Missing Teen Found Dead in Lake After Boat Party

Police claim that 19-year-old Kentucky. woman Marley Kinney went out on a boat. with her friends and never came back. But when police made a tragic discovery, [music] the boat driver was already in. handcuffs, but not for homicide. What. really happened out there? We're going. to bring on a forensic [music] diver and. marine law enforcement expert to help us. understand what investigators [music]. are looking for. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber.

All right, before we jump into this, real quick. Look, America only turns 250. once, it's the truth. And to celebrate. this historic milestone, Chef IQ, our. partner, our sponsor, has released this, okay? A limited edition stars and. stripes Chef IQ send smart meat. thermometer. This thing right here is. built for backyard legends and proud. patriots and serious barbecue fans. alike, okay? This stars and stripes. edition comes in this bold red, white, and blue styling and includes. individually numbered units, so every.

piece is like a unique part of this. once-in-a-generation celebration. And. this IQ sense does more than look cool, it more does more than look like a cool. collector's item. Underneath this design. is the same pro-level performance and. smart technology that makes the IQ. sense. With the wireless probe that. works with Wi-Fi for monitoring from. anywhere, you're going to be able to. watch the fireworks and not the grill. It also works for every protein from. prime rib and wings to chicken to fish. Use my code. Use my code Sidebar for 40%. off sitewide at chef iq.com, that's chef.

iq.com and use my code Sidebar for 40%. off. This is an incredibly tragic story. that we're going to be talking about. There's no other way to describe it. And. in this involves a young woman who was. just on a boat out with her friends, ends up seemingly going out for a swim, never comes back alive. That's what happened to this woman, Marley Kinney, 19 years old, 19. It was an afternoon out on Grayson Lake. in Kentucky.

that turned into an absolute nightmare. According to police, she went overboard. to use the bathroom and that was the. last time anybody saw her alive. Her. body was found 4 days later. And there. was an arrest. There was an arrest made. in this case, the boat driver, but it. was not for homicide. Okay, to be clear, it is not for killing Marley. What happened out on that boat? Now, this is going to sound very. familiar when I talk about this, right? A young woman, a boat, alcohol, potentially alcohol, a family waiting.

for answers. I think you know where I. might be going with this. We'll talk. about it a little bit later. But the thing about it is when someone. goes into the water and doesn't come. back up, figuring out what really. happened, it takes more than just, you. know, looking into the lake. This can be. complicated. It takes somebody who knows. how to read these situations and what to. look for. In a little bit, we're going. to bring on a forensic diver and marine. law enforcement expert to get a better. sense of this because he's going to help. us understand what investigators are. looking for right now, what questions. they're still trying to answer. Because.

this search may be over, but the. questions, they're just getting started. So, I want to lay out exactly what we. seem to know at this point based on the. reporting. 19-year-old Marley Kinney. from Ashland, Kentucky. She was out on. Grayson Lake on Wednesday, June 24th. It. was on a rented pontoon boat with a. group of friends, at least 10 of them. This is according to authorities. And. this was supposed to just be a fun day. on the water. Around 4:00 p.m., she. reportedly went overboard. Police say. she was just trying to use the bathroom. and she hadn't been seen since.

Now, here's the thing that's kind of. hard to wrap your head around. Her friends didn't realize that she was. missing right away, at least not. immediately. That's according to. investigators. Now, there was an arrest. made in this case and we're going to get. into that in a little bit, but the. details are pretty wild. First, you got. the search. Multiple law enforcement. agencies launched what officials called. an exhaustive search. So, we're talking. sonars, thermal detectors, helicopters, K9 teams, underwater drones. The Ashland. Fire Department sent divers. The. Lexington Fire Department sent divers.

