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Kemp, 30 years old at the time he vanished, was last seen grabbing lunch at the IGA grocery store on Route 873 in Neffs, according to authorities and archival reports from the Allentown Morning Call.
Days later, his truck was found abandoned a few miles away at the now-defunct Buffalo Inn on Route 309 in Schnecksville, the newspaper reported.
Police never publicly detailed the evidence that led them to suspect foul play, but they have maintained that stance in the decades since.
Kemp was legally declared dead in 1989 in a series of Lehigh County Court proceedings where his mother was in attendance, per the Morning Call.
She told reporters her son was a 1969 graduate of Slatington High School, where he had been class president and played on the football and wrestling teams, the paper reported.
“He was a good student," Renna Kemp said. "He could have gone anywhere to school.”
He was enrolled for two years at Pennsylvania State University before working at New Jersey Zinc Company in Palmerton for some time, according to state police.
When he disappeared, Kemp was a part-time student at Lehigh County Community College with an eye on a career in mechanical engineering, his mother said.
She told the Morning Call in 1989 that in the eight years since her son vanished, she hadn't received a single call from anyone who might have spotted him.
Kemp was said to be around 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10 and 135-140 pounds. He had wavy brown hair and a mustache with hazel eyes and wore glasses.
A $5,000 reward is offered for any evidence that leads to a break his the case.
Call the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-472-8477 or click here to submit an anonymous tip online.
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