Calloway County, Ky.–Crews searching Kentucky Lake for a Missouri woman who had been missing since she fell overboard from a boat Sunday evening recovered her body around 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Samantha Brooke Ratledge, 22, of Scott City, Missouri, was on a pontoon boat near mile marker 48 not far from Paradise Resort when, according to witnesses, she left her seat while the boat was underway and crossed the front safety rail before falling overboard around 8 p.m.
She was not wearing a life jacket, according to investigators.
There were six others on the boat at the time of the incident, according to investigators. The boat was stopped after Ratledge fell overboard but she could not be located. Ratledge was a student at Murray State University.
Multiple agencies responded, including the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. James T. Nance, 49 of Calloway County, was charged with boating under the influence and taken to the Calloway County Jail.
Crews searched for Ratledge late into the evening Sunday and throughout the day on Monday. They returned Tuesday morning and located Ms. Ratledge’s body just south of the accident scene.
An autopsy will be performed Wednesday at the Medical Examiner’s office in Madisonville, Kentucky.
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