Kentucky Man Charged with Boating DUI After 19-Year-Old Passenger Disappears on Grayson Lake

What Happened

Sometime around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25, Cameron Conley alerted staff at the Grayson Lake Marina in Carter County, Kentucky, that one of his passengers — 19-year-old Marly Kinney — was no longer on his pontoon boat and he could not find her.

Kentucky State Police and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources responded. When troopers arrived, they reported smelling alcohol on Conley's breath. According to court records obtained by FOX 56, Conley admitted to drinking and consented to a breath test.

He blew a 0.137 blood alcohol content on the first test. Twenty minutes later, a second test returned 0.135. Kentucky's legal limit for boating under the influence is 0.08. Conley's level was nearly double that on both tests.

Conley was arrested and booked at the Carter County Detention Center. He has since been released. No additional charges had been filed as of this writing.

The Search

Lt. Chris Mulholland with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources told WSAZ that the boat had multiple passengers and that authorities are still uncertain exactly when Kinney left the vessel or went over the side.

The search has expanded significantly since Wednesday. Multiple agencies are using sonar equipment, K9 units, and drones equipped with thermal detectors. By Friday, according to WSAZ, roughly 50 volunteers had joined the effort to search the lake's banks, though on-and-off rain slowed progress.

Grayson Lake is located in Carter County, roughly 90 miles east of Lexington.

Kinney's Family

Kinney's family released a statement to WSAZ expressing gratitude to law enforcement and volunteers: "We do not even know how to express our absolute gratitude to you all." The full statement was provided by Willow VanHoose.

No public statement from Conley or his legal representation has been reported as of Saturday, June 27.

What Remains Unresolved

The most pressing open question is straightforward: how and when did Kinney leave the boat? Lt. Mulholland confirmed there were multiple passengers aboard, yet none apparently witnessed her disappearance, or no witness account has been made public. With a 19-year-old missing and a boat operator nearly twice the legal limit, the circumstances around when and how she went missing matter to any future legal proceedings.

Boating under the influence, as charged, is a serious offense in Kentucky. It does not by itself establish a causal link between Conley's intoxication and Kinney's disappearance. A fair reading of the available facts requires acknowledging that Conley was the one who reported Kinney missing and that he cooperated with a breath test. Whether additional charges follow will depend on what investigators determine about the sequence of events on that boat.

As of Saturday, the search is ongoing, Kinney has not been found, and the charge against Conley remains boating under the influence. The single most pressing unresolved question is what the sonar and recovery teams find, and whether the answer changes the legal picture for Conley.