Kentucky State Police provided aerial. support. More than 50 volunteers walked. the banks of that lake. Rain showers. made things harder. They kept going. though, throughout all that. And. meanwhile, her family was desperately. waiting for answers. Her sister posted. on social media pleading for help saying. police and wildlife officials they were. doing everything they could, but was. asking people not to spread rumors. writing quote, "My little sister Marley. Kinney has been missing as you all have. seen. There's been searches. Police are.

doing as much as they can and the. wildlife association, but please let me. know if you find anything out. Please do. not believe or spread rumors as well. Nobody has been found and we plan to. search until we find anything." And the. search stretched into its third day. Her. sister posted again, this time. expressing her frustration with all the. speculation and misinformation online. She wrote, "I'm so exhausted of. everything and misinformation being. spread, all the speculations and. accusations being thrown around, all of.

the fake videos being created and. horrible things people are saying or. claiming. I could care less about how it. happened, who did it right now. I just. want her found. I will place the blame. later when she's found. If you have. genuine urgent information, contact me. through my Instagram. Do not contact me. otherwise unless you're one of Marley's. close friends, someone from the boat, close friends, or my family. I know this. likely sounds rude or sounds. insensitive. I'm still going to be out. looking for her, but the media is. becoming too much. I can never. understand why people claim things that. aren't true, why they flood comment.

sections that could be giving important. information with rumors or well, I think. this happened. You were not there and it. won't help find my little sister. Thank. you for everyone helping and everyone. spreading information about her. I truly. am so grateful. I'm just also tired. I. want everyone to be safe." And then what. happens? Sunday, June 28th, around 3:45. p.m. they find her. Her body was recovered. from Grayson Lake. The Kentucky Department of Fish and. Wildlife Resources confirmed her. identity.

and said that the family had been. notified. Her sister confirmed this in a. heartbreaking post writing quote, Hello. everyone, this will be a hard read so. I'm keeping it short. My sister has been found deceased. We. are truly grateful for everyone. on every team that helped us search for. her. Everyone's prayers, everyone who. reached out to help. Boyd County High School where Marley. graduated just last year was part of the. class of 2024. also shared a memorial post asking the.

community to keep her family, friends, classmates in their thoughts. The cause. of death at the time of this reporting. still unknown. State Medical Examiner's. office is going to determine that which. means right now nobody knows exactly. what happened to her out there. And this is where it gets interesting. too because there was an arrest made in. this case. The boat driver was taken. into custody the very same day that. Marley disappeared. But here's the. thing, he wasn't arrested for her death. He was arrested for something else. And what he was arrested for.

that's going to tell us a lot about what. investigators may be doing. But before. we even get into more of the specifics. of this with the expert that we're going. to bring on I just want to, you know, extend my thoughts, my prayers, my best. wishes to the family. This is a really, really. heartbreaking and tragic position to be. in and it's uh it's unthinkable and I'm. really, really sorry that they're going. through this. But I want to try to. understand what's happening behind the. scenes. But before we even get into that, I want. to bring on our guest. So we're joined. by Alex Beer who's a forensic diver, marine law enforcement expert and I'm so.

happy to have him. Alex, thanks for. taking the time to talk about this. Really appreciate it. >> No problem. Thanks for having me on. >> So um before we even get into more of. the specifics here, let's just go to the. basic questions, okay? When someone goes. seemingly overboard and isn't found for. days, um what are the initial steps that. are taken to locate the body to to Do. you also look at the Do you also look at. the the craft itself? I mean, what are. the initial steps of an investigation?

