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Mitchell Wayne Kemp  Mitchell Wayne Kemp
Male 1964 - 2004

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  • Birth  15 Sep 1964  Fulton, Callaway, Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender  Male 
    Died  Aug 2004  Columbia, Boone, Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Cause: homicide 
    Obituary  24 Sep 2008  Columbia, Boone, Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Columbia Tribune 
    •      Mitch Kemp, 44 of Columbia, formerly of Mexico, passed away as the result of an apparent homicide.
           Mitch was born Sept. 15, 1964 in Fulton, MO the son of Carol (Gifford) and David Kemp. He moved with his family to Mexico in 1970 where he attended grade school and Mexico High School. He was on the football team and wrestling squad. While in high school he worked for Hardees and at his parents business, D and D D?cor, where he installed floor coverings.
           Mitch loved his family and spent a lot of time with them camping, fishing, attending and watching NASCAR races and all sporting events. He will be sadly missed by those who love him.
           He is survived by his mother Carol Owen and husband Bob of Mexico, daughter Tara Kemp of Columbia, son Shane Kemp of Columbia, daughter Lexie Kemp, brother Tracy Kemp and wife Mischelle of Warrenton, sister Kathy of Columbia, brother Rick Kemp and wife Carol Ann of Carrollton, Georgia, and grandmother Mary Ruth Gifford of Fulton as well as several Aunts, Uncles, nieces and nephews.
           He was preceded in death by his father Dave Kemp, paternal grandparents Marvin and Marie Kemp, and maternal grandfather Leslie Gifford.
           The family requests in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to a college fund for his children to: P.O. Box 1974, Columbia, MO 65205-1974, c/o Susan Kemp.
           Service Information:
      Memorial Service: 2 p.m. Saturday at Arnold F.H.
      Visitation: 5-8 Friday at Arnold F.H.
      Burial: Private burial at Callaway Memorial Gardens in Fulton, MO
    Buried  Callaway Memorial Gardens, Fulton, Callaway, Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID  I14131  Herring Family of Callaway County, Missouri
    Last Modified  13 Dec 2009 
     
    Father  David Kemp,   d. Bef 2004 
    Mother  Living 
    Family ID  F14348866  Group Sheet
     
    Family  Living 
    Children 
     1. Living
     2. Living
     3. Living
    Last Modified  13 Dec 2009 
    Family ID  F14348867  Group Sheet
     
  • Photos
    Kemp, Mitchell Wayne
    Kemp, Mitchell Wayne
    Son of David and Carol Gifford Kemp. He was my 4th cousin.
     
  • Notes 
    • Former Harrisburg man charged with first-degree murder
      Friday, August 29, 2008 | 12:13 p.m. CDT
      BY MISSOURIAN STAFF

      COLUMBIA ? A former Harrisburg man was arrested in St. Louis after a warrant was issued on a charge of first-degree murder Friday, according to a Boone County Sheriff's Department news release.

      The warrant was issued after deputies found the remains of Mitchell Wayne Kemp in a make-shift grave Aug. 9 near Three Creeks Recreation Area, the release said. Kemp had not been in contact with his family since 2004, the release said.

      The release also said DNA analysis confirmed the remains as Kemp's. Investigators found that Kemp was 39 at the time of his death.

      Gregory Warren Morton, 40, formerly of Harrisburg, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder after a warrant was issued this morning, the release said. Bond was set at $1 million.

      According to the release, a family member searching for Kemp told the Sheriff's Department in February that they had information indicating Kemp was the victim of a homicide. Detectives spent the next several months trying to verify the tip and about three weeks ago, located Kemp's body in a "clandestine" grave. An autopsy conducted Aug. 12 indicated that Kemp was shot to death, the news release said.
      ************

      UPDATE: Murder investigation lasted six months
      Friday, August 29, 2008 | 6:51 p.m. CDT

      COLUMBIA ? More than six months of law enforcement investigation into the whereabouts of a Columbia man missing since 2004 resulted in the arrest Friday morning of a former Harrisburg man.

      The remains of Mitchell Wayne Kemp, 39, were found Aug. 9 on Deer Park Road near Three Creeks Conservation Area south of Columbia.

      On Friday, the former owner of that property, Gregory Warren Morton, 40, was arrested in St. Louis and charged with first-degree murder. He worked as an electrician.

