a dozen times before this. So when he walked out on May 17th, they figured it'd be the same routine. They'd go check Ryan's hiding spots and find him in one to two hours tops. But this time was different. It has now been over a year since Ryan went missing. And the La Vista Police Department says they basically have no idea what happened to him.

It seems like they only have a handful of major leads right now. First is Ryan's umbrella that was found next to a dumpster nearly a month after he went missing. They also have some very blurry surveillance video and a report from Ryan of there being a strange man at his school just two weeks before he disappeared. This is the case of Ryan Larson.

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Just go to the App Store or Google Play Store and download the free Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CRIME. That's I-B-O-T-T-A in the Google Play Store or App Store. And use code CRIME. Ryan Larson was born on June 8th, 2009. Before he went missing, he lived in La Vista, Nebraska with his mother Tammy.

He has two older sisters, Taylor and Kayla, who lived outside of the family home. He was in the sixth grade and attended La Vista Elementary School. Ryan has been described as a fun, goofy kid who will talk your ear off once he gets to know you. He really enjoys playing with Legos, army men, and action figures. And he decorated the walls of his room with local police baseball-style trading cards.

Now, Ryan is autistic. He is sometimes non-verbal with strangers. And what's very important to know is Ryan has a history of walking out of his school, mostly when he gets frustrated. Prior to his disappearance in 2021, he'd done this quite a few times before. Now, there isn't a ton of information on this case. There are a lot of articles, but they tend to go over the same details. So, as a part of my research, I spoke with Ryan's sister, Taylor.

Taylor told me that about a year before he went missing, Ryan walked home from school and their mother Tammy found him sitting in the garage. In another incident a few weeks before he went missing, he walked away from school after recess and went to his grandmother's house. Of course, his grandmother asked why he left school. Ryan says he walked off the playground because there was a strange man walking around his school. So his teachers told him to go.

His mom called the school to follow up, and they said that there was absolutely no man walking around the school. When they asked Ryan what the truth was, he says that they wouldn't believe him even if he told them. Taylor told me that Ryan didn't really discuss this any further, but obviously this continues to stick out to their family as they wonder what happened to him.

This habit of walking away from school has been verified not only by Ryan's family, but by the La Vista Police Department as well. The department says they'd actually found him safe about half a dozen other times after Ryan walked out of school before he went missing. Now, La Vista, Nebraska is a small town with a population of about 17,000. And from the many statements I've read from the La Vista Police Department...

specifically Chief Bob Lawston, they seemed to have been very familiar with Ryan. When he'd walk away from school, they'd find him in one to two hours tops. It seems like they knew all of his regular hiding spots, and it had become something they were pretty used to. And given the fact that Ryan has these local police baseball cards decorating the walls of his room, it seems like he liked the police a lot.

But let's talk about the last time Ryan left school. Monday, May 17th, 2021 was a rainy day, so Ryan takes his polka dot umbrella with him to La Vista Elementary School. Now, if you've seen any news coverage of Ryan's case, you've probably heard that he went missing while the kids were between classes. But Taylor says there's a lot more to the story.

She told me that that morning, Ryan was working one-on-one with someone from the school on a math problem when he became frustrated. This person took Ryan to a safe room to calm down. They left Ryan alone under the assumption that another teacher would be with Ryan soon. I have to assume this is when the bell rings and kids start shuffling between classes. At about 11.45am, Ryan left the safe room. One teacher says she saw Ryan walking in the hallway alone and asked him where he was going.

But Ryan ignored her and kept walking. It's believed Ryan just walked out of the front doors of the school. Unfortunately, there are no cameras at the school to definitively prove this. When his teachers realized Ryan wasn't where he was supposed to be, they searched the school for about 30 minutes before calling the police and his mom. The first thing Tammy does is drive home to their apartment to look for Ryan. She checked around the apartment building and her garage, but he wasn't there.

So, she drives up to the school to meet with police. Again, this is all according to Taylor. She told me police decided to not file an official missing persons report under the assumption that he would show back up to campus by the end of the day and take the school bus home. But that didn't happen. The last confirmed sighting of Ryan was at 1.30pm when he was spotted by a neighbor walking back and forth in the parking lot of his apartment complex.

