339. The Billboard That Caught a Killer: The Murder of Ali Kemp

Murder With My Husband

The episode details the 2002 murder of 19-year-old Ali Kemp while she was working at a community pool in Leawood, Kansas. After years of dea

Key takeaways

• Ali Kemp was killed in a brutal attack involving blunt force trauma and strangulation.
• Roger Kemp launched a massive public awareness campaign using billboards and USA Today ads.

Main topics

• Ali Kemp murder investigation
• Public awareness billboard campaigns

Notable quotes

You've got two choices. You can stay in bed and pull the covers over your head, or you can go out and fight the battle.

Conclusion

A harrowing look at how a family's refusal to let a case go cold, thro

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And Speaker 1 (0:08) I'm Garrett Moreland. Speaker 2 (0:09) And he's the husband. And I'm the Speaker 1 (0:10) husband. Well, here we are. What a crazy week, haven't we? Would you guys like to know what's been going on? We'll start with Peyton. Speaker 2 (0:22) Oh, I just got out of the hospital today. Speaker 1 (0:25) Show them your little hospital band. Pain just got out of the hospital. Speaker 2 (0:30) I was in a little bit of preterm labor. They stopped it. I was having lots of close and good contractions. Speaker 1 (0:40) Basically, her gallbladder attack just put her into labor. Speaker 1 (0:46) We're back at home. But if it happens again, more than likely we will have a baby. Speaker 2 (0:51) Which is so, so annoying because I've stuck to the diet and it had worked thus far. This all like started at like 28 weeks or something. Yeah. And I just spontaneously, randomly had a bad attack today and it just threw me right into labor, which they told me would happen, which was why they were wanting surgery. Speaker 2 (1:15) We stopped it, I think, but the doctor was like, it could start again any second. So I Speaker 1 (1:21) know, but Speaker 2 (1:23) right now I'm good. Speaker 1 (1:25) Yeah. So we're back. We're chilling. Everything's okay. We'll keep everyone updated, but that's what we got there. I got stitches in my arm. So that happened too. I'm okay. At least I think I am. Speaker 2 (1:39) I got Speaker 1 (1:40) a pretty ginormous object removed from my arm, right? Speaker 2 (1:45) Okay. It was cyst-like. We're still waiting for the test to come back. It was 1.5 centimeters. It Speaker 1 (1:53) was bigger. Speaker 2 (1:54) I watched them and heard them measure it. Speaker 1 (1:56) I'll post a picture of it. It's definitely bigger than 1.5 centimeters. Speaker 2 (2:00) Babe, Speaker 1 (2:00) 1 Speaker 2 (2:00) .5 centimeters is big. Speaker 1 (2:01) That's the... For something that doesn't belong in your body. That's the diameter of 1.5 centimeters, right? Speaker 2 (2:06) Yes. Speaker 1 (2:06) Yeah, it's pretty big. Speaker 2 (2:08) It's big. Speaker 2 (2:10) Like for a foreign thing to come out of your body. Speaker 1 (2:12) Dude, they were digging in my arm. Speaker 2 (2:14) He had a bump. We went into the dermatologist. They were like, can we just do it right now? Cut his arm open. Full blown surgery on this table. I kid you not. He Speaker 1 (2:24) did a great job. I don't think he's listening to this, but he did a great job. Speaker 2 (2:28) It just was deeper. It was Speaker 1 (2:29) bigger and deeper than he thought it was. Speaker 2 (2:31) Yeah. I'm just saying. Speaker 1 (2:32) I know it was because I can tell. Speaker 2 (2:35) He ended up having to like really get his scissors in there. There was a lot of blood. He ended up having his nurse glove up because it was Speaker 1 (2:42) good. There was a lot of blood. Speaker 2 (2:44) But yeah, it kind of looked like a little mini brain that came out. So they are testing it. Speaker 1 (2:51) So I have stitches. I'm supposed to play sports tomorrow, but I can't really move my arm like that. So just bagels, podcast, baby, life. Speaker 2 (3:03) Yeah. Speaker 1 (3:04) Yeah. I don't know. We got a crazy life. So like Speaker 2 (3:06) really think about it. An hour ago, an hour and a half ago, we were like, are we bringing a baby home? Speaker 1 (3:12) This is true. Speaker 2 (3:14) Literally. The doctor was like, who's in triage? She's in labor. Like that's how her Speaker 1 (3:21) contractions were every minute. Yeah. 45 seconds. Speaker 2 (3:24) Yeah. And Speaker 1 (3:25) then it was like, oh no, they were just induced contractions from a gallbladder attack. Speaker 2 (3:29) Yeah. Speaker 1 (3:30) Anyways. Speaker 1 (3:32) That's my 10 seconds. That's our 10 seconds. That's our crazy life right now. And we're just chugging forward. Speaker 2 (3:40) That's the thing. I was like a little nervous sitting in the hospital room because I, you know, all these like, what if I have another attack? What if this starts again? What if I go home and it starts again? I'm not full term. I'm not even at my own hospital. Like, what am I going to be doing? And then I literally was like, okay. And like, what, what? I have zero control over this. Speaker 1 (4:00) I was ready. If we had the baby, I was ready. Our life's already so crazy right now. I'm just like, bring it on. Speaker 2 (4:06) Yeah. I don't know. I'm Speaker 1 (4:07) just. How Speaker 2 (4:08) all of this aligned to opening a bagel shop and having a baby and. And Speaker 1 (4:12) opening a second bagel shop at the same time that you're due with another baby. Speaker 2 (4:16) Yeah. Speaker 1 (4:17) Podcast. We also signed an extension for Netflix. Speaker 2 (4:22) Yeah. Speaker 1 (4:23) For those who didn't know. So we'll be on Netflix for longer. Which we're excited about. We're Speaker 2 (4:28) very excited about. Speaker 1 (4:29) They've been awesome to us. You guys have been loving watching