MEMPHIS, Tenn.– The family of an Orange Mound man is preparing for a painful goodbye months after his disappearance.
Friday night was very emotional for the family of Steven Taylor. As the balloons rose, the hearts of Taylor’s family continued to sink as reality set in.
“I wake up everyday and have to remind myself that this is happening,” said Taylor’s girlfriend Jess Walker.
“I never thought this would have happened. It’s really like a movie,” said his son Rickim Taylor.
According to a City Watch that was issued on February 10, 47-year-old Taylor was last seen by family when he left his home here in the 3000 block of Phisdale in late January.
Investigators said his girlfriend Jesse Walker told them Taylor was riding with a man to pick up a vehicle at a lot in 1700 block of Dellwood.
He was intending to sell two cars for $50,000.
“He went to sell the two cars to buy him two more trucks to continue his box truck company,” Walker said. “He left out Thursday night, and when I woke up at 6:30 am on a Friday he was wasn’t there and I immediately knew something was wrong.”
The family said they contacted authorities and questioned the person he sold the car too. They didn’t get many answers until weeks later when his body was discovered near Clarksdale, Mississippi.
The Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release March 11 that says an unidentified body was found in a ditch off Old Hwy 61 and the victim had a “gold tooth with a dollar sign in it”.
“They left a ring on his finger and we identified him through that. We praise God for the farmer that showed up on the property down there and found him,” Walker said.
On April 23, the sheriff’s office posted another release confirming they had identified the body as Taylor. The sheriff’s office says Taylor died from a gunshot wound.
The Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office and the Memphis Police Department are working together on the investigation.
Still in disbelief, Walker said she’s anxiously awaiting justice for Taylor and his 16 children.
“To take him away from this many people and babies that love him is just indescribable,” Walker said.
Taylor’s casket will be put on a carriage Saturday for a horse drawn ride through Orange Mound before heading to his final resting place.
His family said they are hopeful police will make an arrest soon.