Brian's school is only a few blocks away from his home, about half a mile. But from what I saw when I searched for walking directions from his home to his school, he probably could have cut through some local businesses diagonally and shortened the distance considerably.

We also know that Ryan has left school and walked to his apartment complex in the past. So, given that this neighbor is credible, I see no reason to discredit their statement. There was some surveillance video captured by nearby businesses that many believe could be Ryan, but I'll get into that later in the episode. Now, again, remember, this is something Ryan has done many times before. Taylor told me that in the past, Ryan was usually found within 1-2 hours of leaving school.

She says that he's the type to find a place nearby and hide. He never really wandered off. So when they couldn't find Ryan in the first few hours in his normal hiding places like they usually did, they knew this time was different. So the La Vista PD issues an emergency missing advisory for Ryan and immediately appeals to the public for help in locating him.

That night, the police tell Tammy to stay home, presumably to wait for Ryan. Police and volunteers from the community searched all night, almost until dawn. According to Ryan's family, the police basically tell them to hang tight, let them look, and don't speak to the media about the case.

The next day, police respond to two possible sightings of Ryan, including one near the local La Vista library, but they were unable to locate him. So one group of law enforcement and volunteers continued the search, while other officers began going door to door in Ryan's apartment complex.

On Wednesday, May 19th, now two days since Ryan went missing, the La Vista PD calls for backup. The FBI, the Nebraska State Patrol, and even FEMA joins the investigation. In the next few days, authorities begin searching bodies of water.

specifically a creek near Brookhaven Park, ponds near the La Vista Central Park, and Walnut Creek Lake in the city of Papillion, Nebraska. Not much seems to have happened at most of the bodies of water, but when they bring canine units to Walnut Creek Lake, they alert to the scent of human decay. Now, this lake is 6.6 miles away from Ryan's apartment complex. It's almost a two-hour walk.

While it's absolutely possible an 11-year-old child could have wandered 6.6 miles, I think it's very unlikely Ryan could have done that without being seen by someone, especially considering he'd likely need to stop for things like food and water. Taylor also told me Ryan was not the most athletic or coordinated kid. She said he had issues jumping off the ground with both feet. So I think wandering over 6 miles would be rough for Ryan and take some time.

If Ryan lost his life in that lake, I don't think he walked there. They spend about a week searching and lowering the water levels in Walnut Creek Lake, but ultimately, Ryan was not located.

Now, I know I always talk about how the community comes together to help out these cases, but this community really did show up for Ryan and they deserve to be recognized for that. In addition to just the massive amount of community members joining in the search, one neighbor would leave out food and water for Ryan along with notes telling him it was okay to come home. ServPro of Omaha dedicated their digital billboards solely to displaying Ryan's picture and information.

and the Salvation Army provided provisions to volunteers searching for Ryan. But on May 21st, less than a week after Ryan went missing, the La Vista PD tweets and asks for volunteer searchers to stay home. Quote,

10 a.m. Friday update. Multiple law enforcement agencies continue to search for missing 11-year-old Ryan Larson. With more than 200 officers and support staff searching, we do not need volunteer searchers at this time, end quote. They instead encourage people who do want to help to donate to relevant organizations like the Salvation Army and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

As you guys know, I spoke with Taylor Larson for this episode. But I want to give credit where credit is due and give a huge shout out to John Lorden from Lorden Arts for introducing me to Taylor.

If you aren't familiar with his work, give John Lorden a Google. He has been in this space for a really long time and was the first creator to cover My Sister's Story. He covered Ryan's case last year and, as always, did an excellent job. Now, in John Lorden's YouTube video about Ryan, he made a great point. He said maybe one reason the department made this statement was because Ryan was not comfortable being around strangers.

We know that he was often really shy and timid until he got to know someone, so having hundreds of strangers looking for him could have been extremely overwhelming. This is just pure speculation piggybacking off of John Lorden, but it makes sense to me. On the flip side, I know when I spoke to police about searching for my sister, their first concern was the workload that comes with managing volunteers and keeping them safe.

So, without hearing from law enforcement about why they made this call, we can't know for sure. Unfortunately, these searches didn't bring Ryan home. But the search effort was massive. Seven days after Ryan went missing, Chief Lawson holds a press conference to update the public and encourage them to not feed into rumors and speculation.

