I1111WlIK't INIIDI DIALS s m t S o e g res c v s
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www.MyMCR.net Vol. 48 No. 2
4 Sections 24 Pages Wednesday January 9, 2019
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Firefighters found
tesy MCES)
the bodies of Alicia Taylor and Colton King in this home at 47 Joe Chambers Road on Friday after putting out the blaze. (Photo cour-
By Will Davis
pubhsher@mymcr.net
Were persistent keep-
ing Forsyth builder Mike
Taylor from earning a check
and keeping up on bills? Was
a detached retina making
him despair as he neared age
70 whether he could provide
for his wife and stepson?
"We may never know why
he did it" sheriffBrad Free-
man told the Re orter.
All we know for sure is that
the 68-year-old Taylor shot
and killed his wife Alicia, 52,
and step-son Colton King,
23, early Friday morning in
their bedrooms, doused their
home with gasoline and set
it on fire on Friday morn-
ing, then got in his truck and
drove ones flames engulfed
their home. He later called
two business acquaintances,
as yet unidentified, and told
them what he had done.
The Monroe County sher-
iff's office was notified and
went on high alert, worried
that if Taylor was willing to
do what he had done so far,
he might be about to kill
more. -.
"We were worried there
might be a hit list" said Free-
man. "We were like, 'where's
he going next?',
But the next life Taylor
would end would be his
own. He drove to FloviUa,
See MURDER Page 7A Mike and Alicia Taylor
in happier times.
Colton King.
(Photos/Facebook)
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Three heroes helped save the life of David Vassar on Dec.
Campfield, Jake Pressley and Gene Burnet.
Bit Glidewell tars, was 84.05 inches. In
news@mymcr.net 2017, it was 51.44 inches.
In 2016 it was 40 inches.
As Monroe Countians Looking back to some
slosh through puddles the other years when water
first week of 2019, they will restrictions were in force
probably not be surprised in Monroe County, in 2011
the total rainfall was 39.24
to learn that 2018 was
the wettest year since the inches, and in 2006 it was
county began measur- 38.4 inches.
ing rainfall in 2002. Most Looking at individual
years there is more concern sites, Pea Ridge Road mea-
about drought than exces- sured an amazing 145.8
sive precipitation, inches of rain in 2018, and
The total 2018 rainfall for Hubbard measured 114.6
Monroe County, obtained inches. In 2017, there were
by averaging the rainfall 62 inches of rain at Pea
measured at each of the
county's 13 recycling cen- See RAIN Page 6A
28, from left, Deputy Timothy
By Will Davis
pubhsher@rnymcr.nef
A High Falls man was
up to his neck in the frigid
floodwaters of the Towa-
liga River, holding on to
a root in the riverbank
for almost 30 minutes the
night of Dec. 28, before he
was rescued by a Monroe
County deputy and nearby
resident.
"He was at his breaking
point" said Sgt. Timothy
Campfield of the Monroe
County Sheriff's Office.
"We got him just in time:'
David Vasser, 29, of
Woodlands Drive in High
Falls might not have been
saved if Gene Burnet hadn't
gone outside to check on
his labrador retrievers
behind his Boxankle Road
home. Burnet said it was
about 7:30 p.m. and while
outside, he heard scream-
ing through the fog, drizzle
and pitch black covering
See RESCUE Page 6A
The
remains
of Tropi-
cal Storm
Alberto
dumped
six inches
of rain
in May,
wash-
ing out
Edwards
Road, left,
contribut-
ing to the
wettest
year in
recorded
county his-
tory. (File
photo)
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