Police: Bollinger County woman told elaborate lies across multiple investigations, including sexual assault

BOLLINGER COUNTY — Police say a Bollinger County woman told several elaborate lies during sexual assault and harassment investigations in a complex and escalating scheme that targeted the mother of her fiance’s child.

Michelle D. Kaempfer of Glen Allen is accused of multiple felonies in separate-but-related cases: perjury; forgery; tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution; first-degree harassment; first-degree stalking; making a false report; and theft.

The charges stem from an original investigation in which Kaempfer claimed she was being harassed by her fiance’s ex-girlfriend.

In September, Kaempfer called the sheriff’s office, claiming that an unknown male with a flashlight was knocking on her back door, police explained in a probable-cause statement in one of the cases. Kaempfer told the officer that she had a protection order against the mother of her fiance’s child. Kaempfer’s fiance told police he believed his ex was “responsible” for the male at the residence who was sent to intimidate Kaempfer in retaliation for getting the protection order, according to the document. Her fiance said he had received text messages from an unrecognized phone number “about the male scaring Kaempfer”.

The mother of Kaempfer’s fiance told the Bollinger County sheriff’s deputy that she also received text messages from an unrecognized phone number that contained death and rape threats toward Kaempfer and her daughter. The unidentified phone number also sent texts to the fiance claiming the mother of his child still loved him and missed being a part of his family.

Two days later, Kaempfer provided more information involving an “extensive history of harassment that she had received for more than a year”, identifying her fiance’s ex as the harasser through texting apps. She claimed she was being ridiculed for a cancer diagnosis; the texts said that she deserved to die, and death and rape threats were made, according to the documents.

During the interview, Kaempfer said some of the harassment she received happened at the Advance School District where she said she had previously worked. She claimed the harassment led to her being fired from work. The harassment also prevented her from receiving a promotion at her current place of employment, Saint Francis Medical Center, documents explain.

However, upon further investigation, Bollinger County officers discovered Kaempfer had never worked at Advance School District; and that Kaempfer had lied about the potential promotion at work. They said Kaempfer provided a fake name of her supervisor. The phone number she gave for the fake supervisor was Kaempfer’s own direct number, court documents allege. Other Saint Francis personnel said no one by the name of the supervisor Kaempfer gave to officers worked at the hospital, according to documents.

On Jan. 17, Kaempfer came forward with more allegations, this time of burglary and sexual assault. In this incident, she stated that two unidentified men broke into her house through a window, with one of the men later sexually assaulting her. Among the evidence collected was a framed wedding picture that had the word “No Cops” written on it. Police also took photos of a message written in black marker on Kaempfer’s leg referencing warnings not to contact police.

During a later interview regarding the sexual assault, according to Capt. Nick Becker, Kaemfper “provided information to me in reference to false statements she had made in the separate investigation. … Kaempfer informed me that the information she had provided in reference to the two men was false. Kaempfer maintained that an assault occurred but stated it was only one man and that he knocked on the door before opening the door for him.”

On Jan. 30, Kaempfer admitted to police that she had drafted the letter from work signed by the fake name, adding that “she was not truthful about the reports she provided at the beginning of this investigation. Kaempfer also informed me that she sent one harassing message to herself on Jan. 29, 2024. However, she stated she did not send harassing messages to her fiance or fiance’s mother,” according to the report.

At that point, Kaempfer was arrested.

During a later interview, while incarcerated at the Bollinger County jail, she “confirmed that she was the only suspect of that entire investigation and that she had fabricated physical evidence and written statements pertaining to that investigation. Additionally, she informed me that she is the one who wrote on her own leg as well as the wedding picture that was considered as evidence during the assault investigation. However, she maintained that a sexual assault occurred,” according to the probable-cause statement.

Some of the alleged false statements occurred during depositions under oath. The case against the accused was dismissed in court Jan. 12, the father of the accused woman told the Southeast Missourian. The father said Prosecutor Stephen Gray knew Kaempfer was lying about certain elements, but pursued the case anyway. He said the judge threw out the case because the evidence contained in the text messages was not admissible. Because of the false statements made under oath, Kaempfer also faces perjury charges. Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Mark Welker has been assigned as a special prosecutor to handle that case.

The theft charge accuses Kaempfer of taking $1,000 from an individual with the promise it would go toward an attorney relating to the protection order in the harassment case. After Kaempfer was charged with multiple felony offenses, the individual called police, saying the money was not used for legal representation. A recorded call shows that Kaempfer stated she used the money for living expenses and not for attorneys.

The probable-cause statement in the case says, “Throughout this investigation, an unprecedented amount of lies, false statements and fabricated evidence in reference to multiple felony investigations has been found and documented.”