The search for a missing teenager who disappeared during a boating outing to the local landmark known as “Sex Rock” ended in tragedy Sunday afternoon when police found her body.
Marly Kinney, 19, had last been seen at Grayson Lake in Kentucky, roughly 180 miles east of Louisville, at around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
According to a citation filed in Carter District Court and reviewed by FOX 56, Cameron Conley, 23, told staff at Grayson Lake Marina that he could not locate a female passenger who had been aboard the boat he was operating.
Officials from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources recovered Kinney’s body near Grayson Lake at 3:45 p.m., nearly five days after she was reported missing, TMZ reported.
Authorities have not yet disclosed the teen’s cause of death, which remains under investigation by the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort.
The discovery came after Conley, the boat’s captain, was arrested when police said his blood alcohol level was allegedly twice the legal limit.
While Conley was speaking with state police, officers reported detecting the smell of alcohol on him, according to the citation cited by the outlet.
Officers also allegedly observed that Conley’s eyes appeared bloodshot and glassy.
19-year-old Marly Kinney vanished Wednesday at Grayson Lake, Kentucky, roughly 200 miles east of Louisville
A woman who said she was boating with her family near Kinney and her group of friends shared a photo of them jumping from a rock known by locals as ‘Sex Rock’
Cameron Conley, 23, was charged with operating a boat while under the influence. He allegedly told Grayson Lake Marina staff that he could not find a female passenger on his boat
The boat captain allegedly admitted to drinking alcohol and agreed to a preliminary breath test.
Conley’s blood alcohol level was allegedly measured at .137, about two times the legal limit in Kentucky.
His blood alcohol level was allegedly measured again at .135 approximately 20 minutes later, according to the outlet.
Conley was charged with operating a boat while intoxicated or under the influence.
He was arrested and taken to the Carter County Detention Center, but has since been released.
Conley is set to be arraigned on July 22, according to Kentucky court records viewed by the Daily Mail.
Kinney’s public Instagram account showed that she followed a man with the same name as Conley.
A spokesperson for the Kentucky State Police told the Daily Mail on Saturday afternoon that Conley did not face any charges other than DUI for operating the boat impaired.
The captain’s case remains separate as officials continue investigating the circumstances surrounding the 19-year-old’s death.
Kinney follows a man with the same name as Cameron Conley on her public Instagram account
Authorities are still searching for Kinney. On Saturday, the Kentucky State Police told the Daily Mail that the weather ‘remains an issue’
Grayson Lake State Park in Kentucky
A local saw Kinney and a group she was with near a rock known locally as ‘Sex Rock’
Resident Leah Ross, who said she and her family were out on the lake boating, said she had seen Kinney and the group she was with near a rock known locally as ‘Sex Rock.’
She took a photo of Kinney’s group, with her friends jumping off the rock.
‘We stopped to jump off some rock cliffs, and they stopped shortly after us,’ Ross wrote on Facebook.
‘We have time–stamped videos where Marly and some of the group she was with were jumping off the rocks at 2.20pm. The group remained in the area for at least 10–20 minutes after that.’
The investigation remains ongoing, according to police.
Search efforts focused on the water and shoreline and included multiple county and state agencies, along with first responders and volunteers, Kentucky State Police said in a statement.
The search teams used boats, divers, sonar, helicopters, drones, ATVs/UTVs, and K9 and cadaver dogs.
Authorities ask anyone with tips regarding Kinney’s tragic death to contact Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement.
The investigation remains ongoing, according to police
Tributes poured in for the late 19-year-old as the community mourns her death.
‘Prayers for the family and first responders God Bless,’ one person wrote on Facebook.
Another said: ‘It’s heartbreaking to hear this. Prayers for the family.’
‘So very heartbreaking, thank you to the first responders for giving the family closure,’ another user wrote.
This is a breaking news story.
