Missing Former KGO Host Found Dead

Ray Taliaferro

Longtime Bay Area radio host Ray Taliaferro, who had been missing for several weeks in Kentucky, has been found dead, according to his family.

Taliaferro’s son, Raphael Taliaferro Jr., said that his body was found near the southern border of Illinois, reports The Mercury-News.

In a statement given by his son confirming his death, he wrote:

"It is with great sadness that the Taliaferro family has to announce the passing of Ray Taliaferro. His body was found in Paducah, Kentucky in a wooded area approximately a mile from where he was last seen. The family appreciates the support and help we received in our search for Ray. This is a devastating ending to our search for him over these past weeks. The family is in the process of working with the police to learn the matters surrounding his death. At this time, we are processing this turn of events and ask for privacy as we work through our loss." 

Massac County Sheriff Ted Holder said last week that Ray Taliaferro was reported missing on the morning of Nov. 10 by his wife.

Taliaferro, 79, had kept a residence in San Francisco, but he and his wife were visiting the city of Brookport in southern Illinois on Nov. 10, checking out property she had inherited, a family spokesman told this news organization last week.

Taliaferro became the nation’s first black talk-show host for a major market radio station KNEW 910 AM in 1976. For years, starting in 1986, the liberal Taliaferro commanded the Bay Area’s overnight airwaves, hosting the KGO Newstalk AM-810 show from 1 to 5 a.m.

Taliaferro was inducted in the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2011.