US Coast Guard seizes dinghy in Lynette Hooker Bahamas disappearance case
The U.S. Coast Guard has taken possession of the dinghy connected to the unexplained disappearance of Lynette Hooker in the Bahamas. Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, said she is encouraged that investigators are now examining new areas for possible evidence. Criminal defense attorney Donna Rotunno also weighed in, raising concerns that the delay in securing the dinghy may have allowed potential evidence to be compromised.
A 23-year-old Kentucky man is facing a boating under the influence charge after a 19-year-old female passenger went missing from his pontoon boat.
Cameron Conley was arrested Wednesday after telling staff at Grayson Lake Marina that Marly Kinney was no longer aboard his boat and that he could not locate her.
Kentucky State Police and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources joined the search effort, according to FOX 56.
An undated photo of Marly Kinney, 19, who went missing from a boat on Grayson Lake in Kentucky. (Willow VanHoose)
When troopers arrived, they reported smelling alcohol on Conley’s breath and asked whether he had been drinking. Court records obtained by FOX 56 state that Conley acknowledged drinking and agreed to take a breath test.
Authorities said Conley’s blood alcohol concentration registered at 0.137, almost twice Kentucky’s legal limit. About 20 minutes later, a second test showed a reading of 0.135.
Conley was booked into the Carter County Detention Center following his arrest and has since been released.
Kinney has been missing since 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Lt. Chris Mulholland with the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources told WSAZ.
An undated photo of Marly Kinney, 19, who went missing off a boat on Grayson Lake in Kentucky on Wednesday. (Willow VanHoose)
Mulholland said Kinney was on the boat with multiple other people and that they are not sure when she got off.
Authorities from multiple agencies have been searching for her both in the lake and on the surrounding trails. They are using sonar, K9 teams and drones with thermal detectors in hopes of locating her as quickly as possible.
Officials said on Friday that a group of 50 volunteers had joined the effort to look for Kinney along the banks of the lake, adding that on and off rain hindered the search, according to WSAZ.
Kinney’s family provided a statement to WSAZ thanking law enforcement and first responders for continuing to look for the young woman.
“We do not even know how to express our absolute gratitude to you all. We continue to have faith she will be found and brought back to us. We know we have the very best people doing all they can to bring her home,” the statement read.
Stock image of a pontoon boat (Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Kinney’s sister, Willow VanHoose, posted pictures of her on Thursday and described what she was wearing at the time of her disappearance.
“She was wearing a pink-orange bikini that is strapless, and is likely to have no shoes. She wears gold jewelry and usually has a dainty gold cross necklace on,” she wrote on Facebook. “She has many tattoos, a sword down her side, a spider on her thigh going around it, butterflies on her arm, a tiger on her arm, and fairies on her shoulder.”
With the search now entering its third day, there has been no more meaningful progress from teams on the ground, according to Lisa Jackson, a spokesperson for the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
“I understand from our game wardens at the scene that there are no new updates. With weather moving through the area throughout the day, the search is continuing as weather permits,” Jackson told Fox News in a statement on Saturday morning.
