NBC Dateline: Who was Mallory Beach and what happened to her?

In February 2019, a South Carolina teenager, Mallory Beach, went missing during a boat crash while onboard with her boyfriend and friends. After eight days of exhaustive searching via local law enforcement, her body was discovered about five miles from the crash scene in the Beaufort River.

It was reported that a friend named Paul Murdaugh, whose family would eventually make high-profile headlines not long after the crash, was rash driving the boat under the influence of alcohol. Paul was allegedly responsible for the incident that led to Beach's tragic demise and two others getting brutally injured.

Friday's all-new two-hour long episode of Dateline will take a dive into the events that caused the devastating boat crash, the death of Mallory Beach and everything that followed afterwards concerning the infamous Murdaugh family. The episode, titled Dark Waters, airs on NBC this November 4 at 9 pm ET.

This article will discuss more about the life and death of crash victim Mallory Beach.

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South Carolina teen, Mallory Beach, found dead eight days after the tragic boat crash

Mallory Beach was only 19 years old at the time of the unfortunate boating accident in 2019 and was reportedly employed at a clothing store in Beaufort, South Carolina. She graduated from Wade Hampton High School and wanted to work as an interior designer. Her aunt Lynn Reavis claimed that she was well-liked "and everybody loved her." She had many friends and had a boyfriend, Anthony Cook.

Recalling the incident, Reavis said that she heard the news from a family member. She reported that,

"I was at home. And someone called and said they had found her. And I fell apart."

On February 23, 2019, Mallory and her boyfriend Anthony Cook planned to spend the evening with their friends, the latter's cousin Connor Cook, and his girlfriend Miley Altman at a house party and oyster roast on Paukie Island. They initially planned to get together at Murdaugh Island, one of the Murdaugh family properties.

The group decided to use their friend Paul Murdaugh's family boat to travel and his girlfriend Morgan Doughty joined in. After spending a night full of drinking and rash driving around the Beaufort River in the Murdaugh family boat, with the steering in Paul's hands, they crashed into the Archers Creek Bridge at around 2:20 am. That's when Mallory went missing and her body was discovered eight days later.

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Who was responsible for causing the boat accident that led to Mallory Beach's untimely demise?

Beach was tragically killed in the horrific boat accident and all fingers pointed at Paul for rash driving after drinking. He was the son of a prominent family and renowned South Carolina attorney named Alex Murdaugh, who tried to cover up his son's faults in the incident but failed. It was later discovered that the accused's blood alcohol content (BAC) was three times the legal limit, at .24, after the crash.

Six individuals were on board that night, including Mallory and her boyfriend Anthony. The survivors reported Paul's worrisome behavior prior to the crash and even claimed that they begged him to stop but he didn't. The Beach family tried pressing charges, but Paul Murdaugh and his mother Maggie were found dead at one of their properties in June 2021. He was facing multiple charges at the time.

Speaking about this unexpected twist, which hindered Mallory Beach's family from bringing the accused to justice, her aunt Lynn Reavis reportedly said,

"With Paul not being here now, I don't think my niece, Mallory, will get justice. Because with both of them being deceased, it just ended. The case ended. All I ever wanted was for him to get on the stand and say, 'I'm sorry.' That's all I ever wanted to hear."

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Learn more about the death of Mallory Beach on NBC Dateline this Friday.