Found Deceased KY - Raphael “Ray” Taliaferro, 79, radio journalist, Paducah, 10 Nov 2018

[carbuff]

Awwwwww....I remember Ray from KGO talk radio. My mom was a big fan and listened to him for years. She slept with her transistor radio tuned to KGO and he kept her company all night. He was a great guy. I hope he’s OK, but it doesn’t sound good.

I did the same thing as your mom many nights. He had such a soothing manner to him. I hope they find him soon and he's okay.

 

[Tripod]

Hi. I joined the forum to post here. I live in Paducah and work quite near where Ray was last seen, so I thought I could provide some insight.

The Independence Bank is across the street from Mellow Mushroom. The Mellow Mushroom itself is housed within a historic former Coca-Cola bottling plant. The building is gorgeous and Mellow Mushroom is just one of the businesses located there. Unfortunately the building has almost no parking, and so the bank across the street ended up designating half of its parking lot as “friendly neighborhood parking” for the use of the businesses inside the Coke building. The bank itself is also a very interesting building (in my opinion it looks more like a church than a bank). If Ray had any interest in historic buildings, that might have drawn him to the Coca-Cola factory and Mellow Mushroom. Or maybe he just wanted pizza, though I’ve heard no reports that he ate there.

He went from there to a local church. The most direct course between the Coke building and the church would have taken him down Broadway where he would have passed two other churches and a post office, as well as my place of business. But he could have also crossed through the adjacent neighborhood to reach the church he ended up at.

The local police and FBI have actually inquired with my employer about obtaining any outdoor security footage from that day (we are closed on the weekends) to see if they could spot him or track his movements. I am however not privy to said footage and I don’t know if they found anything.

It was cold on November 10th and it has been cold off and on since. We actually had our first snow on the 14th as well.

Also one poster said it was possible he could have driven off the bridge coming over the Ohio River. His car was found near where he was las seen. One article says he and his wife were in Brookport, which has a bridge that connects directly to Paducah. It is a narrow bridge with a metal grating rather than pavement. It’s bright blue and is actually pretty scary to go across (I know a lot of people who will drive 10 miles out of the way to the I-24 bridge just to avoid it). I don’t find it likely that he tried to return to the bridge on foot.

Ray was last seen in the “mid town” area of my city, which is nearly 3 miles south of downtown and the riverfront and four miles east of the “mall” area where all the hotels and chain businesses are.

I can’t really think of where he would have gone or why.

If anyone has any questions, I’ll be glad to try and answer them.

Glad you joined, and thanks for the info! The only question I have at the moment is, how far is it from the Coke bldg. to the church he went to? Is it just a block or two? Thanks.

 

[Sapphires13]

Glad you joined, and thanks for the info! The only question I have at the moment is, how far is it from the Coke bldg. to the church he went to? Is it just a block or two? Thanks.

It’s about a half a mile. A 12 minute walk according to Google.

 

[CluelessWonder]

Has there been a search party for Ray? I feel that locals might not have searched for him because he's not actually local. Plus, at this point, they probably realize that a search is not a rescue type situation. Still, I hope some local people have searched or can organize a search. It seems obvious that he's in an isolated place. And probably not more than 2-3 miles from downtown. Wooded areas, thick brush areas, creeks, that's where he might be.

 

[Lilibet]

Welcome Sapphire and thanks for your info. Are there many abandoned buildings near the general 2-3 mile area where Ray disappeared. I wonder if he sought shelter and succumbed to the cold. I hope they are searched too.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Ray is a broadcasting legend, and I am deeply saddened to hear he is unaccounted for.

Ray is also known as a highly accomplished musician. He was once a music Director for a Baptist church in San Francisco. It makes sense he stopped at the church to talk to the music leader

Against the odds, I am praying for his safe return. He is a highly accomplished man, and a great servant to his community.
Where are you dear man?

 

[Sapphires13]

There aren’t any wooded areas in the immediate area near where Ray was last seen. It’s a mix of residential and businesses. There’s a large hospital campus right across from the church, and a high school just a block away.

At the moment no one knows which direction he went in after he left the church. If he had continued in the same direction he’d been going in (from Mellow Mushroom to the church is northward) he would have ended up downtown (about a three mile walk) and wouldn’t have entered into any wooded or remote area without veering to the east and going much farther. If he went back the way he came, the area is much more residential and there is a large park with a wooded section.

There aren’t really any abandoned buildings in this part of town. There haven’t really been any search parties at least not like you’d think of on TV, because how do you really do that inside a city? His face and description has been on the local news though and everyone’s been told to contact police if they see him or know anything about his whereabouts.

 

[carbuff]

I wonder if he totally lost track of who he was and found shelter among the homeless?

 

[rosesfromangels]

I wonder if he totally lost track of who he was and found shelter among the homeless?

That’s entirely possible, but something tells me he went on some sort of a “farewell tour”, whether intentional or not. God Bless him.

 

[carbuff]

That’s entirely possible, but something tells me he went on some sort of a “farewell tour”, whether intentional or not. God Bless him.

That does sound like it might be a possibility.

