Railroad Detective Cleveland Kemp

Cleveland Kemp

Railroad Detective Cleveland Kemp was killed after being struck in the back of the head with an iron pick while patrolling the rail yards at Silver Grove, Kentucky.

He was regularly assigned to Cincinnati but had been sent to Silver Grove due to a rash of box car thefts that had occurred there. He was seen following two hobos along the tracks at approximately 2:00 am.

He wasn't seen again until his body was located by two boys after daybreak. He had been stabbed in the back of the head with an iron pick, which was found nearby. His body was placed in a ditch and covered with cinders.

On March 25th, 1914, Railroad Detective Leslie Johnson was fatally shot in the same railroad yards and died two days later. Investigators at the time believed that the same subjects committed both murders. It is not known if anyone was ever charged with either murder.

Detective Kemp was survived by his wife and one child.