      The Boone County Sheriff's Department, which arrested Morton with the assistance of St. Louis authorities, estimated that Kemp was shot and killed in August 2004, Sheriff Dwayne Carey said at a news conference. The two men knew each other because Morton was living with Kemp's estranged wife at the time of his death, Carey said.

      Kemp had not been in contact with his family since the summer of 2004. The department first learned of Kemp's disappearance in February 2008 from a family member who had used Internet research and online chat rooms to try to track him down, Carey said. This family member, whom Carey would not identify, had uncovered information suggesting that Kemp had been killed in Boone County,

      The investigation by the Sheriff's Department sent detectives to a number of states multiple times to interview people close to Kemp and recreate his activity through employment and vehicle registration records, Carey said. The investigation involved the entire unit, Carey said.

      "I can't say how proud I am of this department," he said. "This is the most unique investigation I've seen in my 19 years."

      Morton's bond was set at $1 million. He was being held in the Boone County Jail on Friday afternoon.
      *********************

      Columbia Tribune
      Family mourns man in Deer Park killing

      By JOE MEYER of the Tribune's staff
      Published Saturday, September 27, 2008

      Family members and friends of homicide victim Mitch Kemp this weekend are remembering the man they described as a hardworking, family-oriented father of three who loved sports.

      More than four years after Kemp went missing at age 39 and eight weeks after his remains were found in an unmarked grave south of Columbia, a memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. today at Arnold Funeral Home in Mexico, Mo., where Kemp grew up with his family.

      Kemp's mother, Carol Owen of Mexico, said her son worked installing carpet and floor coverings in Columbia, using skills he picked up working at his parents' business, D and D Decor in Mexico.

      "He could do anything," she said. "He was just a master of all trades."

      "He worked his tail off," added Kemp's younger brother, Tracy Kemp of Warrenton.

      Tracy Kemp recalled how his brother would travel to Hannibal to help him with his coaching of high school football. He said that makes football season a tough time for him.

      Mitch Kemp also loved NASCAR races and collected all of the die-cast cars of the drivers.

      "More than anything, we were just buddies," Tracy Kemp said. "We hung out."

      Family members said as time went on after Kemp went missing, they realized something was wrong.

      "About six months after he was missing, when he didn't call me on my birthday and didn't call me on Christmas, I knew something was wrong," Owen said of her son.

      "It's been tough to deal with," Tracy Kemp said. "It's like something you see on a TV show."

      The covert grave site was on a rural property off Deer Park Drive, near the Three Creeks Conservation Area. The property's former owner, 40-year-old Gregory Morton, is charged with first-degree murder in Mitch Kemp's death.

      Court records Morton sold the property in 2005 and moved to Alabama. Law enforcement authorities arrested him Aug. 29 in St. Louis.

      Kemp was married twice, family members said. According to a court document, his estranged wife, Tausha Fields, led deputies to the grave in early August. At the time of Kemp's disappearance, Fields lived with Morton on the property.

      As years passed, Tracy Kemp said, family members began searching online for information about Mitch Kemp. They uncovered information he might have been killed and in February took the information to investigators.

      Detectives have been tight-lipped about the case but said they do not know a motive for the homicide.

      Sheriff's Detective Tom O'Sullivan said investigators have tracked nearly 100 leads in the case, which have taken them to states including Florida, where a man told them Fields and Morton had told him about the fatal shooting.

      "It's eased up a bit, but there's still work to be done," O'Sullivan said of the investigation.

      Owen said the discovery of her son's remains provided some relief for the family.

      "It does settle it a little bit," she said. "We know where he's at."

      But Tracy Kemp said closure will not be complete until the family knows all the details of the investigation.

      "We're just looking forward to the day where we find out what happened and why it happened and who was involved," he said. "It just seems so senseless to me."
      *****************


      UPDATE: Texas woman charged with 2004 murder of Columbia man
      Monday, December 22, 2008 | 5:47 p.m. CST

      Tausha L. Fields, 33, of Dickinson, Texas, has been charged with the first-degree murder of her estranged husband, Mitchell Wayne Kemp, a Columbia man who was shot and killed in 2004, according to a news release from the Boone County Sheriff's Department. Fields' ex-husband, Gregory Warren Morton, was arrested on the same charges in Columbia earlier this year.

      COLUMBIA ? A woman was arrested Friday in Texas and charged with the first-degree murder of her estranged husband, a Columbia man who was shot and killed in 2004.