 

[fred&edna]

There aren’t any wooded areas in the immediate area near where Ray was last seen. It’s a mix of residential and businesses. There’s a large hospital campus right across from the church, and a high school just a block away.

At the moment no one knows which direction he went in after he left the church. If he had continued in the same direction he’d been going in (from Mellow Mushroom to the church is northward) he would have ended up downtown (about a three mile walk) and wouldn’t have entered into any wooded or remote area without veering to the east and going much farther. If he went back the way he came, the area is much more residential and there is a large park with a wooded section.

There aren’t really any abandoned buildings in this part of town. There haven’t really been any search parties at least not like you’d think of on TV, because how do you really do that inside a city? His face and description has been on the local news though and everyone’s been told to contact police if they see him or know anything about his whereabouts.

I've been looking at google maps and park areas seem a possibility... would it be both Carson Park AND Keiler Park? Are there shelters and wooded areas within each?
Any ponds nearby?

Also, I wonder if search dogs could be used to trace his direction from the church?

 

[fred&edna]

From a Nov 26 report posted previously:

"Almost a week later and across the river, Paducah Police found his car outside of Mellow Mushroom, but there was no Taliaferro.

“Well, it’s possible with the interstate right here that he could have caught a ride away from here and could be on his way back to San Francisco in a car.” Holder said.

“What we are afraid of is there is a a lot of people out there that know Mr. Taliaferro that don’t know he is missing,” Holder said. “Someone may have run into him in the past couple of weeks, but didn’t know he was missing."

Do a lot of people in Massac County know Mr Taliaferro? Does he (or just his wife) have friends/relatives living in the area?

JMO... I doubt either of these two possibilities mentioned by Sheriff Holder, particularly since dementia is a factor. But, I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Lilibet]

From a Nov 26 report posted previously:

"Almost a week later and across the river, Paducah Police found his car outside of Mellow Mushroom, but there was no Taliaferro.

“Well, it’s possible with the interstate right here that he could have caught a ride away from here and could be on his way back to San Francisco in a car.” Holder said.

“What we are afraid of is there is a a lot of people out there that know Mr. Taliaferro that don’t know he is missing,” Holder said. “Someone may have run into him in the past couple of weeks, but didn’t know he was missing."

Do a lot of people in Massac County know Mr Taliaferro? Does he (or just his wife) have friends/relatives living in the area?

JMO... I doubt either of these two possibilities mentioned by Sheriff Holder, particularly since dementia is a factor. But, I hope I'm wrong.

What I took from what the sheriff said is that perhaps Ray has made it back to the Bay Area where he is well known. It seems unlikely that someone wouldn’t have seen the news that he is missing, but I guess the sheriff is hoping Ray is staying with someone oblivious. It would be nice, but pretty doubtful, sadly.

 

[Tripod]

It’s about a half a mile. A 12 minute walk according to Google.

So not far if he was in good shape. No sightings after the church, that we are aware of. Are there traffic cams that could have picked him up?

 

[Sapphires13]

No traffic cams around here, but like I said, the police were looking into security camera footage from nearby businesses to see if they could see what direction he went in.


To give an indication about the timeline of these events. He was last seen on the 10th (the same day that he drove away from his wife). Reports of him being missing didn’t hit the local news until about a week later. No one even knew he’d been in Paducah until his car was found half a week later. At that point Police started canvassing and found that he’d talked to several people on the 10th.

Though it’s been on the local news, it’s really not more than a blip on the radar for most folks here. The local news has been more preoccupied with a local school shooter who is about to go to trial. After the police came to my work to inquire about security footage I found out that some of my coworkers didn’t even know about the missing man and had missed it entirely in the news.
If he still is in my city, it’s possible he’s being housed by someone who has no idea who he is and that he’s missing.

 

[Mira_Eg]

Few updates from his son (on his own personal Twitter account) including a campaign by an NGO
Raphael Taliaferro JR on Twitter
Commonwealth Club on Twitter

 

[fred&edna]

What I took from what the sheriff said is that perhaps Ray has made it back to the Bay Area where he is well known. It seems unlikely that someone wouldn’t have seen the news that he is missing, but I guess the sheriff is hoping Ray is staying with someone oblivious. It would be nice, but pretty doubtful, sadly.

Thank you for clarifying!!

I suppose I was just very puzzled by the thought Mr Taliaferro possibly made it back to California... (and sometimes my "thinker" is s - l - o - w )

 

[HarvestMoon]

How far and how difficult is it from the West End Baptist Church to the Ohio River downtown?

Another former devoted KGO listener here (many years until the cruel firing of Ray and other KGO hosts in 2011)

From the looks of the captured video in the church, Ray had the short gait shuffled walk of one with dementia.

Been missing 3 weeks today.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Thank you for clarifying!!

I suppose I was just very puzzled by the thought Mr Taliaferro possibly made it back to California... (and sometimes my "thinker" is s - l - o - w )

Ray could very well be trying to make his way back to California.
My heart is breaking on this one.

 

[carbuff]

If he is, I hope people are being kind to him.

Dementia can be odd--with my mother in law, she'd have clear spells and then go off into her own world. Her old memories were far more vivid than current ones. It wouldn't surprise me if he's trying to get to some place from his past--childhood home, perhaps?