Hi PlaidEric,
Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We understand that you're having an issue with the KIK app. Sounds like you receive a notification of a new message but no message appears in the app. We'd like to help.
Sounds like you've done some good troubleshooting so far. Check this out to make sure you've completed all the steps recommended: If an app on your iPhone or iPad stops responding, closes unexpectedly, or won’t open - Apple Support
Once you've completed those steps it's possible that you may need to contact the App Developer. This is because they will have the best troubleshooting steps for their app and they may need to look at something on their end to resolve this.
Let us know how that goes.
Take care!