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

[Lilibet]

Does his wife also suffer from memory issues?

She remembered to report him missing FWIW. I don’t believe she is anywhere near his age.

 

[HarvestMoon]

Does his wife also suffer from memory issues?

I don't know she is supposedly in her late 50's.

 

[Lilibet]

I hate to ask that the thread title be changed to “Found Deceased” but I’ll report my post to notify a mod.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Heartbroken

 

[rosesfromangels]

I am glad the FBI is involved in Ray's disappearance.
While it's up to them and his son, I hope a vigorous investigation will take place including tox tests (including a strand test).
Everything about this has me deeply troubled.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[RP48819]

1. TV news report said the couple had been driving around with the rental car for a month, but the cops indicated the wife told them they had the rental car for one day. Red Flag.

2. Why a seedy hotel? Very unlike Ray. Perhaps some sentimental reason to stay there. Or perhaps they could not afford... But more likely some nefarious reason. Very disturbing.
Anybody have a name of the hotel?

3. Pat Thurston/KGO radio said Ray had been battling dementia for years. Ray had been married for 6 months. Why would the wife go back home instead of remaining to aid the search?... But I suppose it is possible if she has no connection to that location and place to stay.

She is apparently cleared as a suspect because the cops had said there were no signs of foul play and Ray was seen at the church an hour after he abandoned her. But I am still not certain that Ray drove away while they were inspecting the property. That is her story but who can corroborate this?

4. Are people with dementia fit to drive? The church minister said Ray re-introduced himself several times during their 15 minute conversation. That does not sound like someone fit to drive.

The most concerning things are lying about the rental car (30 days vs 1 day). And not mentioning to police he had dementia. Surely she must have seen the dementia symptoms during her 6 months marriage with Ray.

 

[UMfanforever]

This is terrible news, I listened to Ray all the time on the radio. They definitely need to look into the wife in my opinion.

 

[HarvestMoon]

1. TV news report said the couple had been driving around with the rental car for a month, but the cops indicated the wife told them they had the rental car for one day. Red Flag.

2. Why a seedy hotel? Very unlike Ray. Perhaps some sentimental reason to stay there. Or perhaps they could not afford... But more likely some nefarious reason. Very disturbing.
Anybody have a name of the hotel?

3. Pat Thurston/KGO radio said Ray had been battling dementia for years. Ray had been married for 6 months. Why would the wife go back home instead of remaining to aid the search?... But I suppose it is possible if she has no connection to that location and place to stay.

She is apparently cleared as a suspect because the cops had said there were no signs of foul play and Ray was seen at the church an hour after he abandoned her. But I am still not certain that Ray drove away while they were inspecting the property. That is her story but who can corroborate this?

4. Are people with dementia fit to drive? The church minister said Ray re-introduced himself several times during their 15 minute conversation. That does not sound like someone fit to drive.

The most concerning things are lying about the rental car (30 days vs 1 day). And not mentioning to police he had dementia. Surely she must have seen the dementia symptoms during her 6 months marriage with Ray.

Don't think at all that she has now been cleared as a suspect. LE has not been able to be in contact with her.

K

 

[tiffkinsadder]

Oh no!

 

[HarvestMoon]

Two teenagers found Ray's body.


Body of San Francisco radio host Ray Taliaferro found in Paducah

 

[RP48819]

Don't think at all that she has now been cleared as a suspect. LE has not been able to be in contact with her.

K

He went missing Nov 1o. 14 days later, the Sherriff came on KGO radio with Pat Thurston and announced their investigation found no signs of foul play and they are working on the presumption Ray is trying to get home to San Francisco.

If their investigation had not ruled out foul play, he should have just said they are not sure and that anything is a possibility.

Instead he sort of misled Pat who was worried about foul play and was then relieved the Sheriff thought he was trying to get home.

John Rothmann and I just talked with the sheriff investigating Ray Taliaferro's disappearance. He gave us some additional information but the most important thing is the sheriff thinks Ray is trying to get home to San Francisco. If you know Ray, if you see Ray, speak up. Call the police. This is good news. So far there are NO signs of foul play ... they think he's trying to come home. Pat Thurston

I still think the most likely explanation is that it was accidental and he wandered off. Just trying to reconcile that with the wife's inconsistent statements on rental car and their decision to stay in a seedy hotel. As Pat said, Ray would never stay in such a place.

 

[Lilibet]

1. TV news report said the couple had been driving around with the rental car for a month, but the cops indicated the wife told them they had the rental car for one day. Red Flag.

2. Why a seedy hotel? Very unlike Ray. Perhaps some sentimental reason to stay there. Or perhaps they could not afford... But more likely some nefarious reason. Very disturbing.
Anybody have a name of the hotel?

3. Pat Thurston/KGO radio said Ray had been battling dementia for years. Ray had been married for 6 months. Why would the wife go back home instead of remaining to aid the search?... But I suppose it is possible if she has no connection to that location and place to stay.

She is apparently cleared as a suspect because the cops had said there were no signs of foul play and Ray was seen at the church an hour after he abandoned her. But I am still not certain that Ray drove away while they were inspecting the property. That is her story but who can corroborate this?

4. Are people with dementia fit to drive? The church minister said Ray re-introduced himself several times during their 15 minute conversation. That does not sound like someone fit to drive.

The most concerning things are lying about the rental car (30 days vs 1 day). And not mentioning to police he had dementia. Surely she must have seen the dementia symptoms during her 6 months marriage with Ray.