>> Uh well, initially, uh given the. location, so Grayson Lake, I believe, is. the the location there in Kentucky, it. is um. a pretty expansive like not big in size, but very long and uh there's a lot of. coves and places. So, the first part of. it would be trying to identify like. where was the last point. that she was seen, physically seen by anybody that was. there. Uh starting there, um given that the. water uh with all the weather they've.

been having and and pretty typically in. lakes, the visibility is near zero. Um. so, initially, I would think that uh. using sonar in the water to attempt to. locate anomalies to kind of zero in on. something um. uh whether that's side scan sonar or or. uh boat sonar, uh attempt to locate uh. her in the water. >> Can you Can you expand on that? What How. does the sonar work for finding a a body. or an or an anomaly? >> Sure. Well, [snorts] sonar is sound uh.

that is being. put out through the water via whatever. type of sonar, whether that's side scan. or multi-beam. It goes out, hits. something, and comes back, and then. produces a you know, goes through a. a computer model that models an image. So, basically, you get an image of the. bottom. So, you'll see things like, you. know, trees and and and rocks and and. things like that fairly clearly, things. that give a a good return. Um finding uh bodies is a little bit.

more difficult, depending on water depth. and vegetation, and and it does have of. limitations, but it gives you an image. of the bottom and then. given experience and practice and. training, you interpret those anomalies and things. will stand out to you and then it won't. necessarily look like a person, but it's. something that shouldn't be there and so. then you're going to want to investigate. those things. more thoroughly. >> Is it strange to you that her body.

reportedly wasn't found for several. days? >> It's not strange to me. I don't know. anything about. this particular lake. I don't know how. deep it is. I don't know anything about. the its conditions. Um, but it's not. strange to me in the sense that it's. it's difficult if if assuming, and I'm. assuming not knowing all the facts of. the case, but assume she let's say she drowned. So, a drowning victim will will go. directly to the bottom. They will stay.

there for a period of time until they. begin to decompose. and then they will the the build-up of. the gases in the body will cause the. body to what they call refloat and come. to the surface and then they're. subjected, you know, to wind and water. movement and and can be moved around at. that point. Um, I don't know if she could swim and I. don't know what the circumstances of her. going in the water were, but assuming she drowned and went under, um, then it comes down to having a good.

accurate last seen point and starting. your search from there. And then. depending on what type of sonar they. were using and and how much training. they have, um, you know, reading sonar, it's not uh, it's not as clear as say like looking at. your Google Maps or something like that. You you really kind of have to know what. you're looking for. Um, and and to pick those anomalies out. It's not always very clear-cut. So, and. that varies a lot based on the type of. sonar you're using and uh, the. experience level of the person using it.

>> By the way, I know you're not familiar. with this particular body of water, but. generally speaking, what happens to a body that is in water. for that period of time? You talked. about how it sinks, the gases, but if. you're trying to find evidence, if. you're trying to determine cause of. death, is there a degradation of the. body in a certain way? >> There is. Um. and and I again, I don't There haven't. been a lot of um details about the. condition of the victim when she was.

recovered, but certain things. uh obviously the body changes, right? The body bloats and the body changes, but things like, you know, tattoos and. things like that, you'll still see those. things and recognize those things. Um I'm sure what the coroner and the. medical. examiners looking for is things like, um. did she fall overboard and get then, you. know, get run over by the boat? So, is. there evidence of like a boat strike? Does she have any large wounds? Um propeller marks, things like that. that would indicate that, you know, she.

fell over while the boat was in transit. ultimately and then was hit and then, you know, as a result, those are the. things that that. led to her death or her drowning. Um Or did she just drown? There's no. marks on her. And those things, you'll. still recognize them or see them. Um obviously they'll be distorted, but. but they're still identifiable. >> Alex, let me ask you about the search. itself because the amount of resources. that went into finding her is pretty.

staggering. I mean, according to. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, they. deployed boats, Ashland Fire Department. divers, sonar, which we talked about, Kentucky State Police helicopters, drones, UTVs, ATVs, K9 teams, cadaver. dogs, the Lexington Fire Department sent. divers, the Kentucky State Police. provided aerial support, more than 50. volunteers walked the banks of the lake. And on top of all that, like we were. been of been talking about that they. using these thermal detectors and. underwater drones. First of all, how do you coordinate.