He goes over the efforts to find Ryan, and clearly states that he is now being considered an endangered missing child. But he adds that they can't say if foul play was involved until they find him, and they have no evidence that would lead them to believe Ryan was abducted. He also says their best lead at this point was multiple canine units hitting on the scent of human decay at Walnut Creek Lake.

This is kind of how the investigation goes for the first six weeks or so. There are a ton of searches, a ton of speculation, and unfortunately, not a lot of movement. Then, on June 29th, Chief Lawston announces one of the biggest breaks in the case. They found something belonging to Ryan that would change the entire focus of the investigation.

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We're about six weeks out from when Ryan Larson was last seen after leaving his elementary school on May 17th, 2021. There are several searches for him, a billboard, and a ton of local media coverage. But Ryan is nowhere to be found. Then, on June 29th, Chief Bob Lawston makes a huge announcement. They found the umbrella Ryan took with him to school on the day he went missing.

It was found next to a dumpster in his apartment complex. And they did verify via DNA that it was Ryan's umbrella, and not just one that looks similar. So this told them two things. One, that Ryan did more than likely travel to his apartment complex after leaving his school, just as one of his neighbors reported. And two, that Ryan might have climbed into the dumpster, or been placed into the dumpster and could be at a local landfill.

By late July, the La Vista Police Department called in top landfill assessment experts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In the end, Chief Lawston told the media, "...they did an analysis, and the possibility of that would be very minute, the lowest probability on the scale of that happening. So there's no evidence we had that it actually happened, but we wanted to rule out even those remote possibilities."

This does make me wonder why the umbrella was there. Did Ryan place it there thinking he could come back for it? I mean, if he didn't want it or someone else wanted to get rid of it, why place it by the dumpster instead of in it? Also, I would love to know how many people were around that dumpster before the umbrella was found. Why did it take over a month? The description of Ryan's umbrella was in some of the first reports about him being missing.

It was something you'd think people were on the lookout for. So, was this umbrella there the entire time and people just missed it? Or was it placed there later? Did they find any potential suspect DNA on it? I don't know. At this time, the police also announced that they have issued warrants for Google in order to obtain more information from the electronic devices Ryan was using at the time. So, let's talk about what the media and what the family says about Ryan's possible search history.

When you look up Ryan's case, you will find articles about how he searched how to hide from the police, hiding underground, and how to avoid being spotted. But this isn't consistent with what Ryan's sister Taylor told me. She says that Ryan often watched YouTube on his TV, and didn't know how to search specific terms. She admits that he did watch a video about a quote, hide-and-seek game from the police, end quote, saying it was a video for kids.

Now, if you aren't really familiar with how YouTube works, when you open the app on a TV, it brings you a large selection of videos. Like any other streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, YouTube will choose the videos they think you'll like. So you can just pick one without having to search anything. Once you start watching a video, YouTube will continue to play videos they think you'll like automatically. This is what Taylor says happened.

She says Ryan was watching police Lego videos on YouTube when the video with the hide-and-seek game from police popped up in his feed. She says there's no search history to prove Ryan was intentionally looking up any of the terms the media says he did. Taylor only found out that Ryan had watched the initial hide-and-seek video from police after Ryan casually told her about it. When he brought it up, his family said he probably shouldn't be watching stuff like that.

Then, the next day, Ryan's mom walked into his room and found him watching the same video and shut it off. Then, the day after that, Ryan went missing. Honestly, at this point, I don't think there's a strong argument to be made that an 11-year-old, almost 13-year-old now, has been intentionally hiding from the police for two years. And managing to find food, water, and shelter all based off of a few YouTube videos they watched.

They already knew he had a habit of running and hiding. So, I don't see why this search history was such a large focus. But I think it is important to clear up this misinformation. According to the family, Ryan saw these videos, but he wasn't intentionally looking them up or studying them as a part of a larger plan to run away. Now, the La Vista Police Department has admitted that they have learned a lot by working Ryan's case.

They've made statements like they didn't even know underwater drones existed before Ryan went missing. In the same breath, they say that they do believe they did everything in their power to bring him home. They just don't know what happened. Basically saying there's still no evidence that he was abducted, met with foul play, or that he ran away. They outright tell the media they're stumped.

