Ratledge's body found in lake; educator, coach remember 'Sam' as 'an awesome kid'

Samantha Ratledge was remembered Tuesday as “an awesome kid” and “an outstanding athlete” by her high school principal and her collegiate coach.

Ratledge, 22, fell off a boat on Kentucky Lake on Sunday evening. Her body was recovered about 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, which coordinated the search for the Scott City woman.

According to investigators, Ratledge was on a pontoon boat with six other people at about 8 p.m. Sunday when she reportedly left her seat while the boat was underway, crossed in front of the forward safety rail and fell overboard. She was not wearing a life jacket, investigators said.

The boat driver, James T. Nance, 49, of Calloway County, Kentucky, stopped the boat and began an unsuccessful search for Ratledge.

Multiple search and rescue agencies, including the wildlife department and the rescue squads from Calloway and Marshall counties, searched for Ratledge on Sunday night and Monday before discovering her body Tuesday. She was found just south of where she fell overboard near mile marker 48 not far from Paradise Resort.

Kevin Kelly, chief communications officer with the wildlife department, said an autopsy will be performed today at the medical examiner’s office in Madisonville, Kentucky.

Nance was taken into custody Sunday night by the Calloway County Sheriff’s Department and charged with boating under the influence. Investigators believe alcohol factored into the incident.

Ratledge was a standout athlete and 2015 graduate of Thomas W. Kelly High School in Benton, Missouri. She was an All-State member of Kelly High School’s softball team and girls’ track and field squad and also played on the school’s girl’s basketball team.

The Kelly softball team was scheduled to play Chaffee on Tuesday afternoon, but the game was postponed because of Ratledge’s death.

“She was ‘Sam’ to everybody who knew her,” said Kelly High School principal Dan Hecht. “She was an awesome kid, full of life and energy. She was a great athlete, regardless of the sport.”

Hecht was the school’s principal throughout Ratledge’s years at Kelly where she was a two-time first team All-State softball player in her sophomore and junior years and also achieved All-State track and field status in the long jump, the triple jump and the 4x1200 relay.

“I was in awe of Samantha,” Hecht said, “and the kids gravitated toward her.”

From high school, Ratledge went on to Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Missouri, where she was a key member of the school’s softball team.

“She was probably one of the top athletes I ever coached, male or female,” said MAC softball coach David Guemmer.

“She played two years up here and was outstanding, starting for us her freshman year when we won our regional tournament,” Guemmer said. “She was an outstanding defensive player and could play anywhere.”

In her freshman year at MAC, Ratledge batted .340 with 32 hits including four doubles, four triples, a home run and 15 runs batted in. The following year, she batted .375 with 57 hits, including 13 doubles a triple and seven home runs with 33 runs batted in.

“She was just a great kid, a great athlete, somebody you liked being around,” Guemmer said.

After two years at MAC, she signed to play softball at Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Florida. She attended Keiser in the fall of 2016, but did not play for the school in 2017, electing instead to return home.

Keiser head softball coach Terri Knecht said she learned of the accident Tuesday.

“It is heartbreaking to hear she is gone at such a young age and my heart goes out to her parents and younger sister,” Knecht said. “She had such an energetic personality and will forever be missed,”

Ratledge was attending Murray State University, pursuing a degree in occupational safety and health, according to WKMS, Murray State’s NPR radio station.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.