The 16-year-old was last seen at a party near Tahoe National Forest.
The search for 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who disappeared after a gathering near Tahoe National Forest on August 6, has captured national attention. Unfortunately, the search came to a devastating end after her vehicle was found submerged in Prosser Lake.
Adventures With Purpose, a volunteer underwater search and rescue group, located Rodni’s silver Honda CRV on August 21. Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon told reporters that they believe the remains found inside the vehicle “more than likely” belong to Rodni. According to a statement from the sherrif’s office posted on Facebook, that has now been confirmed.
“Today, an autopsy was conducted on the deceased individual who was found in the Prosser Reservoir on Sunday, August 21st,” it read. “The Nevada County Sheriff-Coroner has identified the decedent as 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, of Truckee. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office and the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office are in communication with Kiely’s family and offer our deepest condolences to them during this extremely difficult time. This is an ongoing investigation, and no other information is available at this time.”
Rodni had attended a party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California, on August 6. At 11:30 p.m., she texted her mother, Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, to inform her that she planned to leave the party at 12:15 a.m. and head home. Rodni-Nieman told ABC News, “I told her to be safe and that I loved her. And she said, ‘Ok, mom, I love you, too.”
Kiely Rodni then spoke on the phone with her friend Samantha Smith at 12:36 a.m. It was “the last call anybody had with her,” Smith told The Independent.
“We said ‘love you, good night. Get home safe,’” Smith said.
When was Kiely Rodni last seen?
Rodni drove off in her 2013 silver Honda CRV. Her cell phone last pinged near the campground at 12:33 a.m. — around the time of her call with Smith — and appeared to turn off afterward.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance footage of Rodni about six hours before her disappearance depicting the teen wearing a black spaghetti strap bodysuit, green Dickie’s pants, a black grommet belt, and black Vans. Later, authorities released an image of a pink-and-white Odd Future sweatshirt, which the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said Rodni was seen wearing in a video at the party.
What did the search for Kiely Rodni entail?
In a tearful video posted to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, Rodni’s mother urged anyone with information to come forward and share it. Authorities were initially concerned witnesses may have hesitated to come forward due to possible underage drinking that took place at the party, but Placer County Sheriff’s officials said they had no intention of prosecuting anyone for underage drinking or drug use. By August 21, police said they had reviewed over 1,800 tips.
Since it began on August 7, multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, got involved in the search for Rodni. However, on August 17, captain Sam Brown of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said the search efforts would be scaled back.
Captain Brown said the search for Rodni included aerial and water searches — including the lake where Rodni’s car was eventually found. Captain Brown said his agency will have to “debrief” and attempt to figure out why, after almost two weeks of searching, authorities were not able to find the car that volunteers found in under an hour. Adventures With Purpose will also participate in a search for Jolissa Fuentes, who went missing August 6, and Annette Adams, who hasn’t been heard from since April 2021.
What about Juan Almanza Zavala and Janette Pantoja?
Unfortunately, not all disappearances in this country receive the same level of manpower and attention. Two other people, Juan Almanza Zavala and Janette Pantoja, disappeared on August 6, the same day as Rodni. The pair were on their way back from a car show in Nevada when their phones last pinged in Nevada County, California, about 75 miles from the Prosser Family Campground. This search also had a tragic ending: Zavala and Pantoja were found dead of an apparent car crash off Highway 20 in Nevada County. California Highway Patrol is investigating their deaths as a vehicle accident.
Although authorities do not believe the two cases are related, Pantoja’s sister expressed frustration with the disparity in law enforcement attention. “It’s not OK,” Alejandra Pantoja told Fox 6 Now.
According to Missing NPF, a database of people who have been missing or been found dead on federally managed lands, there have been a number of BIPOC who have gone missing in national parks, but their cases haven’t made national headlines.
The term “missing white woman syndrome” was coined by the late journalist Gwen Ifill to encapsulate how the disappearances of white women are extensively covered in the media, while disappearances of BIPOC remain largely uncovered — all while Black and Indigenous people make up a disproportionate percentage of missing persons cases relative to their share of the U.S. population. In 2020, nearly 34 percent of the girls and women who were reported missing in the National Crime Information Center were Black, despite Black women comprising 15 percent of the U.S. female population.
In Wyoming alone, a January 2021 report found that Indigenous people made up 15 percent of missing persons cases entered into NCIC while Indigenous people comprise less than three percent of the state’s population. Furthermore, 76 percent of missing white people received news coverage while they were still missing, while Indigenous people were more likely to have articles written about their disappearances only after they were found deceased.
“Missing white woman syndrome” is an issue that has been getting increased attention since the coverage of Gabby Petito’s 2021 disappearance.
David Robinson, whose son Daniel Robinson went missing in the Arizona desert in June 2021, said the comparative lack of attention his son’s disappearance received was “hurtful.” Daniel, a geologist, disappeared from a work site on June 23, 2021. Almost a month later, his 2017 blue-gray Jeep Renegade was found by a rancher a few miles from the site. Daniel has not been seen since.
Sixteen-year-old Asia Wilbon disappeared from her home in Kent, Washington in February 2020 and has yet to be located, Our Black Girls reports.
Toni Jacobs, the mother of 21-year-old Keeshae Jacobs, who vanished after heading out for the night in September 2016, told CNN that while “I don’t want any parent to go through what I’ve gone through,” the differing treatment her daughter’s case received from law enforcement “does frustrate me.”
There are a number of individuals and organizations seeking to end the racial disparity in coverage of missing BIPOC. Derrica and Natalie Wilson launched the Black and Missing Foundation in May 2008 to help bring awareness to Black missing persons cases. They’ve helped close to 400 families receive closure or reunite with their loved one. Journalist Erika Marie Rivers started Our Black Girls in 2018 to tell the stories of missing Black women. And in July, Washington became the first state to create a missing persons alert specifically for Indigenous people.
“I think for a lot of people just understanding that it’s a problem really was eye-opening,” Soledad O’Brien, who produced a 4-part docuseries about Black and Missing, told KCM in February 2022. “I’ve definitely seen a difference.”
Anyone with information on Pantoja and Alamanza Zavala’s whereabouts is asked to call Yuba City police at 530-822-4661. Anyone with information on Kiely Rodni’s disappearance is asked to call the Placer County Sheriff’s Office’s dedicated tip line at 530-581-6320.
