Human remains found with a car submerged in a reservoir near where Truckee 16-year-old Kiely Rodni went missing two weeks ago are “more than likely” Rodni’s, the Nevada County sheriff said on Monday.
“We believe it is our missing person,” Sheriff Shannan Moon said a day after a volunteer dive team found the car and body at Prosser Creek Reservoir. “We have not been able to positively identify, but it’s more than likely.”
She said it’s still an active investigation and “we will release what we can.”
“But at this time our commitment is to this family and that is where we will consistently reach for making decisions on what we release,” Moon said.
The dive team, Adventures With Purpose, said in a live-streamed announcement earlier Monday morning that it found Rodni’s silver 2013 Honda CRV, as well as human remains at the search site on Sunday.
Adventures With Purpose is a search and recovery dive team dedicated to helping families of missing loved ones. According to the team, it has assisted in helping solve 23 missing person cold cases across the country since 2019. AWP provides services free of charge to families with missing loved ones. They joined the Rodni search effort on Aug. 20.
Doug Bishop of AWP said the team began its investigation at Prosser Creek Reservoir Sunday at 10:40 a.m. It placed two sonar boats in the water and by 11:15 a.m., their technology had detected an object underwater.
Bishop said he then confirmed the object was a vehicle under 14 feet of water, about 55 feet offshore.
Nick Rinn of AWP then suited up with his dive gear and formally identified and assessed the vehicle, Bishop said.
The group then informed law enforcement and Rodni’s family, and the teen’s father and grandfather arrived at the scene “within minutes,” Bishop said.
Bishop and Rinn called for people to keep Rodni’s family in their prayers.
Rodni’s family released a statement Monday afternoon saying they were “eternally grateful for the love and support” from an “army of warriors, matriarchs, healers and helpers.”
Read the full statement below:
Friends, Family, Law Enforcement, Media, and our Global Community:
We are eternally grateful for the love and support you have shown us in the last couple of weeks. We have weathered a storm of unfathomable force, and it is purely thanks to the army of warriors, matriarchs, healers, and helpers holding us up that we continue to stand today. Mr. Rogers famously told a story of “looking for the helpers” whenever he saw scary things in the news. We have not had to look for the helpers, as you have all come to our rescue in full force. We are forever indebted to you.
While we accept this sadness cast under death’s shadow, the rising sun shines light upon us, reminding us not to mourn our loss, but to celebrate Kiely’s spirit and the gift that we all received in knowing her. Kiely will surely remain with us even though we will not get her back.
There are certain occasions when words fail. Perhaps this is why our human nature has given us art, dance, and music, which all are often more effective ways to connect us to each other and our rawest emotions. Kindly excuse us as we retreat and dance privately to life’s song while we celebrate our daughter’s spirit and heal our souls.
In gratitude,
The Rodni-Nieman Family
Capt. Sam Brown with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that the lake had been “extensively searched” with sonar, divers and swimmers before Adventures With Purpose found Kiely’s car.
“I think that’s part of what we’re going to have to do to debrief,” he said.
But he said that responding peace officers and volunteers who respond in such situations aren’t always experts in the field.
“Tracking underwater is an extremely difficult thing to do,” he said. “A lot of this equipment is high-end, very expensive and you really need to have a lot of practice and expertise.”
Rodni was last seen on Aug. 6 at a large party with hundreds of teens at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, which is next to the lake. The teen disappeared seemingly without a trace. Officials said early on they were treating the case as a possible abduction, which led to more resources for the investigation.
Authorities said the last known ping from Rodni’s cellphone was made the same night around 12:30 a.m. near the reservoir.
LiveCopter 3 was over the scene when the car was pulled out of the water on Sunday. See that process in the video below.
On Sunday morning, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said seven personnel were assigned to Rodni’s case. That was down from 73 personnel on Friday. Seven helicopters were searching an 80-mile radius from where Kiely was last seen. About 2,000 tips from the community have been sent to authorities. A reward for information that would lead to her being found has grown to $75,000.
Officials said Monday they believed that their investigation had helped to narrow the search area before her vehicle and likely remains were found.
The California Highway Patrol is now conducting a traffic fatality investigation, Josh Ehlers with CHP’s Valley division said.
An autopsy on the remains is expected on Tuesday and results from toxicology reports in a few weeks.
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