The Mysterious Death of Taylor Kramer

Taylor Kramer was the bassist of the band Iron Butterfly and more. After he left the band in the 80s, Kramer worked as a computer engineer for Total Multimedia Inc. and SoftVideo Inc., which he co-founded in 1990. He married and had two children as well. Which made his mysterious death all the much harder to accept, for his fans and his family.

When his businesses went bankrupt and were reorganized in 1994, he became extremely depressed. Kramer told his wife, Jennifer, that he was looking into a central computer and data compression project in the weeks that crept up to his disappearance. He believed that the software could picture a missing child and locate them among thousands of people.

Taylor and Jennifer went on a walk in Thousand Oaks on February 11, 1995.  It was during then that she found him to have a lot of energy while hiking. He pointed out a cross on a hill to her at one point, telling her that their house was in its way. He was seeking sacredness in everything, she said. She now suspects that a lack of sleep caused his strange behavior.

Taylor left home around 9 a.m. on February 12 to see his father-in-law. He went to Los Angeles International Airport to pick up a business associate and Jennifer after that. He waited for twenty-five minutes after arriving at the airport before leaving for no apparent reason.

He headed north, back to his house. He made multiple phone calls during this period. He even left a message for Iron Butterfly drummer and close friend Ron Bushy at one point. Which many people found strange considering he left the band more than a decade ago. Kramer sounded depressed and afraid, according to Ron. He then dialed Jennifer’s number and instructed her to contact his business associate. In all the calls he made he declined to say where he was going when she asked. He said that he would have a “big surprise” for her when he saw her.

Taylor dialed 911 from his Ford Aerostar one hour later. He confirmed that he was going to commit suicide. He had not been heard since, and no sign of him or his van could be found. Several eyewitnesses have come forward following his disappearance, claiming to have seen him alive. Kramer was last seen in late February, according to a pawn shop employee in Kenowga Park. A woman and her daughter saw him at a garage sale around the same time.

Taylor reportedly made one last call to his family on February 28, two and a half weeks after his disappearance. He just said, “Hello, hello.” His body had never been discovered.

No suspects have been identified; however, police believe Taylor may have committed suicide due to his 911 call. His family, on the other hand, assumed he was still alive, after the phone call. They held on to that thought to thinking he was still well and alive somewhere but more than anything alive.

Taylor’s van was discovered on May 29, 1999, by two photographers who were photographing old car wrecks at the bottom of Decker Canyon near Malibu, California. His skeletal remains were found inside; the cause of death was blunt force trauma, which may have resulted from him driving off a mountain. Dental records were used to identify his remains. Based on forensic evidence, his death was deemed a suspected suicide after an inquiry, proof, financial struggles, and phone calls made before he died, one of which claimed that he was trying to commit suicide.

However, there had been no explanation to his voice ringing up his family. “hello, hello.” Could Jennifer have imagined it?  After the great loss was she in such denial that she refused to see him go?