Family makes contact with imprisoned father after months of silence from Coastal State Prison

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A family’s two-month search for contact with their imprisoned father ended after a WTOC Investigation prompted prison officials to facilitate a phone call.

Robert Lee Taylor, sentenced to life in prison in 2015, had maintained regular contact with his children until he was transferred to Coastal State Prison in September. His children say he called them several times a week since his sentencing before the transfer.

Elizabeth Rogers and her brother Robert Taylor drove from Atlanta to Savannah seeking answers about their father’s wellbeing after two months of silence.

“At least to find out was my father okay? I mean, because two months has went by and we’ve hadn’t heard nothing,” Rogers said.

Health concerns heightened family’s fears

The siblings learned of their father’s transfer from his previous cellmate and immediately began trying to establish contact with him at Coastal State Prison. They say the situation frightened them because their father was not in great health before the transfer.

Rogers said she feared something had happened to her father based on a previous experience when he was injured at another facility.

“[I was worried] that something’s happened, that he’s not okay, and they’re just not telling us, which, from a conversation we had before when my father got injured and I had been calling, trying to get in contact with him when he was in Augusta, I was told that he’s the ward of the state, they don’t, unless in his life or death, they don’t have to give us any information. So I’m thinking because we hadn’t heard anything, something had happened again,” Rogers said.

Multiple attempts to reach prison officials

Rogers said she called numerous times trying to reach his counselor and requested to speak with the warden, but was told by prison employees they could not provide the warden’s number. She was directed to contact the ombudsman and left several messages without receiving callbacks.

Robert Taylor scheduled a visitation and drove to the prison early on a Saturday, but was turned away without explanation.

“I’m asking why. And it was just like, ‘Oh, we can’t tell you anything.’ No reason why,” Taylor said. “So when I’m asking the guard, I’m like, ‘Well, why is he not able to see anybody? Why haven’t we heard anything from him?’ And it was just like, ‘I don’t know.’”

Contact restored after WTOC inquiry

After being turned away from the prison again and fearing for their father’s safety, the siblings contacted law enforcement and say they were directed to reach out to WTOC as a last resort.

Hours after WTOC Investigates emailed the Georgia Department of Corrections asking about Taylor’s status, Elizabeth Rogers says she received a phone call from Warden Phillip Glenn and spoke with her father.

According to Rogers, the warden said no one had informed him the family had been trying to reach their father and that someone would answer for the lack of communication.

“I don’t know whether, how far down the, up the chain it goes. I don’t know if it’s guards. I don’t know if it’s counselors. Or I don’t know if it’s the wardens involved. But do better,” Rogers said.

Taylor said his father committed a crime and should pay for it, but asked prison officials to consider the family’s perspective.

“You have to put yourself in their shoes. What if it was them? What if it was somebody and one of their relatives? And my message to the warden is do better. That’s simply do better,” Taylor said.

The Georgia Department of Corrections did not respond to follow-up questions about why it took months for Taylor to contact his family and what facilitated the communication happening hours after WTOC Investigates’ inquiry.

DOJ report cited concerning incidents at Coastal State

WTOC Investigates is not the only organization that’s been looking into issues at Coastal State.

READ: 5 inmates indicted for violent assault at Coastal State Prison

A 2024 report published by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division examined the Georgia Department of Corrections and cited several concerning incidents at Coastal State Prison.

In December 2023, a man set to be released in 2024 died after an altercation with other inmates.

In June 2022, an inmate died due to an overdose. Prison staff did not discover him until rigor mortis set in, which takes from two to eight hours.

An inmate who reported being raped in the shower was placed in isolation after making the report. The DOJ said this subjected the inmate to harsh conditions that harmed mental and physical health.

WTOC Investigates will continue coverage of these issues.