the show on Netflix. So thank you. Thank you to all those who continue to listen on audio too. I mean, between audio and Netflix, we love you guys. We got a good little family going on. You know Speaker 2 (4:43) what's crazy is like, I remember early on, we would be like, the podcast was our whole lives and it literally hasn't changed even with the bagel shop. It is such a major part of our life. Even with a baby and a bagel shop coming, it's like... Speaker 1 (4:57) And we still record weekly. You Speaker 2 (4:59) guys are our OGs. You know what I mean? Speaker 1 (5:01) It's weird. I mean, when we first started recording, it was like one download, two download. Yeah. Two downloads, three downloads. Gosh, Speaker 2 (5:09) remember when we hit 100 downloads on one episode? Speaker 1 (5:12) Yeah, I know. Speaker 2 (5:13) I thought, fly me to LA, baby. Speaker 1 (5:17) And 99 % of them were probably our family and friends. I know. Because they felt bad for us. Speaker 2 (5:21) I know. You know what? This is your sign right now. If you have a dream, chase it. Okay. Speaker 1 (5:26) Because Speaker 2 (5:27) it was, it was a little embarrassing when we first started the podcast. I think it's less embarrassing now, but back, back then it was a little embarrassing to be two full grown adults being like begging people on Instagram to listen to our, our podcast. We had no idea if it was ever going to like work or not. And look, we just kept chugging. We kept our We were like, we are doing this. So follow your dreams. If you needed a sign, this is your sign right now. Just do it. Nothing's embarrassing. Look at this. Speaker 1 (6:00) No, I'm teaching a class, an entrepreneurship class next week for a college. And something that I personally have never struggled with because I am a psychopath is just doing something. But I feel like that's the biggest thing. dreams you're chasing or business, like just do it. You just gotta do it. You just have to do it. You don't have to know exactly what you're doing. You don't have to have all the answers. You just gotta do it and it'll work out. I'm telling you, just do it. It'll work out. If you commit to something for long enough, it's gonna work out. All good vibes your way. We love you. And let's hop into this week's episode. Our Speaker 2 (6:43) sources for this episode are cbsnews.com, aetv.com, oxygennbcnews.com, gallatinorthmissourian.com, johnsoncountypost.com, people.com, kshb.com, kmbc.com, ljworld.com, fox4kc.com, medium.com, and kansascity.com. Our world is oversaturated with ads. Social media, television, bus stops, billboards, billboards. Most of us pass them by without so much as a thought or a second glance. But what we don't realize is that information sits with us. It gets filed away in a part of our subconscious, ready to resurface the moment another memory triggers it. Ever thought, I'm hungry. I actually want... A burger like the one I saw on that billboard today. That's what I'm talking about. They work. And if placed in a high traffic area, they can be seen by thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people a day. And this was something Roger Kemp considered in 2003 after his 19-year-old daughter, Allie, was murdered by an unknown assailant. After putting her photo, a composite sketch, and information about her crime on billboards, trucks, ads across the country, it not only got them some really good leads, it actually ended up being the reason why her killer was brought to justice. So let's head to a quiet little enclave about 12 miles south of Kansas City, Kansas, called Leawood. This is the kind of place where people grow up and they just never really leave. And why would they? Those who've spent their lives here say it's like a modern day, quote, leave it to beaver, where you'd happily show up to a new neighbor's home with a welcome basket, where you would allow a stranger to come inside your home for a glass of water or to use the bathroom. It was a town where everyone was known to be a hard worker with strong Midwest values, where supposedly. A third of the locals actually had a master's degree and where the violent crime rate was well below the national average. And it is here in this safe little suburb with its tree-lined streets that Alexandra Kemp grew up. Allie, as everyone called her, was the oldest of three siblings with two younger brothers named Tyler and Drew. And she was one of those girls around town that everyone had heard of. She was extremely involved in school, extracurricular activities, especially soccer, but she did love poetry. She was an honors student who also happened to be part of the unofficial welcome community at school. If there was a new kid in town, Allie was quick to just take them under her wing, show them the ropes. Everyone said she was warm-hearted. Empathetic, with eyes that showed just how kind she was. And she had this boisterous laugh that could be heard across the room. It was pretty infectious. So you can see why Allie was so popular. And she had so many friends in Leawood. Many of whom she stayed close with after she graduated high school. and began studying at Kansas State University, which was about two hours away from her hometown. The year is 2002, and 19-year-old Allie had just finished her freshman year of college there. She had joined a sorority, and when she wasn't studying or involved in extracurriculars, she was volunteering at the church or just somewhere in the community. All in all, Allie was the kind of young woman that any parent would be proud to call their daughter. So they were thrilled when she came home that summer. They wanted to soak up every single minute they had with Allie in between her freshman and sophomore year of college. Especially