How Did Marly Kinney Die? Teen Who Vanished from Boat During Trip to ‘Sex Rock’ Found Dead After Captain Was Arrested with Twice Blood Alcohol Limit

The search for the teenager who vanished during a boat trip to the landmark known as “Sex Rock” ended in tragedy on Sunday after police recovered her body. Marly Kinney, 19, was last seen alive around 4 p.m. on Wednesday near Grayson Lake in Kentucky, 180 miles east of Louisville.

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, according to a citation filed in Carter District Court and obtained by FOX 56. Witnesses said Kinney was last seen at a spot known as “Sex Rock.” A search operation was launched after that.

Grim Discovery

Officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources recovered her body near Grayson Lake at about 3:45 p.m., around five days after she was reported missing, according to TMZ.

The 19-year-old’s cause of death has not yet been determined and remains under investigation by the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort.

Meanwhile, boat captain, Conley, was arrested after police alleged that his blood alcohol concentration was about twice the legal limit.

State troopers said they detected the smell of alcohol on Conley while speaking with him, according to a citation reviewed by the outlet. They also noted that his eyes appeared bloodshot and glassy.

Conley allegedly admitted to drinking alcohol before agreeing to take a preliminary breath test. His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) measured 0.137—nearly twice Kentucky’s legal limit. About 20 minutes later, a second test reportedly showed his BAC at 0.135, authorities said.

He was arrested and charged with operating a boat under the influence before being booked into the Carter County Detention Center. Conley has since been released.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on July 22, according to Kentucky court records reviewed by the Daily Mail.

Kinney Likely Knew Conley

Kinney’s public Instagram account also showed that she followed a man with the same name as Conley, suggesting the two may have known each other. A spokesperson for the Kentucky State Police told the Daily Mail on Saturday that Conley has not been charged with any offense other than operating the boat while impaired.

Officials also said the DUI case against Conley is being handled separately from the ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 19-year-old’s death.

Leah Ross, a local resident who said she and her family were boating on the lake that day, recalled seeing Kinney and her group near the area known as “Sex Rock.”

Ross said she even took a photo of the group as some of Kinney’s friends jumped from 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 2.20 p.m. The group remained in the area for at least 10–20 minutes after that.”

The search for Kinney focused on both the water and the surrounding shoreline. According to the Kentucky State Police, the operation involved multiple county and state agencies, along with first responders and volunteers.

Search crews deployed boats, dive teams, sonar equipment, helicopters, drones, ATVs and UTVs, as well as K9 units and cadaver dogs in the effort to locate her.

Authorities are urging anyone with information related to Kinney’s death to contact Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement.