$10,000 REWARD offered in the 2011 Mr. Lou Taylor Homicide case

A $10,000 REWARD is being offered in the 2011 Mr. Lou Taylor Homicide case.  On Saturday, July 7, 2012, the birth date of Urbana homicide victim Louis E. Taylor, the Urbana Police Division and the Champaign County Prosecutor’s office are announcing a REWARD to the person who provides the information that leads to the arrest(s) and conviction(s) for this crime. That REWARD is $10,000.00. 

​Lou Taylor was born in 1924 in LA California to a mother who was the personal seamstress to Mr. Walt Disney. He served his country in WWII as a Navy pilot. After graduating from the University of Missouri he met his future wife, Betty Jane. He and Betty Jane were married 56 years before her passing in 2005. He always said the only two worthwhile things he did in his life were serving his country and marrying Betty Jane.

Urbana was home to Louis for over 50 years. He worked for Grimes Manufacturing, BPI, and Field and Associates. He was a 4-H and Boy Scout leader even though his son, Jeff, was not even in Boy Scouts. He enjoyed cycling, working out at the YMCA, golf, fishing, the Tim Horton’s Coffee Club.

Louis was a father, grandfather and great-grandfather. In addition to his beloved family, he was well known and loved by friends and neighbors throughout the Urbana community and enjoyed the many relationships he shared with them.

Taylor was found badly beaten inside his Dorothy Moore Drive home on the early morning of October 24, 2011. His 2006 Jeep Liberty was stolen from the home and recovered later that same day in a parking lot in the 2200 block of South Limestone Street in Springfield. Lou Taylor died as a result of his injuries on November 17, 2011. The case remains an open homicide investigation for Urbana police.

We are hoping the Reward will move people with information on the crime to come forward. We are hoping that the time that has elapsed since Lou’s death will make it easier for people with information to divulge details to police. It’s important that people who have this information understand that it may be critical to helping us to solve this homicide. Sometimes the smallest or seemingly insignificant detail can be the key to helping police to identify the person(s) responsible for committing this crime.

The Reward comes from criminal case monies forfeited, by the courts, to both the Urbana Police Division Investigative Trust fund and the Champaign County Prosecutors Investigative Trust fund. The information provided must lead police to a criminal arrest and subsequent conviction of the person(s) responsible for Louis Taylor’s homicide.

​Anyone with information is asked to call the Urbana Police Division at 937-652-4364 or our TIP Line at 937-652-4357. Please leave your name and a contact number where you can be reached. Those wishing to remain anonymous are also encouraged to call, but will not be subject to receiving the Reward.