A 16-year-old California teenager has gone missing in Northern California, and officials are now investigating the situation as an abduction.
Volunteers and members of law enforcement, as well as three helicopter teams, continued to search the Lake Tahoe region on Tuesday for 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who vanished from a party that took place at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California, over the weekend.
The teen was last seen at a large party at the campground after midnight on Saturday. The gathering included over 100 people, the sheriff’s office has said, and up to 250 people, who came all the way from the Bay Area, per organizers. The social event was advertised on social media sites, such as Snapchat, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Authorities have said they are investigating the disappearance as an abduction, but are also considering other possibilities.
“We are treating her disappearance as an abduction right now because we have not been able to locate her vehicle,” sheriff spokesperson Angela Musallam reportedly said. A spokesperson told NBC affiliate KCRA 3 on Tuesday that the designation permits them to use detectives and other tools, but they don’t have proof that suggests an abduction happened.
An Amber Alert has not been issued for the case, to the confusion of some, but according to California Highway Patrol Truckee, there aren’t enough details to warrant the alert.
For an Amber Alert to be created, the victim must be 17 years of age or younger or have a disability. He or she must also t be in impending danger of serious harm or death, and information must be present that could assist in the discovery if shared with the masses. There also must be a confirmed abduction, the only criterion this case does not have yet.
Friends and family members are continuing the search as they hold out hope that Kiely will return.
“I can’t believe it. There has to have been one person — there were people sitting in cars, there were people everywhere around this place,” Kiely’s friend Sammi Smith told KCRA.
Smith told The Independent, “Right now we believe that it is an abduction case … she was in no state to drive and she wouldn’t have made it far or would have crashed.”
“At 12:36 a.m. she called me … and this is the last call anybody had with her. We said ‘love you, good night. Get home safe,’ and that’s the last thing we heard of her,” Samantha said on Monday. The outlet noted that a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said the group couldn’t say if Samantha was the last person to talk to Kiely, but a little after midnight, her phone was shut off.
Kiely’s mother, Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, has spoken out, trying to get people to provide information. “My head is all over the place and I’m terrified. Bad thoughts are very strong and hard to keep at bay,” Rodni-Nieman told KCRA. “But I’m trying to hold out hope, you know, that we’ll find her, that she’ll come home.”
“Despite the numerous resources we have utilized, Kiely and her vehicle are still missing,” the sheriff’s office said. “We are currently coordinating with the California Highway Patrol, Truckee Police, FBI, and the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office as we continue our search for Kiely.”
Police dive unites have also reportedly joined the search.
Police dive teams join the search for Kiely Rodni, 16, at a 760-acre reservoir https://t.co/1Z6zr1zDe0
— 9 Breaking News (@9Breakingnew) August 9, 2022
A website for the search was created, which explains that Kiely has blonde hair, hazel eyes, and is 5’7” and 118 pounds. She was last seen with a black tank top and green dickies pants on. Kiely’s car is a silver 2013 Honda CRV.
A $50,000 reward is also being advertised for details that lead to Kiely’s discovery. A GoFundMe was also established to increase the reward amount a few days ago.
An anonymous tip line has been established as well, at (530) 581-6320, option 7. People with information should reach out to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office at 530-886-5375.
Source: Dailywire
