— Misti Drew/Tribune-Courier || The recovery scene looks much different today than it did Jan. 21. Amidst mismanagement allegations by family members, Marshall County turned recovery operations over to the state.

Recovery effort turns bitter

County officials
fire back amidst
allegations of
mismanagement

By Misti Drew
Tribune-Courier News Editor
mstrader@tribunecourier.com

GILBERTSVILLE – It’s been more than a month since three young men lost their lives on Kentucky Lake in a tragic boating accident.

Only one of the three boys, Trevor Williams, has been recovered from the lake waters thus far. Jacob Scott and McKenzie Stanley are still missing.

It’s a frustration that has led family members such as Lori Scott, the mother of Jacob, to lash out at Marshall County officials in a very public way.

Posted on the website, http://site.kylakeduckhuntingsearchandrescue.com, which was created as an informational porthole on the recovery effort, Scott has posted a scathing letter pointing a finger of blame at Marshall County officials.

Scott’s letter cites complaint that no effort to contact family members had been made by Marshall County officials since the ice storm hit the region on Jan. 26.

Scott wrote in an update on Feb. 9, “there is absolutely no excuse for officials

Scott asked the community to “continue to pray for the cold-hearted, poor leadership of Marshall County Department of Emergency Services and Marshall County ‘leaders,’” and said “I have seen absolutely no leadership, no planning, no coordination and no respect from them...their ego trips sicken me.”

Chains of e-mails have made their way through the state and adjoining counties making similar allegations of not only ethical, but financial mismanagement on the part of Marshall County officials.

These are allegations that Marshall County Rescue Squad Director Curt Curtner and Marshall County Judge-Executive Mike Miller said must be addressed.

“I understand the families of these boys are hurt and upset,” Curtner said. “Our hearts have gone out to them. Our hearts went out to them every day that we went down to the rescue and recovery site at Little Bear.

“But to turn around and point the finger of blame at the same men and women who risked their lives day in and day out for weeks to bring these boys home is just unacceptable.”

Miller reiterated that even though the search was halted due to inclement weather conditions, due to the nature of the circumstances in the incident, the county had already gone far beyond the standard three-day recovery period utilized by agencies such as the coast guard.

In a joint-agency press conference last Thursday, Marshall County issued the following release in response to the allegations:

“We wish at this time to address several ridiculous and outlandish accusations against responders and coordinators of the recovery efforts conducted on Kentucky Lake.

“For several days now these individuals have come under attack. Recovery operations were conducted in a professional and safe manner as it was explained they would be. When leaders were briefed regarding the impending ice storm, coordinators and support staff briefed the families that operations needed to shift so that responders could prepare to deal with the predicted one to two inches of ice.

“Coordinators also explained to the families that as soon as the response to the storm concluded efforts would resume in a sustained operation meaning resources that were available or that wanted to come assist would be utilized in the best possible manner.

“The storm delivered just what was predicted and ice blanketed the county. A county-wide blackout was sustained and thousands of citizens remain without power. Responders worked tirelessly to protect the 30,000 plus residents only to be damned for it and it is simply unacceptable.

“Out-of-state resources were utilized during the first phase of the operation. Coordinators spoke to numerous agencies interested in assisting and the first question they usually asked was “what has been utilized for the operation?”

“So we will take this opportunity to share with you what was shared with them: dragging equipment, scuba and hard hat divers, side scan sonar, marine sonic sonar, remote operated submarine, dye, land and water cadaver dogs, GPS units, and GIS software for tracking/plotting data.

“Once explained, the comment each time would be ‘we cannot bring to your operation anything you have not already used but we will come help if needed.’

“Our response was, ‘we will log your capabilities, and contact information, and we will schedule you to best fit the operation.’

“Not at any given time during those conversations did we meet friction or concern from the agencies offering to come.

“We want to explain that our coordinators took this mission very seriously. An estimated 18,450 plus man hours has been contributed to the effort via 100 plus response agencies and organizations.

“One federal agency reported that protocol for such operations was preset to three days and then operations ceased. Responders and volunteers worked the Recovery Operation on Kentucky Lake for a consecutive 17 days.

“Coordinators spent numerous hours explaining the operation to representatives from the State Representatives Office, Governor’s Office, and Senator’s Office, US Representative’s Office, and numerous Legislators.

“Not only were responders volunteering their time, but they were having to deal with the harassment on scene, yet, they never complained, to now have their efforts damned in the great world of e-mail.

“At this time, we are still committed to the mission of protecting the citizens of Marshall County and in realizing that the personal attacks, negative phone calls and e-mails would not cease, the county made a decision to transfer coordination control over to Graves County and the State.

“Our hearts are still with these two young men who fell victim to Kentucky Lake but please know this: We will stand behind our emergency response teams, their mutual aid partners, and the operations that were conducted.”

The scene at Little Bear now looks much different than it did in pre-storm days. The recovery effort has been handed over by Marshall County officials to the state. Recovery operations are now continuing, but notably on a much smaller scale.