By the end of September, so about four months after Ryan went missing, the community is basically ravenous for information and answers. They are extremely frustrated that Ryan's family has not been doing interviews with the media. Like we see in a lot of cases, people thought that was suspicious, and theories about Ryan's family were spreading like wildfire. So they begin to speak out. Like a lot of families do, Ryan's sister Taylor went to TikTok.

I just wanted to come on here and make a video. I'm not the type of person that comes on and like talks a lot on TikTok. But I have been seeing this like Gabby Petito case everywhere. And you know how much coverage it's getting from people and the awareness. And you know I just like every time I see those I'm like wow I really wish that would have happened for my brother. Because I know it kind of blew up on Facebook the whole situation. And I'm like I don't know.

But, you know, that was kind of for our area. And this Gabby Petito case seems to be going worldwide, like everywhere. More like United States-wide. I don't know. But...

So I just wanted to like tell everybody about my brother and kind of get his name out there and get awareness. Uh, his name is Ryan Larson. Um, he is 12 years old now. He was 11 years old when he went missing. He had a birthday, uh, since he's been missing yesterday was the four month mark. He walked out of school on May 17th. He is known for, you know, when he gets really frustrated, like running or leaving, he has special needs. Um,

And I'll put a picture somewhere near of him. But he walked out of school. He did walk out of school two weeks before and he walked to my grandma's house. So, you know, he is a known runner. So he walked out of school and...

He, they have somebody on camera at the Jimbo's dinner across from our apartment buildings. They are not sure. We aren't, we've seen the video. We aren't sure if it's him. It's so blurry and you can't tell if it's really him. He was supposedly cited a couple hours later by a neighbor. Um, and then they did find his umbrella by the dumpster, uh,

Well, somebody else found it. And then a couple of days later turned it in when they found out that, you know, it belonged to Ryan. He was missing. But, you know, he just disappeared and we have no, there's no leads. Nobody saw him. Like they have a few, you know, sightings, but they aren't sure if it's him or not. And it's, you know, I just really want coverage for him. And I want people to, you know, keep saying his name and keep looking for him.

Because the story just died so quick because there's no new information to put out there. So I just really hope everybody knows about him. And I can answer any questions that anybody has about him or about the case or most questions. Because there's some things I still can't say just because...

You know, there's only a few things that have been disclosed to the family, which aren't like a big thing in the case, but they are like personal things. So basically, most questions I can answer. So ask away. To this day, that video only has about 8,000 views. And to be honest, the comments are pretty hard to read. Instead of telling you about them, I want to read them for you.

"'It never blew up because his family refused to talk about him to any type of news outlets at all. Gabby's family has been all over the news.'" To which Taylor replies, "'I am family, and we were advised not to. I have discussed this a million times.'" "'Gabby went worldwide because of her family.'"

To which Taylor replied, quote, Okay, thanks for the advice. Once again, that's what I'm trying to do here. End quote. Another question, quote, Why have you still not put up a reward? Your reasons for not doing it a few months ago are completely invalid at this point. End quote. To which Taylor replies, quote, There's no reward because both Crimestoppers and the police department have declined to have any involvement. End quote.

So we would have to buy phones for a phone line and sit and take calls all day. That is difficult when we all have full-time jobs to support ourselves. We have reached out and asked both places to reconsider, but no one will be involved with a reward. I'm currently waiting for someone to get back to me with the resources to do it, but until then, there isn't much we can do."

One person suggested they bring in Texas EquiSearch, implying that the cops are trying to keep this case under the radar, to which Taylor responded, quote, We have tried to bring them in twice, but they can only be invited by the police. I agree the police are hiding a lot, end quote.

Now, this is something I can speak on. I, too, brought Texas EquiSearch to the Phoenix Police Department in my sister's case, and they declined. I encourage you to go to Taylor's TikTok and read through some of the comments and questions as well as Taylor's answers. Her username is TaylorLarson28. In my opinion, she's being really forthcoming about the situation. But as always, I want to leave it up to you to judge for yourselves.

Not long after this TikTok video was made, Ryan's family sat down for their first interview with local news.

I think people need to realize that this isn't like a TV show. This isn't something that you watch with your family and then you get to see the happily ever after and go back to your life. This is real for us. This is something that we're going through. Ryan is still gone and I think it's so easy for someone to just sit behind a keyboard and type whatever they feel. But we do see that if we don't comment to it every time because we don't want to start anything.