Just touching on dementia and driving. In dealing with my Mom and our friend, I’ve learned that it’s progressive and very sneaky. The person with dementia is often good at covering their lapses initially. Families and friends are reluctant to admit that it’s happening for some time after the first symptoms begin. We blame it on hearing or vision loss or prescription interactions. And even after it’s clear, it’s a hard subject to bring up. Yes, someone could drive. They shouldn’t at a certain stage, but they do unless family gets their license pulled, and that requires a physician’s diagnosis...and a huge fight, as you can imagine! Ray may never have been officially diagnosed. His wife may have been in denial, excusing his dementia as just having some memory problems. Unfortunately, that could have cost Ray his life, since a Silver Alert was not issued, unfortunately.

At 72, I recently asked my doctor to test me for dementia because I feel that my memory isn’t as sharp as it was. I joke that my “synapses aren’t snapping” and I can’t retrieve names quickly sometimes. They arrive eventually though. The test I was given would, IMO, diagnose someone with pretty severe dementia, not someone in the early stages. I passed perfectly. Apparently, I’m normal, as are my younger friends having the same problem. But my husband and I both feel that we have to concentrate harder when driving in our complicated little town. So who knows?

 

[Sapphires13]

As far as the “seedy” hotel, depending on what town they were staying in, they might not have had much choice. Brookport is an extremely small town and doesn’t even have any hotels. Metropolis is nearby and has a few, with the Harrah’s casino hotel being the nicest at 4 stars. Paducah has some four star hotels too. But if they considered anything less than 5 stars to be “seedy”, then they would have been out of luck. Or if they were staying somewhere more rural, some place “seedy” might have been the only choice.

 

[HarvestMoon]

Had this woman not been so elusive/evasive with authorities, and also said she and Ray had flown into the area the day before he went missing, when they had been in the rental car for 30 days- I would not be suspicious.

Ray's own family and former colleagues are suspicious.

Tomorrow is the autopsy.

It could well be that Ray wandered off.

I hope Ms Crawford will be found and start giving some facts.

The place he was found in was off the road, across lots of leaves on the ground, next to trees and a creek. On the surrounding streets are street lights. If he went there after leaving the church it was dark. I know he has dementia, may have been confused and scared, but why didn't he stay where the lights were?

 

[Auntie Cipation]

My mom is in her mid 80s and was recently diagnosed with dementia.

Back in 2011-12 she had some experiences that concerned me -- she was having minor car accidents every few months, wasn't cooking or making sure she ate properly. I was fortunately able to persuade her to move into a retirement facility.

She has lived in the retirement community for over six years now and during that time she has gotten more and more confused -- but until very recently her issues seemed mostly to do with technology (ie forgetting how to use the computer, or confusing the cell phone with the tv remote, etc) or things like sometimes confusing me with her sister. Those were all things that seemed to me like they might be in the "normal aging" category as opposed to dementia.

Finally last year we went to the memory clinic and they gave her the standard tests including questions like "what month is it" and the instructions to "draw a clock" -- and she did pretty poorly, getting maybe a third of the questions wrong. Some of them really surprised me, like after "almost" identifying the current month correctly (it was October and she said September), then next question was "what season is it" and she answered "spring"....

My point is that she is still apparently considered to be in the early stages of dementia, even after all this time. She is still classified as "independent living" by the retirement community. I'm sure there are many people at her stage of the disease who are still living on their own, maybe with a little help from family with things like paying bills etc.

So there is a very wide range of conditions that someone like Ray might have been in. It might not have been apparent to most folks around him that he had dementia.

 

[HarvestMoon]

As far as the “seedy” hotel, depending on what town they were staying in, they might not have had much choice. Brookport is an extremely small town and doesn’t even have any hotels. Metropolis is nearby and has a few, with the Harrah’s casino hotel being the nicest at 4 stars. Paducah has some four star hotels too. But if they considered anything less than 5 stars to be “seedy”, then they would have been out of luck. Or if they were staying somewhere more rural, some place “seedy” might have been the only choice.

Per his former colleague where they stayed was close to the 4 star Harrah's Hotel. She wondered given Ray's habits why they didn't stay there.

 

[Sapphires13]

Per his former colleague where they stayed was close to the 4 star Harrah's Hotel. She wondered given Ray's habits why they didn't stay there.

Sounds like maybe they stayed at the Baymont in Metropolis, which is just a stone’s throw from Harrah’s. It’s not as large or as nice as Harrah’s, but I wouldn’t call it a slum. I looked it up and the pictures look okay and it seems to have mostly positive reviews.

 

[rosesfromangels]

When a 79 year old passes, we rarely see a vigorous investigation. I pray this will be an exception.

I am very uncomfortable with the facts (or lack thereof), that we presently know. I would like to see a parallel FINANCIAL investigation. Was this a tragic accident, neglect, or worse?

I don’t know, but I am very uncomfortable with the little we do know.

Ray deserved better.

Amateur opinion and speculation only.

 

[HarvestMoon]

When a 79 year old passes, we rarely see a vigorous investigation. I pray this will be an exception.

I am very uncomfortable with the facts (or lack thereof), that we presently know. I would like to see a parallel FINANCIAL investigation. Was this a tragic accident, neglect, or worse?

I don’t know, but I am very uncomfortable with the little we do know.

Ray deserved better.

Amateur opinion and speculation only.

Yes I am curious about a financial investigation, too.
Could this be why CC has been in seclusion?

 

[HarvestMoon]

Sounds like maybe they stayed at the Baymont in Metropolis, which is just a stone’s throw from Harrah’s. It’s not as large or as nice as Harrah’s, but I wouldn’t call it a slum. I looked it up and the pictures look okay and it seems to have mostly positive reviews.

How far away is the Motel6?