Coastal True Crime Club works to highlight the unsolved disappearance of Kemberly Ramer

WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WTVY) – Librarians at the Walton County Library took note and decided to use that popularity to bring light to an unsolved case that hit close to home.

Deanna Smith and Daniel Bradley both work at the library.

“I know for me personally,” Bradley said, “the reason I started doing what I’m doing is to help the community.”

Serving their community has taken on a new meaning for the pair, with the inception of a new club.

What might’ve been a typical program proposal for the library turned into anything but when Smith suggested the idea of ​​a true crime club.

That proposal sparked the fire that is the Coastal True Crime Club and podcast: Missing or Murdered: What Happened to Kem?

Both the club and podcast are focused on the unsolved disappearance of Kemberly Ramer. 17-year-old Ramer vanished from Opp, Alabama in August 1997.

“The first thing I said was Kem Ramer because I was born in Opp and, you know, I was familiar with the case,” Smith recounted, “I graduated high school in 1996 and she went missing in 1997.”

Before they hit the ground running, Smith was careful to ensure this group was honoring Ramer and her family.

“If we’re going to do this, we need to do it the right way,” said Smith. “We need to make sure that we have Kem’s mom on board with it, Kem’s family and friends on board with it, because I don’t want to overstep a boundary.”

Ramer’s mom, friends, and the community gave an enthusiastic green light – eager to get the word out about her disappearance.

The club invites guests to each meeting, including the officials working on the case like Assistant Chief David Harrell from the Opp Police Department.

“It was helpful to me to see where some of the concerns of the community were, you know,” said Harrel,” like ‘is this something we’re going to have to experience, or could this happen again in the City of Opp ?’”

Another notable guest of the club: Susan Ingram, Ramer’s mom.

When asked about the club, Ingram was enthusiastic.

“I am so excited about that,” said Ingram, “because, you know, I think they’re bringing in more and more information.”

The group started with just 25 in-person members, but their online presence has skyrocketed.

“We do lives where we do, like, a Q&A with the community, and then we also record our in-person meetings, and I know we’re in the thousands on those,” Smith said.

Between the podcast, club meetings, and online following, their mission remains the same.

“We’re not trying to be a detective, we’re not trying to be an investigator; we’re just trying to help,” said Smith. “If we could have a perfect ending to this, it would be to bring Kem home to her mother.”

To find information about Coastal True Crime Club meetings, live streams, and the Missing or Murdered podcast, click HERE.

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