something like that? Cuz it seems like a. massive undertaking with a lot of. different uh individuals and a lot of. different parties. >> Uh yes, but I think that you know, you'll have a lead agency. So, I think. that was probably Kentucky Fish and. Wildlife was probably the lead agency. So, there's a you know, there'll be a. command center that's sort of. coordinating all those assets. Um you. know, documenting who's where, who's. doing what. Uh how many boats, how many divers, where they're looking. Um.

the volunteer searching the shoreline, the cadaver dogs, all of those things. are are coordinated through a command. center. Um and then law enforcement, we do a lot. of training, especially fire and law. enforcement uh does a lot of training. like instant command systems where we. train for those operations. And in. places like Kentucky, I'm going to guess. by the response that um they probably do. a lot of multi-agency trainings to help. recognize you know, what assets people. have, what they can call in, and then.

sort of working those things together. You know, there'll be somebody sort of. running the boats and somebody running. the dive and somebody running the the. land-based search, somebody running the. aviation, and all those things are. pouring into one, you know, command. center for, you know, sort of an overall. control of the situation. >> By the way, what are underwater drones? What do those look like? >> Well, an underwater drone is not like uh. it's not typically autonomous. Uh. usually when people say underwater. drone, they mean a ROV or remotely.

operated vehicle, uh which is, you know, varies in size, but you know, they can. be anywhere from the uh you know, uh on. the smaller side to, you know, you know, big commercial ones, but uh typically. it's a small uh multi-propellered. um. platform that has typically a camera, sonar, uh and things on it as well, usually a like a grappler arm that they. can fly via tether. So, it's tethered to. the surface where they can watch on a.

monitor and see sort of the sonar screen. and a video screen and be able to to. look around with that uh to to check in. areas or to even check on maybe an. anomaly that they saw another type of. sonar that they want to get sort of a. visual look at before committing divers. to the water. >> You know, there was something that we. talked about a little bit, but I just. want to expand upon it. Um. according to officials, this search was. paused multiple times. First, it was due. to darkness, then it was because of. scattered rain showers. You talked a. little bit about how weather can affect.

this, but also what happens when you. have to stop and restart a search? >> Mhm. I mean, you know, you're you're tracking. your daily progress. So, um most most areas use a There's a. variety of them out there, but uh like. what we'll use in like an area search is. something called SARCOP, which is a way. for the command center to see in real. time. where searchers have been, what areas. have been searched, and so that if they. have to pause it, they can come back and.

sort of overlap and pick up where they. left off, so they don't have to keep. restarting. Um and in a lake like Grayson Lake, from. what I looked at on a map, it's fairly. narrow. It's not It's not a wide. expansive lake, so those areas were. probably, you know, cordoned off or grid gridded off for the. the people to say, "Okay, you're going. to go here. This is your area of. responsibility. You're going to go here. This is" And as they mark off those. areas, they sort of just chip away at it. until they get through it.

>> Yeah. Um I want to get into the arrest. now. We haven't talked about it yet. So, cuz I think the details are pretty. interesting. So, the boat driver has. been identified by authorities as a. 23-year-old Cameron Conley. And. according to the arrest citation that. was obtained by uh Lex 18. Conley had. allegedly told Marina staff that he. wasn't able to locate a woman who had. been on his boat. That's when. authorities were notified. Kentucky. State Police responded to Grayson Lake. Marina that same evening. So, we're.

talking Wednesday, June 24th. And when. troopers spoke with Conley, they. reportedly smelled alcohol on his. breath. They observed bloodshot, glassy. eyes. He admitted or allegedly admitted. that he had been drinking. And with his. reported consent, Conley submitted to a. breathalyzer test. He blew a or he. reportedly blew a 0.137. That's our understanding to be nearly. twice Kentucky's legal limit of 0.08. And about 20 minutes later, according to. Fox 56, they tested him again and. reportedly was 0.135. So, he was.

