Body found at Smith Lake near area Starling went missing
Published 10:09 pm Saturday, October 5, 2019
Multiple media outlets are reporting that a body has been found at Smith Lake near the area that Troy native Kelsey Starling went missing after a Fourth of July boating collision.
According to the reports, the body has not yet been recovered or identified, but that divers will be descending to recover the body soon.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Marine Patrol Division searched daily for nearly two weeks before suspending daily searches. ALEA continued to search though for Starling as new equipment and groups came in to try to locate her.
The community rallied around the family, raising $69,532 through gofundme to help support continued searches for Starling.
The search had been complicated by an underwater forest and depths of more than 200 feet and an underwater forest that made diving difficult and dangerous.
Jodi and Nick Suggs, both 50, were indicted by a Winston County grand jury on charges of criminally negligent homicide. They turned themselves in to authorities.William Jackson Fite, 23, of Decatur, was booked into the Winston County jail on a charge of Boating Under the Influence.
Four other passengers on the Mastercraft were also injured and taken for medical treatment.
Starling is the daughter of former city clerk Alton Starling, who served as clerk for 22 years and retired earlier this year.
This is a developing story.