DE DE - Tina Kemp, 14, Felton, 3 Feb 1979

[HopeRains]

This may very well have been discussed further up in the thread, but I do believe it is poignant to note (even again) if not. Reviewing articles of February 1979, it appears that the Felton PD was a single individual who then took on the position as Chief of a 5-person department with very little involvement in Felton LE affairs, as mentioned by the mayor in the below excerpted portion of an article.

The Morning News, Sat, Feb 10, 1979 ·Page 1​

 

[methodwriter85]

That explains so much about the baffling lack of records or even a clear timeline of when TIna disappeared.

Are there ANY contemporary articles about Tina's disappearance? I believe the earliest one was a 1999 retrospective on 20th century cold cases in Delaware.

I ran into similar problems with Anne Manchester. She did get some coverage, but UD deigned to give her about three paragraphs because she disappeared in the summer while the paper was on break, and the Newark Post was only a couple circular at the time Anne went missing.

 

[Richard]

This may very well have been discussed further up in the thread, but I do believe it is poignant to note (even again) if not. Reviewing articles of February 1979, it appears that the Felton PD was a single individual who then took on the position as Chief of a 5-person department with very little involvement in Felton LE affairs, as mentioned by the mayor in the below excerpted portion of an article.

The Morning News, Sat, Feb 10, 1979 ·Page 1​

View attachment 634841

This article and case reminds me of the "two hatted" military officer who would walk around in the morning to be seen, then place his hat on his desk and sneak out the back door, wearing his second hat.

When anyone came around looking for him, others would say, "I saw him a while ago. He must be around here somewhere, there's his hat."

 

[Sweetluv]

February 3, 1979..thinking of Tina today!

 

[theshadow45]

Tina has been missing for 47 years today.

 

[mst]

Thinking about the horse racing angle, she was tiny. 5’ and 100 lbs? A racehorse trainers dream. Bowie Racetrack in MD had a 1230 post time on 2/3/79. She may have convinced some trainer she was older or trainer just didn’t worry about it. Backside of the track is definitely no place for a teenage girl