Click the arrow below for more coverage of Kiely Rodni, a Northern California teenager who was possibly found by a group of volunteer divers after she had been missing since early August
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Law enforcement officials announced Monday that, while they have yet to officially confirm the identity, the body found inside a vehicle underwater in a California reservoir is “more than likely” that of Kiely Rodni, the missing 16-year-old from Truckee . after a party earlier this month. A volunteer dive team known as Adventures with Purpose located Kiely’s vehicle, a Honda CR-V, upside down in about 14 feet of water in Prosser Creek Reservoir on Sunday. It was found near the Prosser Family Campground, the site of a party with about 200 to 300 young people at which Kiely was last seen alive. A body was found inside the vehicle, which was recovered and brought to shore on Sunday evening. “We believe he’s our missing person … it’s more than likely,” Nevada County Sheriff Shanan Moon said at a news conference Monday morning. Here’s what else we know so far about the find, which followed a massive search campaign that lasted more than two weeks and involved multiple local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
When did Kiely Rodni go missing?
Kiely was last seen around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, after a camping party the night before, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced later that day. The teenager disappeared with her vehicle and her phone was switched off shortly after she was last seen. Sheriff’s officials said her phone last rang at 12:33 a.m. Authorities also uncovered and shared surveillance footage from a Truckee grocery store showing Kiely just hours before the party. Kiely Rodni is pictured above in an image captured on a security camera at 6:08 p.m. on Friday, August 5, 2022, at a store in Truckee, California. Rodni disappeared several hours later and has not been seen since. Placer County Sheriff’s Office
The body was quickly found in the reservoir near where the teenager disappeared
Adventures with Purpose deployed two sonar boats Sunday morning at Prosser Creek Reservoir, divers with the organization said in a video streamed live Monday, two hours before law enforcement was notified. These boats left around 10:40 am. and they pushed Kiely’s silver Honda CR-V about 35 minutes later. The vehicle was about 55 feet out of the water and about 14 feet deep, less than a quarter of a mile south of the campsite. Prosser Family Campground is located on a peninsula on the reservoir. Both the recreation area and the reservoir, about 10 miles north of Truckee, are on federal land within the Tahoe National Forest. Adventures with Purpose began its search of the area on Saturday. Authorities at the law enforcement press conference confirmed that volunteer divers also searched other large bodies of water in the area, such as Boca Reservoir. Brief videos released by Adventures with Purpose of the discovery of the vehicle showed the same license plate number released by law enforcement.
An autopsy is pending. Do the authorities suspect foul play?
Authorities on Monday said an autopsy would be performed on the body on Tuesday, along with a toxicology report. It could take up to eight weeks for the results, including the cause of death, to be finalized, officials said. When asked at Monday’s news conference if there were signs of foul play in the death, Capt. Sam Brown of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said authorities could not comment on that possibility at this time. But Brown also said he had “no reason to believe” the vehicle had been anywhere other than water since Kiely’s disappearance. Officials said the FBI is currently evaluating the vehicle and assisting in this phase of the investigation.
What is Adventures with Purpose?
A volunteer dive group using specialized equipment, Adventures with Purpose is an “underwater sonar search and recovery dive team that helps families locate their missing loved ones underwater,” according to its website. The Oregon-based group has a popular YouTube page with more than 2.4 million subscribers and a large following on other social media platforms. His YouTube playlists include a variety of videos focusing on missing persons and solved cases, underwater treasure hunting and finding missing boats, stolen cars and firearms.
Thousands of hours of search time
Brown, the chief of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, said at a news briefing last week that personnel had accumulated more than 9,000 total hours in the search effort, which he called an “astronomical” number. By the latest update from the Placer County Sheriff on Sunday morning, that total had grown to nearly 20,000 hours. Local law enforcement officials reviewed nearly 1,900 tips received from community members. During the 16-day search, seven different aircraft were deployed to search for Kiely and her vehicle, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said. Many volunteers in the community also joined the search. Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, center, mother of missing 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, listens to law enforcement during a news conference, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, in Truckee. Authorities are searching for 16-year-old Kiely Rodni or her Honda CR-V after she disappeared Saturday from the Prosser Family Campground near Truckee. Paul Kitagaki Jr. [email protected]
Which agencies participated in the survey?
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office and the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office led a task force tasked with the search efforts for Kiely. The California Highway Patrol, the FBI, the Truckee Police Department and the Douglas and Washoe County Sheriff’s Offices in Nevada also provided assistance at various locations. The CHP and FBI continue to assist in the investigation. Sheriff’s officials said the later agency will assist in the forensic evaluation of the vehicle recovered from the tank to investigate the circumstances. The investigation remains active, Nevada County Sheriff Moon said Monday. The Bee’s Vivienne Aguilar and Rosalio Ahumada contributed to this story. This story was originally published on August 22, 2022 at 1:17 pm. Related stories from the Sacramento Bee Michael McGough anchors the Sacramento Bee’s journalism news team, covering public safety and other local stories. A Sacramento native and Capital City resident, he interned at The Bee while attending Sacramento State, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
