A Piper City, Illinois, mother is desperately searching for her daughter who has been missing since February 13. Kyla Kemplin, 17, may have been with her boyfriend, 18-year-old Collin Coveyou, the day she disappeared, but her mother, Dawn Kemplin, isn't sure what happened to the young woman.
Dawn Kemplin tells CafeMom she doesn't have custody of her children, and Kyla's boyfriend said the teen was reportedly unhappy with her living arrangements and wanted to go away to Florida with him. Kemplin planned to talk to her daughter about her plans the day she disappeared but says she never got the chance. Now, she's desperate to find her.
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The mother found herself in a bad situation.
She explains to CafeMom that she was involved in a relationship with an allegedly abusive man in 2023 that caused trouble for her and her children. She said she left her boyfriend's house but paid the ultimate price and lost custody of her kids in the process.
"I left his house and [he] turned it into DCFS, and it cost me, my kids. Anyways, my kids have wanted to come home so bad. They have turned into angry and depressed kids. I have done every intact service they ask me to do," she tells us. "I have court in March, and the foster mom, her daughter, and the caseworker keep telling my kids 'You aren't going home that day.' This gets said every time to them, and my oldest said she is tired of it and just wants out of the system."
Coveyou allegedly showed up at Kemplin's home in the middle of the night.
Kemplin says her daughter's boyfriend knocked on her door around 1:30 a.m. on February 13 and allegedly said he was headed to Florida to live with a cousin. Coveyou reportedly wanted to get away from his own father, and Kyla wanted to go with him, Kemplin says.
"Collin told me he brought this up to my daughter about their plans, and she told him if she gets grounded again, she's done because she has been grounded most of the time at her last two placements and without a phone. I have my visits on Tuesdays from 2 to 4," Kemplin shares with us.
"Collin told me to talk to Kyla at our visit and see if she wants to do the Florida thing with him and that if not, he won't go because he doesn't want to go without her," she adds.
The teens allegedly ran away.
The mother says she wanted to talk to her daughter about going to Florida, but before she could, the teen was gone.
"So I thought I would see her at our visit and be able to talk to her and let the caseworker and foster parent know what I was told so she doesn't end up running away with him," Kemplin says.
"Instead, they pulled a fast one on me. She told the bus driver she needed to go to a friend's house to feed their cat, so he took her there and she came back out and told him she works up the road and they were just going to give her a ride to work because between Collin and his dad Jeremy, [they] are the ones that usually do. So the bus driver left. This all was around 11:30 a.m. That was the last location she was at," she adds.
Coveyou was reportedly arrested not far from Piper City.
Kemplin thought that her daughter and her boyfriend were headed to Florida, but Coveyou was reportedly arrested in Gilman, Illinois, according to WIVR, after allegedly leading Iroquois County sheriff's deputies on a chase instead of pulling over. He was ultimately arrested on charges of fleeting and eluding, no proof of insurance, and multiple traffic violations, WIVR reported.
His father, Jeremy Coveyou, posted on Facebook that his son had nothing to do with Kyla Kemplin's disappearance.
He wrote, "Let me make this clear. My son was arrested in Gilman for nothing that had to do with kyla. It was a traffic stop. My son doesn't own a home to shelter anyone. Kyla is a run away."
In another post, he added that he and his son are cooperating with the police.
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Kemplin just wants her daughter to come back.
Kemplin wrote on Facebook February 25 that she misses her daughter and just wants her home. "I miss you so much! It's so hard not knowing how you are feeling. I wish I knew where you were so I could go squeeze you and know for sure if you are okay. You were raised being close to family and being away and not being able to talk or see us has to be very hard on you like it is us. We all love and miss you so much!"
Family members and friends also have posted on social media, begging for information about Kyla and pleading with her to return home.
"Here are different pictures of Kyla Kemplin my second cousin that has been missing for over a week. She on the Amber alert for missing children," her cousin Tonya Turpin wrote on Facebook. "if you know her whereabouts or have seen her please alert the nearest police athourites So we can please bring her home safe. Please pray for her family and the safety and Kyla."
"Kyla Kemplin is still missing please people keep sharing to help us find her. We need to see her smiling face," Tina Cruse-Walker posted on Facebook. "If anyone knows anything ANYTHING please contact her Mom Dawn Kemplin or her meme Shelly Cruse Kirby . Kyla Kemplin if your seeing this we want you to know that we all love you so very much and need to know that you are ok."
According to Child Find of America, Kyla may have dyed her hair black and she has a nose ring and a tattoo on each wrist. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ford County Sheriff's Office at 1-217-379-2324 or Child Find of America at 1-800-I-AM-LOST.
