The tragic death of a 19-year-old Kentucky girl who was found dead in a lake after boating with friends has been ruled as an accidental drowning. 

Marly Kinney's body was found in Grayson Lake in Carter County, Kentucky on June 28, three days after she vanished off a party boat she had rented for the day with ten friends.

Kinney's sister Willow previously said that her sister and four friends briefly jumped off the boat to relieve themselves in the water, but when the boat sped off the group did not realize Kinney was not on board. 

Police said the group had been drinking heavily through the da, and friends said they had been swimming and jumping off what locals call 'Sex Rock', a formation overlooking the water. 

Kinney's autopsy found she had a postmortem blood alcohol concentration of 0.268 percent. The legal driving limit across the United States is 0.08 percent.

Officials said Kinney's body showed no signs of a struggle or traumatic injury and that the others on the boat cooperated with the investigation and aided the frantic days-long search for her. 

In the months following Kinney's death, questions were raised by locals over how the tragedy unfolded, including how long it took for the friends on the boat to realize Kinney was missing. 

This week, Carter County Commonwealth’s Attorney Barry Bradley announced that a grand jury determined Kinney's death was an accidental drowning and they declined to file any criminal charges.

The finding sparked outcry from Kinney's loved ones. 

Her best friend Baylie Hanshaw writing on social media: 'I am not ready to look at everything that happened that night and simply call it an accident.' 

Hanshaw said she has been left with lingering questions about how her best friend died in the lake, including how it took her friends 'approximately 30 minutes before the people on the boat realized she was missing.'

'I keep thinking about those minutes,' she said. 'About what could have happened if someone had noticed sooner. 

'About whether she could have been found sooner. About what Marly was experiencing while she was out there alone. 

'Did she jump in and never come back up, or did she lose her strength waiting for them to come back for her? Those are questions i don’t know if I’ll ever be able to stop asking.' 

Kinney's sister Willow VanHoose also previously said that she has also been left haunted by the thought of Kinney's friends accidentally sailing away from her body on the lake. 

VanHoose said her sister and five others got off the boat to relieve themselves in the water, but when the boat sped off again only Kinney was missing. 

'One of the girls said, "Where is Marly?"' VanHoose said she was told, as she said she pieced together Kinney's last moments after speaking at length with many of her friends who were on board.

'So they tried to circle back to where they thought they last saw her and asked other boats around if they had seen a girl, and no one had seen her.'

'They told me that they were screaming for her, yelling for her, they looked for her.'

VanHoose said her sister was very fit and a good swimmer, and Kinney's friends told her she wasn't drunk enough that she couldn't swim or would have blacked out. 

'I do not blame any of those people on that boat in full, I will always be so mad at them, but they all seem so remorseful,' she said. 

Two final photos show Kinney less than an hour before her death, taken on her camera that was left behind with her phone and other belongings she left behind when she jumped off the boat - expecting to be back minutes later.

Kinney's camera was brand new and she didn't know how to change the date, leaving a December 23, 2025, stamp on the images.

A third photo was taken about 2.19pm by a family on another boat that showed Kinney in her pink-orange bikini on top of 'Sex Rock' with two other young women.

Kinney is believed to have disappeared between 2.30pm and 3pm and no one is entirely sure how long it took the group to realize she was gone, VanHoose said.

By 4.30pm, the boat had returned to the marina and its passengers were seen speaking to emergency services after reporting Kinney missing.

Although the grand jury declined to bring further charges related to Kinney's death, two occupants on the boat - Ryan Blanke, 21, and Isabelle Addis, 19 - face misdemeanor charges for allegedly providing alcohol to a minor. 

Bradley said Blanke and Addis are not charged in connection with Kinney's death and are only facing charges for allegedly giving her alcohol before she went missing. 

Kentucky State Police also charged the driver of the boat, Cameron Conley, 23, with operating the boat under the influence. 

Court records cited by the Lexington Herald Leader showed that Conley reported Kinney was missing to staff at Grayson Lake Marina, and he said he was 'unable to locate a female passenger on the boat he was operating.'

Conley allegedly admitted to consuming alcohol, and court documents said he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.137 at the time. He pleaded guilty and was given a $25 fine and ordered to pay $189 in court costs.

Blanke and Addis are next due in court on September 30. 

Following the determination that Kinney's death was an accident, Bradley said in a statement that authorities 'extend their deepest condolences to Ms. Kinney’s family, friends and loved ones.'

'We recognize the profound loss they have experienced and hope that the conclusion of this investigation provides some measure of clarity and closure.'