arrested for boating under the. influence, BUI. It's a first-degree. offense, taken to Carter County. Detention Center. And here's something. that I wanted to ask you about, Alex. So, he was released after a 20-minute. observation period. He's doing court. next month. What does that tell you about where this. investigation is? What does it tell you. about where law enforcement is in. treating this BUI charge right now in. the middle of what was an active, you. know, missing persons investigation? Uh.

talk to me about your Talk to me about. your initial thoughts about that. >> Um. initially, my thoughts are. maybe stating the obvious is that uh. what we see a lot in boating accidents. and and things like this are. um are alcohol or drug or, you know, some sort of substance um. impairment. And and it really just goes. to show that those two things just don't. mix. I realize that boating is a. recreational activity. Uh BUIs are. unlike DUIs. You know, you don't need a. driver's license to operate a boat. Um.

so, it doesn't necessarily affect you uh. and I don't know how Kentucky's laws. are. Excuse me. >> Sure. >> But, typically, BUIs don't affect your. driving. Like, a DUI won't prevent you. like it suspend your license because. it's a recreational activity. Pretty much the laws and and and anybody. can operate a boat. Um I know here in in. Florida where I'm at you have to have. like a boater ID card which is an online. course that teaches you sort of the. basic rules of the road. Not sure if.

they have that there. But it's obviously. more lax to operate a boat. Um I'm. guessing uh my impression is that this. was a rented pontoon boat. Um it's not. I've heard two different versions that. it was a group of 10 people on the boat. out having a day and I've heard that he. came back to them right up by himself. saying he couldn't find her and I'm not. sure. uh which reporting is accurate. But. either way. >> Right. >> Um I think it goes to to the.

the fact that that being under the. influence and and that making poor. decisions. uh on a boat can lead to things like you. know fatalities and and certainly. injuries. Um and. you know what are the circumstances if. if there were 10 people on the boat. how did nobody see her go over? I've. seen a report that said she went over to. go. >> Well that's interesting. So So let me. just jump in. He said the citation. according to local media says that. Conley told troopers quote he could not.

find one of his passengers. That's the. language he apparently used. Not she. fell, not she jumped, not it was Marley. I thought that was interesting. >> It is and I think that you know so from. from an investigator standpoint if there. were 10 people on the boat and nine came. back. investigators are going to want to. interview. everybody that was on that boat. during that at that on that day. Whether. they were on the boat together or not. but everybody that was there they're.

going to want to interview them and try. and piece together sort of that blank. spot in the story where. you know she went out on a boat, she. didn't come back. So, what happened? Um I think the other side of that is as. an investigator, and you know, you can. look at it two ways, right? There's. There's really two responses. Tragic. accident, or was there something malicious, or or. or was there uh mal intent? Um. and I don't know that. I don't know what. the relationship between these people. are. Um so, I think an investigator wants to.

get everybody's story, hear what they have to say, and then. then do what investigators do, which is. start to poke holes in the story because. my impression is that these are all. young people. that. something bad happened. Whether it was. it whether they intended for it to. happen or not, something bad happened. And so, I think what you normally see. with a group of young people is they. sort of close ranks. They I don't want. to get in trouble for this. Like I don't want to be in trouble. I. don't want to you know, I I I don't want.

to you know, and it's they tend to formulate a plan. You know, whether that's hey, let's just. be honest, or that's hey, we need to. come up with uh stories, or whatever it. is. And I think that's where. investigators are going to start. focusing on to determine. was this just an accident, or was this. something else? >> Sure. And to be clear, there's also a middle. ground, but I I want to make I'm going. to make it clear about this. There's a chance two things could be. true at once, right? There's a chance. that you could have somebody who's.

driving under the influence, and someone. falls overboard, and let's say drowns, and it's not due to the driving under. the influence, right? It It could have. been for another any other factor. >> Sure. >> And And he's not currently charged in. connection with her death. So, so he And. that And that may never be the case. I. mean, I wonder how difficult it would be. to determine what the the sequence of. events because there is a possibility. that the two things are unrelated. >> Sure, but you do have a responsibility.

