In the late summer of 2004, family members of Mitchell Wayne Kemp grew worried when the 39-year-old man from Columbia, Missouri, seemingly vanished. Their attempts to contact him went unanswered, and a search for him was initiated. For years, his disappearance remained a painful mystery for his loved ones, a period of uncertainty that would eventually give way to a grim discovery. The case lay cold until a tip from a Florida man, who had been contacted by one of Kemp's relatives online, provided investigators with the first significant lead suggesting foul play.
The break in the case came in August 2008 when skeletal remains were unearthed on a property off Deer Park Road, near the Three Creeks Conservation Area south of Columbia. Through DNA analysis, the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab confirmed the remains belonged to Mitchell Wayne Kemp. An autopsy conducted by the Boone County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Kemp had been the victim of a homicide, having been shot to death. The investigation into his death quickly focused on two individuals with close ties to him.
The property where Kemp's body was discovered was formerly owned by Gregory Warren Morton. At the time of Kemp's disappearance in August 2004, Morton was living with Kemp's estranged wife, Tausha L. Fields. This connection placed both Morton and Fields at the center of the investigation. Authorities arrested Morton on suspicion of first-degree murder. Subsequently, Tausha L. Fields, then living in Texas, was also arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with her estranged husband's death.
The ensuing legal proceedings revealed a story of manipulation and betrayal. Investigators learned that Fields had lured Kemp to the Deer Park Road property. There, Gregory Morton shot Kemp multiple times. Morton later claimed that Fields had manipulated him into committing the murder. In the end, a jury found Tausha Fields guilty of first-degree murder, and she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Gregory Warren Morton pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder and received a 19-year prison sentence.
