The search for a missing 19-year-old has entered its fourth day at a remote lake in eastern Kentucky, after the captain of the boat she had been travelling on — and who raised the alarm that she was missing — was arrested for operating the vessel while nearly twice over the alcohol limit.
Marly Kinney, from Ashland, was last seen at Grayson Lake, in Carter County around 180 miles east of Louisville, at about 4pm on Wednesday 24 June. According to WOWK, she had been aboard a pontoon boat with several other people when its operator, 23-year-old Cameron Conley, told staff at Grayson Lake Marina that he was unable to find a female passenger. Kentucky State Police confirmed that the passenger was Kinney. Officers said the group was unsure exactly when she had left the boat, Lt Chris Mulholland of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources told WSAZ.
When troopers spoke to Conley, they reported smelling alcohol and noted that his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, according to a court citation viewed by FOX 56. He admitted drinking and agreed to a breath test, which recorded a reading of 0.137 — and 0.135 about 20 minutes later — against Kentucky’s legal threshold of 0.08. Conley was charged with operating a boat while intoxicated and taken to the Carter County Detention Center, but has since been released. He is due to be arraigned on 22 July, according to court records seen by the Daily Mail. A Kentucky State Police spokesperson told the paper that Conley faces no charges other than the boating-under-the-influence count, and he has not been linked to any wrongdoing in connection with Kinney’s disappearance.
The search itself has drawn in a large number of agencies. Officials said efforts were concentrated on the water, with Kentucky State Police providing aerial support, drones, boats and K9 teams, while crews from the Lexington Fire Department brought divers and sonar equipment and the US Army Corps of Engineers also assisted. WCHS reported that around 50 volunteers had joined officers to walk the lake’s banks. The operation was paused on Friday night because of darkness, according to WSAZ, and has been complicated by intermittent rain; state police said the weather “remains an issue.”
A witness, Leah Ross, who was out on the lake with her family, said she had seen Kinney’s group near a cliff-jumping spot known locally as “Sex Rock.” Writing on Facebook, she said time-stamped video showed members of the group leaping from the rocks at about 2.20pm and remaining in the area for some time afterwards. Kinney’s older sister, Willow VanHoose, said the teenager had been wearing a strapless pink-orange bikini and was likely barefoot, and described her gold jewellery, including a “dainty gold cross necklace.”
In a statement to WSAZ, Kinney’s family thanked the emergency services and volunteers and said they continued “to have faith she will be found.” The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is leading the missing-person investigation, declined to release further details. Its public information officer, Lisa Jackson, told FOX 56 that the priority “will remain on locating Marly.” The Daily Mail said it had approached Conley for comment.
