On the local scene
GALENA, Mo. (KY3) – A Stone County judge dismissed charges against the captain and two supervisors involved in the July 2018 deadly Ride the Ducks sinking.
Judge Johnnie Cox ruled there was no probable cause in the case against Captain Kenneth Scott McKee and two supervisors, Curtis Lanham and Charles Baltzell. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office refiled the charges in April 2022.
The Ride the Ducks’ Stretch Duck 7 with 31 people on board capsized and sank in stormy weather on Table Rock Lake. Seventeen passengers, including nine from the same family and one crew member driving the boat, drowned that night. It became one of the deadliest boating accidents in United States history.
Investigators say the Ride the Ducks crew had plenty of warnings about the severe weather, but the boat still launched more than 20 minutes after a thunderstorm warning was issued for Table Rock Lake. The duck boat sank under high waves while winds around the area reached up to 70 miles per hour that day.