DE TINA FAYE KEMP: Missing from Felton, DE - 3 Feb 1979 - Age 14

[Romulus]

The Doe Network:
Case File 2966DFDE



Tina Faye Kemp
Missing since February 3, 1979 from Felton, Kent County, Delaware
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: October 20, 1964
Age at Time of Disappearance: 14 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'0-5'1"; 95-100 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Collar length dark brown hair; blue eyes. Fair complexion with some freckles. Medium build.
Marks, Scars: 1/2" mole on right triceps.
Clothing: White sweater, red and white flannel shirt, new blue jeans and boys Red and white sneakers.
Jewelry: Gold band with white rhinestones. Leather strap with "ERIC" on left arm.
DNA: Available

Circumstances of Disappearance
Tina Kemp lived with her family 1/2 mile south of Felton, DE, a rural, agricultural area of Delaware. On Saturday February 3, 1979, Tina reportedly walked away from her residence after helping her family hang laundry outside. She has never been seen since. Tina had run away on two previous occasions. Tina had a local boyfriend who she was close to; no one in the family or the boyfriend ever heard from, had any communication or ever seen Tina again. Foul play is strongly suspected. Tina’s disappearance was the day before a heavy snowstorm. She was known to frequent horse-racing tracks in Delaware and surrounding states.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Delaware State Police
302-739-2600

Agency Case Number: 05-512-79/NamUs MP# 6937

NCMEC Number: NCMC1157126

Source Information:
Namus
NCMEC

The Doe Network: Case File 2966DFDE

edited by staff to media link

TINA FAYE KEMP: Missing from Felton, DE since 3 Feb 1979 - Age 14

Tina Kemp lived with her family 1/2 mile south of Felton, DE, a rural, agricultural area of Delaware. On Saturday February 3, 1979, Tina reportedly walked away from her residence after helping her family hang laundry outside. She has never been...

www.crimewatchers.net

*CLICK THE REPORT BUTTON IF YOU'D LIKE THIS CASE MOVED TO THE GENERAL DISCUSSION AREA TO BE OPENED FOR COMMENTING.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

43 years have passed since Tina Faye Kemp was last seen in Delaware

The 14-year-old disappeared in February 1979; she would be 57 today.

www.nbcnews.com

43 years have passed since Tina Faye Kemp was last seen in Delaware​

Feb. 13, 2022

It’s been just over 43 years since 14-year-old Tina Faye Kemp was last seen in Felton, Delaware. Her older sister, Brenda King, has been searching for answers since February 3, 1979.

“Well, she was into the horses,” Brenda told Dateline. “So she did a lot of taking care of the horses with my dad down at the stables.” The siblings often spent time together watching the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family, Brenda recalled. “She had a few friends at school but, you know, not a lot of friends.”

Brenda, who was 17 years old at the time, was at work that day. She told Dateline what their mother, Ruth, told her happened. “She thought Tina was outside hanging up clothes and she checked her room,” Brenda said, “because I think I remember something about Tina said she didn't feel good.” But Tina wasn’t in her room, wasn’t outside, and no one had any idea where she went.

“It was rough because, you know, she -- she had left and had run away two times before, within only, say, a couple of months, to a boyfriend's house,” Brenda said. “So, you know, when it happened this time, that's kind of what we were thinking – the same thing – that she had went, you know, to the boyfriend's house.”

But she hadn’t. Tina’s boyfriend at the time, Eric, said he hadn’t seen her.

Brenda told Dateline that after she returned home from work that day, she joined her mother to search for Tina. “We went riding around looking, you know, up and down roads,” Brenda said. “I don't know what we thought we were gonna find, but we felt we needed to do something.”

They didn’t find her. “It wasn't the same as it is now, you know, with all the alerts that they send out,” Brenda said. “Now, you know, the whole town will get together and go search for people. None of that happened.”

Brenda recalled one of the times Tina had run away before. “I was on my way to work and she was walking the road towards -- out past Frederick, and me and my other sister stopped and picked her up and brought her back home,” Brenda said.

The Kemp family wasn’t so lucky this time.

“The very next day we got, like, a blizzard. I think we had -- I want to say two feet of snow,” Brenda said. “It really shut down the area.”

According to Delaware State Police Public Information Officer Master Corporal Heather Pepper, Tina Kemp was officially reported missing on February 5 by her mother, Ruth Kemp.

Pepper told Dateline in an email that Tina was last seen wearing a white sweater, with a red and white flannel shirt, blue jeans, and red and white tennis shoes. She was wearing a gold band with white rhinestones and a leather strap with “Eric” on her left arm. None of those items was ever located.



Ruth Kemp died in 2011 without ever getting answers about her daughter. All four of Tina’s siblings, plus their father, have submitted DNA to one of the ancestry, family tree websites. “We figured between all that maybe we would find some kind of a match,” Brenda said. “But nothing. Nothing came up.”

After more than 43 years with no answers, Brenda is hoping greater exposure to her sister’s story will help the police solve Tina’s case. “We were just talking the other night that we were going to go to the station ourselves and sit there until somebody got us what we needed,” Brenda said.

Both Brenda and Amber agree: They need anyone who may have come across Tina, or remember something from 1979, to come forward. Tips, sightings, information – they’re hoping someone knows something about Tina’s disappearance.

The Delaware State Police have had no new leads as to Tina Kemp’s whereabouts.