We do see it and it still hurts. Ryan's mother, Tammy, says she also sees what people say about her online. I know there was a lot of why hasn't the mom gone on camera? Well, this is something that I live every single day. I mean, these girls are here, but mostly as I come home, I'm here by myself. So for a while, it took everything to get up in the morning and get going.

At this point, a lot of people aren't even focusing on Ryan anymore. They're just focusing on how they feel about us. Tammy says she hopes no one else has to go through what she has. A lot of, well, I would, you know, if it were me, if it were me, I really hope it, even the ones with all the hate, I really pray to God that it's never them. Because you don't know how you're going to react until you're in the situation.

I'm pretty sure most of you can guess my stance on this. I don't blame them. I don't blame any family that doesn't want to put themselves out there for the world to pick apart. I can tell you firsthand, it isn't fun. Dealing with something like a missing loved one is already unbearable. Adding media scrutiny on top of that is nothing short of hell.

I can also tell you firsthand that there are many reasons families don't speak to the media that have nothing to do with them potentially being involved in the case. So let's just make that clear right now. Obviously, in this case, they were instructed not to go to the media, and they were still criticized for it.

The reality is, these families are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Media is a double-edged sword. These families put themselves out there, knowing they will be picked apart for every single thing they do or say. And they do it anyway. Now, please know that I am in no way saying that every family who doesn't speak to the media isn't suspicious. I'm just saying it's not a foolproof way to say someone is.

Here's what Taylor told me about the media scrutiny. Quote, I think the public was very quick to place blame on the family, and that was really hard for us. Not only were we told by the police to not speak to the media, but we didn't want to take the attention off of Ryan, because in the end, it wasn't about us. We also didn't and still don't know what happened, and it has been excruciatingly difficult to try to wrap our minds around it.

How does someone just vanish without a trace? We still believe someone knows something. And it is sad because not everyone has been so forthcoming with their information. It is hard to make a list of all the incorrect information because there's so much of it. So I'm trying to include as much as possible to help with your podcast. End quote. And I will tell you, Taylor answered every single one of my questions.

Now, stepping back just a bit, let's address the surveillance video Taylor discussed in her TikTok video and in her statements to me. One of the most discussed parts of Ryan's case is the potential surveillance video available, particularly from La Vista Kino and Jimbo's Diner near his home and school. Videos have been sent off to be analyzed, but no one can say for sure that it was Ryan in the videos.

That being said, I have read articles saying that the La Vista Police Department and Ryan's mother do believe it could be him. Now, the police aren't releasing the video footage to the public at this time, but I have to believe that one of the many businesses with surveillance cameras captured at least some part of Ryan's walk from his school back to his apartment complex, and I have to hope that they caught him leaving in one direction or another.

All of this to say, the surveillance video is a huge question mark right now. I can only hope that the LoVista PD have been able to get some answers and it's been helping in their investigation. By January 2022, authorities admit the case has slowed down. They say the tips just weren't really coming in anymore. But they continued their investigation and searching areas of interest. In February 2022, a new billboard was put up for Ryan.

This was coordinated by Lisa Meredith and Teresa River. These are actually just two moms of kids with autism who met in a Facebook group and felt compelled to help. What's even cooler is when they approached Lamar Advertising about the billboard, they donated six months of billboard space, completely free. I can't tell you guys how amazing this is. Donated billboard space isn't easy to come by. So a huge shout out to Lamar Advertising.

Now, these women also got a park bench advertisement donated for Ryan by Omaha Bus Benches, so I have to give them a shout out too. And of course, I have to give a huge shout out to Lisa Meredith and Teresa River for going one step beyond just hearing about Ryan's case and doing something huge to help. In my mind, that's what true crime is all about. That's why I tell these stories. So that hopefully one of you out there feels compelled to help.

That's why I have these calls to action. You don't have to buy a billboard or get it donated. If you can share a picture on social media, make a phone call, or talk to a friend about a case, it all helps with the larger goal of bringing these people home or getting justice. But before we get to our call to action for Ryan, let's ask the question, where is Ryan Larson?

Tammy Larson told the media that she believes if Ryan did hide somewhere and got stuck, he would have been found by now. So she believes someone took him. Taylor has made similar comments. Now, a few things stick out in my mind.

