Bay Area Radio Icon and NABJ Member Ray Taliaferro Reported Missing

Ray Taliaferro (Credit: NABJ)

Raphael “Ray” Taliaferro, a longtime Bay Area journalist and National Association of Black Journalists member, has been missing since Nov. 10.

Taliaferro, who previously worked as a host for KGO 810 radio and is also a well-known liberal commentator, was last seen near the “Mellow Mushroom” pizza restaurant in Paducah, Kentucky, according to a missing person’s flier distributed by the Paducah Police Department.

The flier says the 79 year old was last seen talking to a manager at the restaurant, and may have been experiencing “disorientation and signs of dementia.”

According to Kentucky television station WPSD, Taliaferro now lives in Massac County, Illinois, just outside Paducah.

Bob Butler, a former NABJ president, shared a copy of the flier on social media Saturday, saying Taliaferro “is a legend here in the Bay Area. He’s an unofficial founder of NABJ and is in the NABJ Hall of Fame.”

The journalism organization created the Ray Taliaferro NABJ Entrepreneurial Spirit Award in honor of the radio legend.

Anyone with information was urged to call the police department at 270-444-8548.

Paducah police did not respond to a request Sunday for an update on the search for Taliaferro.