      Galveston County, Texas, deputies detained Tausha L. Fields, 33, of Dickinson, Texas, according to a release from the Boone County Sheriff's Department. Fields' ex-husband, Gregory Warren Morton, was arrested on the same charges in Columbia earlier this year.

      Family members of Mitchell Wayne Kemp first reported him missing in 2004, said Maj. Tom Reddin of the Sheriff's Department.

      An investigation conducted by the Sheriff's Department led to the discovery of skeletal remains on Aug. 9 on a property off Deer Park Road near Three Creeks Conservation Area. The Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab, using DNA analysis, later identified the remains as those of Kemp.

      According to court documents, an autopsy conducted by the Boone County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death a homicide and concluded that Kemp was shot to death.

      Morton, the former owner of the property on which the remains were found, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder on Aug. 29.

      Before Kemp's remains were discovered, a relative attempted to find him by using the Internet, Reddin said. The search eventually led to a Florida man who told officers information indicating that Kemp had been murdered.

      After she was interviewed by detectives in August, Fields led them to the clandestine grave, which was located on property where she and Morton formerly resided, according to court documents.

      Reddin could not provide specific details as to why it took more than four months to arrest Fields in connection with the murder.

      "We had our suspicions at that time, but there was more work to be done," Reddin said.

      As of 3:45 p.m. Monday, Fields was being held on a $1 million cash-only bond in Texas and was awaiting extradition to Boone County.

      Morton is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 8.
      ********************

      Former Harrisburg man pleads not guilty to lesser murder charge
      Monday, March 16, 2009 | 4:47 p.m. CDT
      BY Amanda Branco

      COLUMBIA ? A former Harrisburg man pleaded not guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder in Boone County Circuit Court Monday.

      State prosecutor Richard Hicks said he could not comment at this time about why the charges against Gregory Warren Morton were reduced.

      Morton is charged in relation to the death of Mitchell Wayne Kemp, whose remains were found in a make-shift grave on Aug. 9, 2008, near Three Creeks Recreational Area. Kemp had not been in contact with his family since 2004, according to Missourian archives.

      DNA analysis confirmed the remains were those of Kemp, who was 39 at the time of death. An autopsy conducted on Aug. 12 indicated that Kemp was shot to death, the Missourian previously reported.

      Morton's formal arraignment was waived in court Monday. His trial date has not yet been scheduled.
      ***************

      Man pleads guilty to second-degree murder
      Tuesday, June 23, 2009 | 12:01 a.m. CDT
      BY Christine Lesicko

      COLUMBIA ? A Harrisburg man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder a year after human remains were found in a grave on his former property in Columbia.

      Gregory Warren Morton, 41, was arrested in August 2008 in connection with the August 2004 shooting of Mitchell Wayne Kemp of Columbia. Kemp's remains were found on Morton's former property in south Columbia on August 9, 2008, according to previous Missourian reports.

      Morton withdrew his former plea of not guilty, entered March 16, and pleaded guilty on Monday afternoon in 13th Circuit Court to shooting Kemp. The charge of second-degree murder has a possible sentence of 10 to 30 years or life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 14.

      Morton knew Kemp through Tausha Fields (referred to as Tausha Morton in court documents), 33, Kemp's estranged wife, whom Morton was living with at the time of the shooting. Fields is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with Kemp's death. She was arrested March 19 in Dickinson, Texas, and pleaded not guilty on April 27 in Boone County 13th Circuit Court. She is being held in the Boone County Jail.

      After not hearing from Kemp since 2004, his family started searching for information online to find him and learned that he might have been killed in Boone County, according to previous Missourian reports.

      In August 2008, Fields led authorities to the grave on Morton's property off Deer Park Road near Three Creeks Conservation Area, and DNA analysis concluded the remains were Kemp's, according to court documents. Morton was then arrested on August 29 in St. Louis.
      *************

      As of Dec. 13, 2009, both suspects were still in the Boone County Jail.
     
  • Event Map
    Event
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 15 Sep 1964 - Fulton, Callaway, Missouri, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - Cause: homicide - Aug 2004 - Columbia, Boone, Missouri, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsObituary - Columbia Tribune - 24 Sep 2008 - Columbia, Boone, Missouri, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Callaway Memorial Gardens, Fulton, Callaway, Missouri, USA Link to Google Earth
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