First, of course, is Ryan telling his family he left school a few weeks prior because a strange man was on campus. It could be nothing, or it could be everything. But Taylor told me that his internet use does not indicate that he was talking to strangers online. So, it doesn't appear to be a situation in which he possibly was led away from his home by some stranger he met online.

That being said, although they are rare, random child abductions by strangers do happen. And I don't think there's anything in this case to definitively rule out that possibility. Like I mentioned earlier, the La Vista Police Department says they basically have no idea what happened to Ryan.

In January 2022, Chief Lawston said, "...as time goes on and you don't find any leads, you start to wonder if there was some kind of nefarious element with this. So again, we haven't ruled anything out, and we'll look at avenues to find out what happened and where he's at." In May 2022, on the anniversary of Ryan going missing, he said he does believe Ryan is still in the area. Why or how he believes that, I don't know.

What's important is that we find him. That we increase media exposure and awareness for Ryan. This is another one of those cases that does get some decent local media coverage, but hasn't been covered by many independent creators or podcasts. Which brings me right to our call to action. Please share Ryan's story. Please share his picture.

Ryan should be celebrating his 13th birthday less than a week after this episode comes out. Let's share his picture and try to bring him home. These kids don't just vanish into thin air. Someone knows something. Ryan Larson left his elementary school in La Vista, Nebraska on May 17th, 2021. He is a white male with brown hair and hazel eyes. When he went missing, he was 11 years old and approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall.

He was wearing a black jacket, blue jeans, and an old navy t-shirt. Taylor did want me to mention that before he went missing, he was having some issues with acne on his forehead that was quite noticeable. So it's possible he still has acne or acne scars. Authorities have asked that if you see Ryan, you do not call his name, but instead keep your distance and call 911. If you have any information about Ryan's disappearance, you can call Sarpy County Crime Stoppers.

402-592-7867. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time. I'd like to extend a huge thank you to John Lorden for introducing me to Ryan's case and his sister Taylor. If you haven't checked out John's work, you can find him on YouTube under Lorden Arts. And I definitely encourage you to check out his podcast, Crime After Crime and Seriously Mysterious.

Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. This episode includes research assistance by Daniel McGinnis. To hear more stories hosted by me, check out my other podcast, Disappearances, only on Spotify. And for even more content, check out my Patreon page at patreon.com slash voices for justice.

Welcome to the secret after show. It's been a minute, you guys, and I almost put my rant, if you will, about families not going to the media in this after show, but then I wanted it in the main feed.

There are a lot of things I will put in this aftershow, and even more I put into possibly another secret aftershow that lives on Patreon sometimes, but I thought that that was appropriate. I know not everyone loves when I go on rants like that, but that kind of truth needs to be spoken. The thing is, being picked apart by the media when you're a family member is a pretty universal experience.

It doesn't matter how suspicious you look or the things that you do, people are going to pick you apart no matter what. So I really wanted to include that. It's the reality of our situation. That being said, again, I do want to stress that I am not blind to the fact that not all families are innocent. I just want to put that out there. Now, I do have a small update in the Jelani Day case. I guess not necessarily the case itself, but something that's been sparked by the case.

Back in May, Illinois Senate Bill 3932, also known as the Jelani Day Bill, became a law. Basically, the new law requires a coroner or medical examiner to notify the FBI when human remains are not identified within 72 hours of discovery. I am reading this right from ABC7 Chicago because I suck with legal terms. Jelani's family also posted on Instagram, so I want to read you that. Quote,

The Jelani Day bill was signed and officially became an Illinois state law on Friday, May 13, 2022. It requires that the FBI is to be notified and made aware three days after a body is found and unidentified, no more trusting the word of mouth from local law enforcement. Instead, they are required by law to include the FBI, and it will be because of the Jelani Day bill.

This is the first step of many to getting justice and finding out what happened to my brother. The fight is nowhere near over. It has only just begun." I just wanted to bring you guys that little update. It's really cool to see these cases change the way that these things work. Hopefully, the FBI being involved in these cases will make a big difference. Seems like it really could. But that is my update for you guys.

I do want to give you one more gentle reminder that I do have new merch now, and all of the proceeds through the end of June are going to the Black and Missing Foundation. You can find a link to my merch at voicesforjusticepodcast.com. But as always, thank you for tolerating me, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.