Did Kristy Kelley Drown After She Accidentally Crashed Into A Lake? Or Was Something More Sinister Afoot?

Kristyn “Kristy” Scales Kelley

She was fun-loving, vivacious and wasn't afraid to tell you what she thought. She loved her children and was a very dedicated Mommy. Kristy was had beautiful big blue eyes. She was born on Oct 28th, 1986 in Boonville, Indiana to Todd and Kathy Scales. 

On August 15th, 2014, Kristy was a 27-year-old pharmacy technician and a single mother of two young children.  She had just gotten divorced and moved in with her parents. 

That night, Kristy went out with her friends to a couple of local bars. 

After that, they went to VFW Post 3418. Kristy stayed passed closing time, sitting alone and talking to her bartender friend as he worked. Her friend and the other bartender had their backs to Kristy for a few minutes while they were having a conversation. When they turned around, Kristy was no longer sitting at the bar. They checked the woman's restroom, but it was empty. They thought she had left without saying goodbye. This was the last time Kristy would be seen alive..

The next morning, Kristy's parents drove to her work to visit her and noticed that Kristy's car wasn't there. They assumed that she was out to lunch and left. Later, they found out that she didn't show up to work and didn't call in sick either. This was uncharacteristic for Kristy. Kristy's dad, Todd, was a retired jailer for Warwick County Sheriff department and he immediately called his former sergeant and told him that is daughter might be missing.

When Todd learned of Kristy's activities the night before, he went to the last place she was reported been seen, the VFW. When he arrived, there was no sign of Kristy's SUV. He went inside and found out that the janitor had found Kristy's cellphone in the bathroom. This sent Todd into a panic because Kristy always had her cellphone. Todd then drove around searching all the backstreets in town.

Within a few days, a multi-agency search for Kristy was underway. When the land search failed to yield results, police ordered polygraph tests for the people that were the last known people to see Kristy. One of the bar tenders and three of seven of Kristy's friends failed. The search also moved to the water and investigators scoured a local lake.

On Sept. 16, 2014, Kristy was found inside her crumpled vehicle at the bottom of a lake at Mount Gilead and Yankeetown roads in Warrick County. Kristy's parents were both relieved and devastated.

The coroner quickly ruled Kristy's death as an accidental drowning. Investigators theorized that Kristy had too much to drink and was speeding when she ran a stop sign and swerved off the road, crashing into the murky lake. Kristy's parents didn't agree with the results and were suspicious. They asked the sheriff if he would open Kristy's case file so they could review the findings. Their request was denied and Kristy's file was sealed without a reason given as to why. 

In the pursuit for truth, Todd decided to do an investigation of his own. He also hired a lawyer to help him get a look at Kristy's case file.

The bartender that failed his polygraph claimed that Kristy didn't seem intoxicated when he last saw her. Also, when Todd talked to the toxicologist, he found out that Kristy's blood alcohol level was estimated to be between 0.04 and 0.06 at the time of her disappearance.

Most places in the U.S. the legal limit for driving under the influence of alcohol is 0.08. Where I live is 0.05, the strictest in the country. 

0.02 BAC: You are likely to feel relaxed and have some loss of judgment. You aren't able to quickly track the movements of other vehicles, pedestrians, or animals. You lose some of your abilities to do two things at once, so you are more likely to be distracted.

0.05 BAC: You begin to exhibit loss of small-muscle control such as being able to focus your eyes, and you can have lowered alertness. You have even worse ability to track moving objects. Your ability to steer is degraded. If an emergency situation develops, such as needing to brake quickly or maneuver around an unexpected blockage, you are likely to have a poorer response. 

0.08 BAC: At the legal level of 0.08, you will usually exhibit poor muscle coordination, loss of balance, slower reaction time, slurred speech, loss of acuity in vision and hearing, difficulty in detecting danger, and impaired judgment, self-control, reasoning, and memory. When driving, you have difficulties in speed control and in recognizing and reacting to signals and emergency situations. All of these impairments result in an increased risk of injuries in general, and particularly those related to the operation of a motor vehicle.

Security camera footage was found of what appeared to be Kristy leaving the bar and turning right, which was towards her parents home. Why was her body found miles in the opposite direction?

Todd searched the area where the fender to Kristy's SUV was found. This turned out to be  miles away from where her SUV and body was discovered.

When Todd got a look at Kristy's SUV, he said that he looked like it was damaged beyond a crash into a lake would do. Also, the gearshift was in park and her keys were found in her pocket. There were no signs that Kristy tried to escape the vehicle. Her seat belt was off as well.

When Kristy's body was found, it had no bruises or wounds whatsoever. Oh, and her body was found in the backseat..

One of Kristy's exes was working for the sheriff's department for thirty years and had connections to the department investigating her case.

The FBI acquired Kristy's phone records for the family. And in those records it was found out that Kristy was getting threatening text messages in the weeks leading up to her disappearance and death. That ex was given a polygraph and his results were inconclusive.

It also turned out that another one of Krisy's exes was stalking her.

In June of this year, the sheriff finally released Kristy's case files.

Kristy's family just wants answers.