Murder shocks small town

UNION COUNTY, N.C. -- A wife returns home from work to find her husband murdered in their home.

It happened over the weekend in the small Union County community of Lake Park.

The people are friendly neighbors who take care of themselves and their community. To say that violent crime is rare there would be an understatement.

News of the murder spread quickly.

“I’m just sorry for the wife and him. It’s very sad,” said neighbor Melissa Dula.

She learned quickly that 56-year-old Ned Taylor had been found dead inside his home.

Investigators found no sign of a struggle or forced entry.

Dula says that’s not surprising in the neighborhood because, “He may have had his door unlocked, which we do.”

Investigators say Taylor’s wife found his body when she returned home from work around midnight. The last time she saw him was 1:30 in the afternoon.

“It takes the whole community to work together,” says community leader Koy Chiu, “and everyone to be each other’s keeper.

Chiu is trying to alert neighbors about the crime and help them protect each other. She passed out fliers on Monday as neighbors waited for more answers.

“I’m concerned with my kids just going to play with the neighborhood kids. You know just running around, which they do,” explains Dula.

Right now investigators won’t speculate about a motive, but they say it does appear Taylor may have known his killer.

Dula says, “I want the person caught. That’s the main thing.”

The Union County Sheriff’s Department is looking for anyone with information. Call Crime Stoppers at 704-283-5600.

Just a few months earlier in the same area, insurance agent Michael Howell was arrested for the murder of state insurance investigator Sally Rohrbach.

Neighbors say Howell lived only a few blocks away from where Taylor's body was found this weekend.