Authorities stated Thursday that there was no foul play involved in the death of a 16-year-old whose disappearance prompted a weeks-long search operation before her body was discovered in her submerged car in a Northern California reservoir.
The body of Truckee resident Kiely Rodni was discovered by a volunteer dive team on August 23. She was last seen alive on August 6 at a large youth gathering at a campground near Prosser Reservoir in the Tahoe National Forest, approximately 165 miles northeast of San Francisco.
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office stated in a statement that Rodni’s death was ruled accidental by the coroner.
The sheriff’s office stated, “This ruling is based on the pathologist’s conclusion that her death was the consequence of drowning and that there was no additional evidence to suggest she was the victim of foul play.”
Rodni’s abduction prompted a massive two-week search by several law enforcement organizations, including dive team searches of the reservoir.
Volunteer searchers with the sonar-equipped organization Adventures with Purpose discovered Rodni’s automobile inverted with a body inside in approximately 14 feet (4.2 meters) of water in the reservoir, approximately 55 feet (1.7 meters) offshore.
The major accident investigation team of the California Highway Patrol is investigating how she ended up in the ocean.
After the discovery of Rodni’s death, authorities stated they would conduct a toxicology examination, but the results have not been made public. Thursday’s call seeking comment was not immediately returned by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office.
There are winding roads in the vicinity, and photographs of the area where the automobile was recovered from the reservoir depict a vast swath of naked shoreline that looks to slope gently toward the sea.