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Investigators Find Video Of Missing Teen Kiely Rodni At Party, As Authorities Announce ‘More Limited’ Search Efforts Going Forward
Kiely Rodni was spotted in new video discovered by investigators wearing a white and pink hoodie at the party Aug. 6, but investigators declined to release the image citing their need to protect the investigation.
Investigators in California have discovered new video of missing teen Kiely Rodni at a large party the night she disappeared, wearing a white and pink hooded sweatshirt.
“We did receive video evidence showing Kiely at the party wearing the white sweatshirt,” Angela Musallam, the public information officer for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said at a press conference Monday.
While investigators have yet to release the video footage, citing their need to protect the integrity of the investigation, authorities have released a photo of the white sweatshirt, which has the words “ODD FUTURE” repeated across it in pink bubble letters.
Authorities had released another image of a black Lana Del Ray sweatshirt earlier in the investigation that Rodni had borrowed the same day she disappeared; however, they were never sure if she had worn that sweatshirt at the party.
They now have video evidence placing her in the white sweatshirt at the party, which took place at the Prosser Family Campground on August 5.
Rodni was last seen at the Truckee party—which is said to have attracted anywhere from 200 to 300 teens and young adults—around 12:30 a.m. on August 6 before she disappeared.
The last ping on her cell phone was captured at approximately 12:30 a.m. near Prosser Lake, a reservoir not far from the camp site, before authorities said the phone was turned off.
“The ping for the data points was near the water. It’s hard to tell an exact point,” Nevada County Sheriff Capt. Sam Brown has said previously, according to SF Gate. “Just as much on land as it was on water.”
For 10 days, authorities have scoured the area in a series of ground searches, air searches and water searches but on Monday, Brown announced that the search effort would be scaled back in the days ahead.
“We are moving into a more limited, but continuous search and rescue effort,” he said at the press conference. “We’ve pulled in a ton of resources towards that goal and I think to date we’ve had like over 9,000 man hours into searching, which is pretty astronomical. Our biggest problem is where do we go and how do we keep sustaining this?”
Brown said they now plan to “switch modes” and focus more on the investigative efforts to find the missing 16-year-old.
“Obviously our search for Kiely continues and we’re trying to do the best that we can to keep things moving in a positive way and attempt to find some clues and locate some idea of where we need to get to,” he said, adding that they have stayed in “pretty close” contact with Rodni’s family throughout the search efforts.
Authorities are still asking to speak to anyone who may have been at the end-of-summer graduation party the night she disappeared and are seeking additional video footage that was captured that night.
They are also still searching for her 2013 silver Honda CRV, with has a California license plate 8YUR127.
Musallam said Monday that the vehicle has a distinctive ram sticker below the rear wiper blade.
“We believe this is very important information for the community,” she said.
Authorities are now trying to piece together Rodni’s final movements before she disappeared.
Her friend Sami Smith—who left the party shortly before Rodni disappeared—told Fox News the two had been “partying” and that she thought Rodni had been too drunk to drive home.
Yet, her mother told ABC News that her daughter had texted her to say that she planned to leave the party soon and was planning to come “straight home.”
"I told her to be safe and that I loved her. And she said, 'OK, mom, I love you, too,'" Lindsey Rodni-Nieman recalled. "She never came home."
Her father Daniel Rodni described his daughter at a community meeting as ambitious and smart and said she graduated high school at the age of 16, SF Gate reports.
“My daughter is a straight-A student on her way to UC Santa Cruz,” he said. “At 16, she’s going to college. This is Tahoe. This isn’t supposed to happen here. We need answers.”
On Monday, Placer County Sheriff Lt. Josh Barnhart said 50 or more detectives were out interviewing potential witnesses and following up on tips in a combined effort with the FBI.
“If you have not come forward, if you were there and you saw something, please come forward and let us know,” he said.
The reward for information in the case has now reached $75,000, according to Fox News.
Rodni, who is described as being 5’7” tall and weighing 118 pounds, was last seen wearing a black spaghetti strap body suit, green Dickies brand pants, a black grommet belt and black Vans shoes.
She has blonde hair, hazel eyes, and a tattoo on her ribs of the number “17.”
Anyone with information about the case is urged to email sheriff_tahoeinvesttips@placer.ca.gov or call a specially-designated tip line at (530) 581-6320, option 7.
