Body Found Is 'More Than Likely' Kiely Rodni: Police

By Jason Hall

August 22, 2022

Photo: Placer County Sheriff's Office

Human remains inside a sports utility vehicle on Sunday (August 21) are "more than likely" missing teenager Kiely Rodni, California Highway Patrol officials said via NBC News on Monday (August 22).

The agency said it's continuing to investigate the situation as an accident during the update provided on Monday.

"We have located a decedent inside the vehicle. We believe it is our missing person," Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon told reporters via NBC News. "We have not been able to positive identify (the victim), but it’s more than likely where we are today."

Adventures with Purpose, a volunteer search group, located the SUV in the Prosser Revervoir and notified the Placer County Sheriff's Office, which confirmed it was at the scene investigating Sunday night alongside the FBI, Nevada County Sheriff's Office and allied agencies in a post shared on its verified Facebook page.

Adventures With Purpose shared a post announcing the finding of human remains on its Facebook page, which they perceived to belong to Rodni, although authorities reiterated that a match was not yet confirmed.

This afternoon, we were notified by volunteer search group Adventures with Purpose they have found a car and a body in...

Posted by Placer County Sheriff's Office on Sunday, August 21, 2022

Andrew Trygg, a spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, confirmed to NBC News that investigators were working to determine if the SUV pulled from the lake Sunday -- which was covered by what appeared to be sheets or tarp -- matched the 2013 Honda CR-V that Rodni was driving at the time of her disappearance.

Authorities announced a new phase in their ongoing search for Rodni, who was last seen at a party near the Prosser Family Campground on August 6, last week.

"We are moving into a more limited but continuous search-and-rescue effort," Capt. Sam Brown of the Nevada County Sheriff's Office said during a press briefing on August 15 via ABC News. "We are going to have to switch modes and kind of focus on the investigative end and try to figure out where do we go from there.

Upwards of 300 people were reported to have attended the party where Rodni was last seen.

The 16-year-old was reported to be driving her silver 2013 Honda CRV, which has California license plates, as well as a sticker of a ram located below the rear wiper blade, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office, the department leading the search and investigation into her disappearance.

Authorities said Rodni's cellphone has been out of service since August 6.

Detectives have not ruled out a possible abduction, though Placer County Sheriff's Office public information officer Angela Musallam specified that "right now we don't have any evidence that supports an abduction," via ABC News.

"We're considering everything," Alford said. "This is a missing person's case, this is a search-and-rescue effort."

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