Indiana woman accused of marrying her biological father when she was already married to someone else

Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected to accurately reflect that McCollum’s sister, not Tempel’s sister, reported that Tempel was aware McCollum was her father. WGTC apologizes for any misunderstanding this may have caused.

This story is so strange it’s difficult to know where to begin: Reports have emerged that an Indiana woman is accused of providing false information on a marriage license when she got married to a man while she was still married to someone else. Here’s the twist: That second man she married was her biological dad.

But don’t worry, that woman, Kimberly Tempel, of Tell City, IN, also accused of felony attempted bigamy, is alleged to only have married her dad, Bradley McCollum, to collect his $350 a month Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits while he was in prison. And, according to Fort Wayne’s 21 Alive News, she was reportedly divorcing the first guy she married when she tied the knot with her pops last July — well, that makes it sooo much better … I guess.

McCollum’s sister says Kimberly knew Bradley was her dad

Meanwhile, Tempel is 44, and her dad is 59, a 15-year age difference that suggests their father-daughter relationship was … shall we say … “complicated” from the start. Reports also say she was estranged from her father when they reconnected through letters and emails while he was in prison. So, could it have all been some misunderstanding? Not according to McCollum’s sister, who told investigators Tempel is well aware that McCollum is her father.

McCollum now also faces charges, including the fact he failed to mention on his marriage license to his daughter and that he was a convicted sex offender involving children. Police allege he lied about his address, and both McCollum and Tell confirmed they were not closer than second cousins on the marriage license application.

“The biggest issue was in regards to their actual relationship,” says Indiana Police Public Information Officer Anthony Aussieker said. “They both answered the question saying that they were not closely related, that was later determined to be false. That was some of the issues that came up with the falsifying of the marriage application.”

Father-daughter relationship aside, Aussieker added, “For that roughly four or five day span, she was still legally married to her prior husband which would make it illegal to marry someone else.”

The couple moved in together after McCollum was released from prison, but before long, he was back behind bars for a probation violation, perhaps motivating their decision to get married so Temple could get McCollum’s VA money. As it stands, Tempel has been released from custody. Tell’s still in jail for probation violation in an unrelated case. It’s unclear when either of them will appear in court.

It’s widely reported that paternity tests prove that McCollum and Tempel are father and daughter. Indianapolis’ news Fox 59, however, says a source told them it’s not true. The outlet added it had not yet confirmed that information, pending further testing. Even still, the absolute delulu nature of this news was not lost on social media. So, we’ll leave you with this response to an X post about the case: “um I–I don’t even.” We agree.