July 13, 2021, was an important day for Toni Hastings. She celebrated her birthday. But instead of a party or cake, Hastings stood by the graveside of her sister Lori Nesson to let her know police finally identified her killers.
“What we wanted to do here today is to give you peace,” Hastings said with a solemn voice. “Give mom peace and to know that we did everything could do to right a wrong.”
This was the first time Hastings, who lives in North Carolina, has returned to central Ohio since the day she learned in February that Reynoldsburg police solved her sister’s cold case from 1974.
Lori Nesson was 15 years old when her naked body was found on the side of a road. Her clothes were scattered over miles.
The coroner at the time ruled the cause of death as undetermined. However, it was changed to a homicide in 2020 after a Reynoldsburg police officer reopened the case and presented evidence to the Franklin County Coroner’s Office.
In December 2020, a tip from a 10TV viewer led the Nesson case to Karen Adams, a Franklin county teenager killed in 1975 by Robert Meyer and Charles Weber. The two men are now dead, but police say DNA linked them to both cases.
Surrounded by her cousins and friends last month, Hastings told sister at standing by her sister’s gravesite how the extraordinary events unfolded.
“In February of this year, they solved your homicide,” she said with a sense of peace. “We have the pictures of the offenders and we’re going to burn them in this bucket.”
Last month, friends of Lori’s from her high school years also returned to central Ohio. Some of them traveled from overseas. Debbie, who didn’t want to share her last name, said the past year closed a chapter that haunted them all their lives until Nesson’s case was solved.
“It put me over,” Debbie said. “I actually felt like it was 14 again and just knowing what happened I kind of froze like I did back then and I realized how much it had affected me.”
Hastings said returning to central Ohio to celebrate her sister’s life was an important step towards closure and healing. She also wanted to recognize and thank those who have supported her family for the past half-century that helped her maintain hope.
She also wanted to recognize members of the Reynoldsburg police department, Lt. Bill Early, Sgt. Jim Costlow and former police officer Craig Brafford, who were all instrumental in solving Lori’s case.
Also in attendance was Karen Adams’ brother Gene. He has since wondered if Karen, who was 17 at the time, would be alive today if Lori’s investigation was handled differently from the start.
“Nobody should ever have to go through this but unfortunately it is not a perfect world,” Hastings said. “That’s why I say just because it's been however long, don't give up hope.”
CrimeTracker 10 reached out to the Ohio Attorney General’s office, which opened a cold case unit in December 2020. It has 146 open investigations from around the state. The oldest cold case from 1966 is still unsolved.