A 19-year-old woman has mysteriously disappeared from a Kentucky lake after getting off a pontoon boat with friends to use the toilet, with a massive search operation now spanning its third day across a 1,500-acre reservoir.
Marly Kinney was last seen on Wednesday afternoon after stepping off the boat at the side of Grayson Lake with her group of at least ten friends. The party only realised she was missing once they were already back out on the water — and in a detail that has complicated the search significantly, none of them can remember exactly where on the lake she got off.
Authorities were alerted at 4pm on Wednesday and immediately launched an extensive search operation. Helicopters, drones, K9 teams, divers, boats, GPS technology, phone data analysis, off-road vehicles and search teams on foot have all been deployed across the vast reservoir in Carter County in an effort to locate her. Marly is described as 5ft 5in, around 125 pounds, with black hair. She was wearing a pink, orange and white bikini when she was last seen.
Police arrested one member of the friend group on suspicion of boating under the influence, though it is not known whether Marly herself had been drinking before she disappeared.
True crime and missing persons content creator Matt Thibodeau highlighted the difficulties facing investigators, telling the Sun there was a “significant gap in the timeline” of her disappearance. “Investigators say she had been on a pontoon boat with several other people, but it remains unclear exactly when or where she left the vessel,” he said. “Officials have not released many details about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, and investigators are working to piece together her final known movements.” He added that authorities were still working to establish exactly who was on the boat, whether anyone saw her enter the water, leave the boat or reach shore, and were likely to review phone records, photographs, videos and social media activity to build a clearer picture.
Police have not indicated whether the case is being treated as an accidental drowning, a suspicious disappearance or something else entirely, and have not suggested any evidence of foul play at this stage.
Marly’s family, friends and the wider local community have appealed for anyone with information about her whereabouts or movements since 24 June to contact police immediately.
