TRUCKEE, Calif. – A specialty search-and-recovery dive team located a vehicle and body in a Truckee, California, lake on Sunday where authorities have been searching two weeks for missing 16-year-old Kiely Rodni.
Update 7:11 p.m. EDT Aug. 22: Rodni’s family released a statement Monday afternoon saying they were “eternally grateful for the love and support” received from an “army of warriors, matriarchs, healers and helpers,” KCRA-TV reported.
“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,” the family wrote in part.
Update 3:30 p.m. EDT Aug. 22: Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon confirmed Monday that authorities believe Rodni’s body was recovered Sunday.
“We recovered the vehicle last night,” Moon said at a news conference. “We have located a decedent inside the vehicle. We believe it is our missing person. We have not been able to positively identify (her), but it’s more than likely where we are today.”
Volunteers with the group Adventures with Purpose located the car in the Prosser Lake Reservoir on Sunday. In social media posts, the group said the car was upside-down and about 14 feet underwater.
Capt. Sam Brown with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said authorities had extensively searched the lake without finding the vehicle.
“We’re going to debrief and try to figure out, how do we become better and do a better job at these types of operations?” he said.
Brown declined to say whether there were any signs of foul play discovered. Officials with the California Highway Patrol are investigating.
An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, authorities said.
Original report: Law enforcement had not confirmed by 8:30 p.m. EDT that the body found was Rodni’s, KCRA-TV reported.
Adventures With Purpose, a search-and-rescue dive team with a substantial social media following, confirmed in a Sunday afternoon Facebook post that a vehicle with a body inside was discovered in 14 feet of water, noting that both authorities and Rodni’s family had been notified.
Rodni, who was last seen at a party with hundreds of other youths at the Prosser Family Campground in the Lake Tahoe area, has been missing since the early morning of Aug. 6, KOVR reported.
Placer County officials said they had received more than 1,800 tips in the case, the TV station reported.
Adventures With Purpose launched its search for Rodni on Friday and confirmed to KCRA on Sunday that a vehicle matching the description of Rodni’s with human remains inside was found at Prosser Creek Reservoir. The Prosser Family Campground is next to the lake.
