Body of Scott County woman who fell overboard on Kentucky Lake found
CALLOWAY COUNTY, Ky. (KFVS) - The body of a 22-year-old college student who fell overboard was found on Tuesday morning, September 3.
According to Kevin Kelly, chief communications officer with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Samantha Ratledge’s body was found around 10 a.m. along the western bank of Kentucky Lake in Calloway County.
According to Bill Call, the Emergency Management Agency director for Calloway County, she was found about a half-mile south of where they believe she fell overboard. They believe the current carried her there after the body surfaced.
He said they had about 15 trained search and rescue volunteers in six boats searching on Tuesday morning.
An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday at the medical examiner’s office in Madisonville, Ky.
Crews searched the lake for three days.
Call said they suspended the search at nightfall on Monday, Sept. 2. A smaller crew resumed searching on Tuesday.
Samantha Ratledge, of Scott County, was a graduate and former athletic star at Kelly High School.
“It just breaks your heart for a promising young person like that especially to meet this end,” Call said.
The Kelly High School principal asked the community to pray for Samantha Ratledge’s family.
In a Facebook post, the Kelly High School Principal stated that Ratledge is a Kelly graduate.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife crews, along with Calloway County Fire and Rescue and Marshall County Rescue Squad officials helped with the search.
“We’ve had six boats on the lake all day [Monday],” Call said. “We’re using side-scan sonar and a tow fish sonar unit. We did a grid search near the area where the incident reportedly took place and cruised up and down the lake about 10 square miles or so.”
Call said search parties have enlisted the help of other boaters they come across, asking everyone to keep an eye on the water and the shorelines for a body.
“Law enforcement of course needs to conclude what happened with certainty,” Call said. “The rescuers they’re more interested in helping the family during this difficult time to recover the body to provide closure. We want that to happen as soon as it can.”
Cpt. Tony Dunker with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife said Ratledge was a passenger on a pontoon boat on the lake.
According to Dunker, at around 8 p.m. Sunday night the boat was headed south on Kentucky Lake from mile marker 48, out from America’s Paradise Resort.
Witnesses said Ratledge got out of her seat and crossed a safety rail on the front of the boat while it was moving and fell overboard.
The boat stopped to search for her, but couldn’t find her.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife officials were notified.
Investigators said alcohol was involved and no one on the pontoon boat was wearing a life vest.
Call said a lot of risky choices led to this.
“Boating at night. Boating while drinking alcohol, and then not having the life vest. All of those factors came into play here,” he said. “Take away any one of those, this may have been a whole different situation.”
James T. Nance, 49, the driver of the boat, was arrested for boating under the influence. He was taken to the Calloway County Jail and was later released.
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