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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A more than two-week search for missing 16-year-old Kiely Rodni came to an end Sunday when dive teams with a volunteer search and rescue organization said they found her body and vehicle submerged in the water near where she disappeared. Here’s what we know so far about the timeline of Kiely’s disappearance and the massive multi-agency search for her and her SUV.
August 5: Party and then disappear
Kiely attended a large party the night of Friday, Aug. 5, at the Prosser Family Campground, according to the Placer County and Nevada County Sheriff’s Offices. The campground is a recreation area on the banks of Prosser Creek Reservoir. Both the recreation area and the reservoir are on federal land within the Tahoe National Forest, about a 10-minute drive north of Truckee, where Kiely lived. Angela Musallam, spokeswoman for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, said in the following days that about 200 to 300 people attended the party. Days after she was reported missing, the Sheriff’s Office said it found footage showing Kiely at a Truckee business hours before the party. A photo released by authorities shows the teenager in a grocery store, wearing a black tank top. Detective Sgt. Scott Alford said this finding did not provide new information about Kiely’s whereabouts, but helped “confirm a timeline we already had.”
August 6: Authorities announce missing person
The sheriff’s office reported Kiely missing the same day she went missing, Saturday, August 6. Kiely was last seen by friends at the party around 12:30am. that day, authorities wrote in the initial social media posts shortly after 5:30 p.m. Alford said the last signal from her phone came at 12:33 a.m The girl’s vehicle, a silver Honda CR-V, was also missing, authorities said.
August 7: “We miss him so much”
Kiely’s mother, Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, spoke in a video released by the sheriff’s office the day after her daughter disappeared. Through tears, Rodni-Nieman pleaded for help to locate her daughter. “We just want her home. We are so scared, we miss her so much, and we love her so much.”
August 8: Detectives investigate possible kidnapping
Musallam, a spokeswoman for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters Aug. 8 that Kiely’s disappearance is being investigated as a possible abduction because authorities were unable to locate her vehicle in the initial search effort. The California Highway Patrol did not issue an Amber Alert because the missing person incident was not confirmed as a kidnapping.
August 9-10: A massive search effort continues
Local law enforcement officials gave multiple updates each day immediately after Kiely disappeared, providing numbers for resources used in their search for the teenager. As of August 10, more than 220 law enforcement personnel from local sheriff’s offices, the Truckee Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and the FBI had combined for more than 7,000 hours of search time. Helicopters swept the immediate area as well as nearby Highway 89 and Interstate 80 for Kiely’s Honda. A tip line set up for information had received 500 responses from citizens. In an Aug. 9 news conference held in Truckee and streamed live online, Sgt. Dennis Hack of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said more than 100 volunteers had also helped at that point. Law enforcement personnel “were also searching the water using boats,” he said. Community members listen 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]
August 15: The search effort is reduced
At a press conference on August 15, Capt. Sam Brown of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said law enforcement personnel should shift to a more “limited but continuous search and rescue effort.” “Our biggest problem is, where do we go and how do we continue to sustain this?” Brown said. “We’re going to have to change modes and focus on the investigative end … we still want all eyes and ears out.” Brown said that at that point, through 10 days of searching, authorities had spent about 9,000 hours of search time — a total he called “astronomical.” By Sunday morning, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said the number had eclipsed 19,000 hours. Family and authorities, meanwhile, said the reward for Kiely had been increased to $75,000. 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 Kiely or her Honda CR-V after she disappeared Saturday from the Prosser Family Campground near Truckee. Paul Kitagaki Jr. [email protected]
August 20: Adventures with Purpose is coming
On the same day law enforcement officials said they would limit search resources, a volunteer organization called Adventures with Purpose announced it would head to California to join the search for Kiely. Adventures with Purpose is an “underwater sonar search and recovery dive team that helps families locate their missing loved ones underwater,” according to its verified Facebook page. His YouTube page has more than 2 million subscribers. Volunteer divers and their specialized equipment arrived and began searching the waters at Prosser Creek Reservoir on Saturday, Fox 40 reported.
August 21: Kiely’s vehicle, body reportedly found
Adventures with Purpose in a Facebook post shortly before 2.30pm on Sunday wrote that its divers had “just found Kiely Rodni” and her vehicle, which was upside down in 14ft of water. “We have confirmed that Kiely is in,” the organization wrote. “Family notification. Law enforcement on their way.” The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office in a statement shortly after 3:30 p.m. said he was “aware of this information” and had staff en route to meet with Adventures with Purpose. As of 5 p.m. Sunday, law enforcement officials had not confirmed Adventures with the Purpose find or the identity of the body the dive team allegedly found.
August 22: Police say the body is “probably” that of Kiely
The morning after her vehicle was pulled from the reservoir, law enforcement officials said it was “more than likely” that the remains found were Kiely’s, though officials have yet to confirm their identity. “We recovered the vehicle last night,” Nevada County Sheriff Shanan Moon said during Monday’s news conference in Truckee. “We found a deceased person inside the vehicle. We believe he is our missing person. We have not been able to determine positively, but it is more than likely.” Authorities said an autopsy will be performed Tuesday, as well as a toxicology report. Results from these findings may take six to eight weeks to be finalized. Authorities spoke after Adventures with Purpose released a video statement about their discovery, sharing more details about the weekend search effort. The team said they found the vehicle within about 35 minutes of deploying boats in the water on Sunday morning. Brief videos shared by divers showed a vehicle with the same license plate number released by the Placer County and Nevada County Sheriff’s Offices two weeks earlier. Kiely’s vehicle is a silver Honda CR-V, which the team said they found upside down. Adventures with Purpose said it will release a longer, edited video version of its quest, likely within the next week. This story was originally published on August 21, 2022 at 5:58 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.
