Body of woman missing since July 4 boat crash found 140 feet below surface

Published 3:32 pm Monday, October 7, 2019

Authorities say they’ve found the body of a woman who had been missing since a boating crash on an Alabama lake on July 4.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Marine Patrol Division said in a news release that Kelsey Starling’s body was recovered Saturday.

The 26-year-old woman hadn’t been seen since a two-vessel crash in a deep section of Smith Lake north of Birmingham.

Search and recovery work was made difficult by an underwater forest of trees that weren’t cut down when the lake was created more than 50 years ago.

Search efforts resumed Thursday. Divers from the Houston County Rescue Squad located the body Saturday in about 140 feet of water near where the wreck happened.

Several people face criminal charges in the crash.