as a. as anybody would. It it's like a. hit-and-run, right? You didn't intend You're driving down. the road and somebody walks out in front. of your car and you you run into them. You have the option to stay on scene, which is what you should do, and you know, hey, I I didn't see this. person. You tell your side of it. Then you have the other side where. people panic and they take off because. they're like, oh my god, I just did. something terrible. Not because they. meant to, but it was an accident. Um. I find it, you know, and again, that.

will come out as the investigation. unfolds. Like, where did it take place? How far is that from the marina that he. brought the boat back to? Um who was there? Uh things like that will start to come. out as the investigation starts to ramp. up with with getting more information. Yeah, dude, he may not have I don't. think anybody I don't believe in and in. innocent until proven guilty. I don't think there's enough information. to formulate one way or the other at. this point. I think there's still a lot.

of unknowns um that they're going to. work on trying to figure out. Uh I mean, I would ask the basic questions from the. family. Like, can she swim? >> Now, I actually this reminds me of. something that I wanted to go to because. this is a story that sounds very. familiar. The circumstances are. different, but a young woman, 19 years. old, goes overboard on a boat seemingly. The operator allegedly drunk. You have a. family who's waiting for answers. This. is very similar to the Mallory Beach. case. Paul Murdaugh, remember? He was. charged with boating under the influence.

causing her death. Again, a little bit. different than what we're talking about. here, but before he could face trial, he. and his mother were murdered, and his. father, Alec Murdaugh, was convicted of. killing them even though that conviction. was overturned. Now, I'm not saying. that's what's happening here in. Kentucky, but I am saying when you will. see a case that starts like this, young. woman dead, potentially alcohol. involved, an operator charged with BUI, the investigators are looking for a lot. more than just what happened. And so, Alex, what are the you know, the. undercurrents that investigators are. looking for in a case like this. I mean, beyond the DUI the excuse me, the BUI.

charge, what other lines of. investigation. are standard? What can we expect next? When would we have more answers? Um talk to me about it. >> Well, I I think you're going to find. you know, the initial charge was was for. what what they dealt with when they. first met with them. I think as the. story unfolds, you know, additional. charges may follow, they may not. Um if it's deemed an accident or if. there's something about. uh the investigation from the medical. examiner about her cause of death, all.

those things will come into play. Um and. I think the common thread between those. two stories is you have young people, alcohol, which influences or causes, you know, poor decisions uh to be made. Um and you. know, again, I don't want to I don't. know which way it's going to go. Um but. I think clearly, you know, it it it's. she should have come back with everybody. else. And why didn't she? >> That that's the key, right? And look,

the cause of death as of right now is. unknown. The medical examiner's office. in Frankfort, it's going to determine. that or hopefully determine that. Um. you know, I should also say that the. investigation's ongoing. Kentucky Fish. and Wildlife, they've made that clear. If anybody has information about what. happened to Maralee Kinney on Grayson. Lake, they're asking investigators are. asking you to come forward. You can. actually contact Kentucky uh Fish and. Wildlife Law Enforcement at the number. we have right up there. You can reach. out to Kentucky State Police as well. We. know that Cameron Conley's out on bond.

He's waiting for his next court date uh. next month. But um Alex, thank you so. much for taking the time. I really. appreciate it. >> Well, I appreciate you having me on and. I just want to, you know, uh um. prayers to the to the family that are. dealing with the loss of their their. daughter and their sister. And uh it's. tragic and and let the investigators do. their job and let that investigation run. its course. And and uh hopefully that. you know whether it be justice or. answers for the family will will come. from that. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar everybody. Thank you so.

much for joining us and as always please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcast. You can also check us out on. NBC's Peacock as [music] well. If you. want to follow me X Instagram my. NewsNation show Jesse Weber Live Monday. through Friday 11:00 p.m. Eastern. See. you next time everybody.