How did Mikayla Raines die? YouTuber and SaveAFox founder's cause of death revealed nearly a month after her passing
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Mikayla Raines (Photo: Instagram/@saveafox_rescue)Mikayla Raines' cause of death has been revealed by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office.
TMZ reported on July 14, 2025, that the YouTuber and animal activist died by hanging on June 20, 2025. She was 29 years old at the time of passing.
Ethan Raines, her husband, shared the news of her passing on June 22, 2025, in an Instagram video. He stated that Mikalya committed suicide.
He stated in the video that she was on the autism spectrum and often hyper-focused on things.
The online hate drove her to make such a decision. Mikayla Raines' YouTube channel, Saveafox, has nearly 2.5 million subscribers, and her Instagram account has almost 630,000 followers.
Ethan Raines claimed that his wife tried to look past the online hate. When people she knew started to bully her online because of her non-profit organisation, it affected her.
Although Ethan did not reveal who those people were, he shared that they were in Mikayla's social circle and worked at other animal sanctuaries.
What else has Ethan Raines shared about Mikayla Raines' passing?
Last month, Ethan Raines gave a brief statement to CBS News, saying that he discovered Mikayla's body and he performed CPR till the medic arrived. He shared that the difficult part was explaining the death to their four-year-old daughter, Freya.
Ethan said that she is so young, he can't explain Mikayla's passing to her, so he only told her that her mother is "gone."
Ethan and Mikayla Raines met when he was volunteering at Saveafox. They got married on December 23, 2020, and had their daughter in 2021.
He told the media outlet that he hoped people who bullied Mikayla would reflect on their actions and take accountability.
"I do hope there's accountability. Not just from a legal aspect, or a criminal aspect, but just if the people that did this can have the time to self-reflect on what they've said and what they've done. And how just a simple comment online can be such a personal thing online to someone that's reading it," he said.
Mikayla Raines' non-profit, Saveafox's official website, states that she always loved animals as her mother was a rehabilitator. However, she found a special love for foxes at age 15, when she fed and raised a fox.
She later tried to become a veterinary technician and a rehabilitator. Mikayla then focused on rescuing domestic foxes.
Domestic foxes are raised for their fur and sold as pets. After they are abandoned, they can't survive by themselves. Mikalya Raines started the Fox Rescue Organization in 2017, and it is based in Minnesota and Florida.
Mikayla Raines' journey was documented in Lauren Williamson's book, Saving Foxes: Portraits of Rescued Foxes and Their Stories. It was published on November 18, 2019.
According to The Cut's June 25, 2025, report, netizens speculated Reddit "snark" pages or communities were the cause of Mikayla Raines' suicide.
Soon after the YouTuber's death was reported, the Reddit community that criticized her, SaveaFoxSnark, was made private. As of now, the subreddit is banned.
Mikayla Raines is survived by her husband and their daughter, Freya.
TOPICS: Mikayla Raines, death, suicide, YouTuber