A Mount Ayr man who became the subject of a statewide manhunt after allegedly shooting and killing the woman he lived with early Friday morning has apparently killed himself.
A man matching the description of Robert Daren Taylor, 40, shot himself as a Fremont County deputy approached his car late Friday afternoon, according to KCCI-TV in Des Moines.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation confirmed authorities believe they have found Taylor. But officials said the agency could not confirm his identity until an autopsy is completed. Authorities also found Taylor’s truck at the scene along Interstate Highway 29 in Fremont County.
A person who answered the telephone at the Fremont County sheriff’s department Friday night, when asked about Taylor, said there had been “an incident involving that subject in the county” but declined further comment.
Taylor was wanted for first-degree murder in the death of Lori Yeager, 45.
Ringgold County sheriff’s deputies responded to the rural Mount Ayr home the two shared just after 2 a.m. Friday, officials said. A juvenile inside the house had reportedly called authorities to report a domestic altercation between Taylor and Yeager.
Deputies found Yeager dead of a gunshot wound and Taylor gone.
Sheriff’s offices and police departments in Ringgold and surrounding counties, as well as the Iowa State Patrol, searched for Taylor all Friday. Agencies throughout Iowa and northern Missouri were also notified. Authorities said they considered Taylor a public safety risk.
DCI special agent in charge Mike Motsinger said the juvenile who called police was still in the house when deputies arrived. Motsinger would not release the juvenile’s age or other information.
The child was not injured and is now with other family members, he said. There were no other children in the home.
Officials at Mount Ayr Elementary School locked the building’s doors during the school day and gave parents the option of keeping their children home. Mount Ayr school Superintendent Joe Drake stopped short of linking the precautions to the homicide but said a student related to the incident was not at school Friday.
Police presence was noticeable in and around Mount Ayr, residents said, and the murder was a topic of conversation.
“Shocked and saddened” is how Kristi Sackett, 34, described her reaction after she learned about the incident.
Sackett, who lives several miles down the road from Yeager and Taylor’s home, said she knew both of them. “She was a wonderful person,” Sackett said of Yeager. “Very kind-hearted.”
Taylor was convicted of domestic abuse in 2001, online court records show. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 28 of those days were suspended. Yeager was the victim in that case.
According to court records, a judge lifted the no-contact order related to the case on the condition Taylor complete a Batterers’ Education Program. Taylor initially failed to attend the group sessions though he eventually completed the classes.
Authorities are still trying to determine what preceded the incident. They are talking to neighbors, though the rural area left the house relatively isolated, authorities said.
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