Missing
Darrel Wayne Kempf
Kempf, approximately 2007
Date and time person was reported missing : 01/28/2007
Missing location (approx) :
Pacific County, Washington
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 03/13/1958 (63)
Age at the time of disappearance: 48 years old
Height / Weight : 6'0, 250 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Gray hair, blue eyes. Kempf has a tattoo on his left arm. He had a mustache at the time of his disappearance. He was born in Bolivia, carries a Bolivian passport, and speaks Spanish in addition to English.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Kempf was last seen at 8:45 p.m. on January 28, 2007. He left North Cove, Washington en route to his home in Graham, Washington, driving his blue Plymouth VoyAge at the time of disappearance: r van. He never arrived home. He was reported missing the next day.
On the afternoon of January 29, the same day he was reported missing, Kempf's van was located at a remote beach on State Route 105 just north of the Shoalwater Indian Reservation in North Cove. The vehicle had run off the road, flipped over and landed on its roof.
There was no indication of Kempf's whereabouts at the scene, and no sign that anyone had been injured in the accident, but a belt was found tied to the van's steering wheel. Dogs tEthnicity : d a short scent trail on the road above, but lost it quickly.
Kempf ran a used-car business, Triad Marketing, at the time of his disappearance. A few days after he went missing, his family received a letter. It had supposedly been mailed by a friend Kempf had met in the Army, who had agreed to mail it if Kempf ever disappeared.
The letter explained Kempf's that business had run into financial trouble and he had borrowed money from loan sharks, he could not pay them, and he was afraid. The writer said if his family was reading the letter, Kempf was probably deceased.
Kempf had borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the finance companies for his business prior to going missing, and he may have owed as much as $3 million altogether. After he vanished, many of the cars in his lot disappeared, and he came under investigation for possible fraud.
In May 2007, the state Department of Licensing announced they had proof that Kempf had intentionally defrauded people dozens of times. His alleged scheme involved accepting a car for a consignment sale, using the title to get a loan from a finance company, then selling the car to a third party and keeping the money.
There is speculation that Kempf is alive and well and simply fled the area to escape his financial troubles. He was born in Bolivia of missionary parents and grew up in that country. He may be in Bolivia or somewhere else in South America. His disappearance is still considered a missing persons case and remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Pacific County Sheriff's Office
360-875-9396
September 2021 updates and sources
Washington State Missing Persons
KOMO TV
Pacific County Sheriff's Office
KATU News
The News Tribune
October 12, 2004. May 8, 2008; .
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
