I was wondering about that.
My kayak’s drain plug is on the top/tip of the bow deck where I can easily see if it is in or out.
I remember watching a Dateline or 48 Hours about that.
That whole “missing plug” thing was a stretch IMHO, but they just used it to pile on circumstantial evidence to fit their theory of what happened.
That being said, she ended pleading Guilty to Criminally Negligent Homicide. The whole Case was pretty strange.