James Raymond Taylor has been identified as the lead suspect in the August 18, 1963 rape and murder of 16-year-old Margaret Beck in Douglas County, Colorado.
Beck was a Girl Scout on a camping trip with her troop at the Flying G Ranch near Deckers, Colorado in the Pike National Forest. Beck’s tentmate found her when she came back from spending a night in the infirmary. Beck had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
A DNA profile of the suspect was created in 2007, but there were no hits in CODIS. A new profile was obtained in June of 2019 and sent for FGG. The FGG investigation was conducted by United Data Connect.
Taylor has not yet been located. He is presumed to be deceased, although a warrant has been issued for his arrest. He was last seen in Las Vegas in 1976. If he is still alive, he will be about 82 years old as of 2021. It is known that he lived in the area at the time of the murder, working in a TV repair shop in Edgewater.
Sources:
Bonvillian, Crystal. “DNA Cold Case: Colorado Police Seek Suspect Identified in 1963 Killing of Girl Scout.” Fox 13 News, June 23, 2020. Accessed December 27, 2020. https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/trending/dna-cold-case-colorado-police-seek-suspect-identified-1963-killing-girl-scout/7Q5OBV5PINCHBMFFIK5AZRDN5U/.
Burke, Caroline. “Who is James Raymond Taylor (World’s Oldest Successful Cold Case is Solved)?” Wiki Fox News, April 27, 2020. Accessed December 27, 2020. https://wikifoxnews.com/james-raymond-taylor-wiki-bio/.
CBS 4 Denver. “Genetic Genealogy Helps Solve 1963 Colorado Murder of Peggy Beck.” CBS 4 Denver, April 23, 2020. Accessed December 27, 2020. https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/04/23/james-raymond-taylor-genetic-genealogy-solve-1963-murder-margaret-peggy-beck/.