Friends of missing California adolescent Kiely Rodni likened the party she went missing from to ‘Lord of the Flies,’ revealing that the end-of-the-year celebration was rife with unlawful conduct.
Rodni, 16, was last seen Saturday at Truckee’s Prosser Family Campground during a party attended by more than 100 kids and young adults, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. Her phone hasn’t worked since the party, and her vehicle, a 2013 silver Honda CRV, hasn’t been recovered.
Rodni’s friend, Sami Smith, who was at the party with her, shared video with The Sun depicting a number of kids gathering at the campground, which seemed to be strewn with bottles of alcohol.
‘I believe a lot of them were afraid to speak,’ Smith said. ‘They were indulging in illicit conduct in the woods, it’s like this Lord of the Flies zone where they can just be,’ says one witness.
According to another source, the adolescents at the party were occasionally ‘fighting,’ using pot, and drinking beer.
Police confirmed this week that they have no proof that she was kidnapped and are instead focused on a search and rescue operation. Smith told The Sun that she thinks kids who were at the party and may have observed anything that may have helped Rodni are terrified of the repercussions or how they would be seen.
‘As we’ve repeatedly said, we’re not investigating any of you; we’re collaborating with you on a missing person inquiry; this isn’t about things you shouldn’t have done.’
‘However, it’s also difficult since there are so many teens; how are their connections with their parents?’ That may define a lot of what they’ll say. Are they accustomed to keeping things hidden?
‘They’re terrified of the repercussions or how they’ll be seen, or how their parents will respond.’ But, really, who cares at this point? We must locate her.’
Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, the teen’s mother, asked for anybody with information to come forward in an internet video published by police.
‘All we want is for her to come home,’ Rodni-Nieman added. ‘We’re terrified, and we miss her terribly.’
Hours before she disappeared at a neighboring campsite, police published a surveillance photograph of the missing adolescent.
Rodni was seen at 6:08 p.m. Friday near Truckee, California, roughly ten minutes south of the Prosser Family Campground, where she was last seen at 12:30 a.m. that night.
Kiely was last seen wearing a black spaghetti strap bodysuit, green Dickies trousers with a black grommet belt, and black Vans,’ the Placer Sheriff’s Department said in a tweet that released the photograph.
Police have said that they have no proof that she was kidnapped and are instead focused on a search and rescue investigation.
Cops have put up a forensic tent at the bottom of a boat ramp accessible from the Prosser Family Camp Ground, according to exclusive DailyMail.com images. A tiny submarine equipped with a camera was also observed being dragged from the ocean.
Kiely was last seen at a high school graduation celebration at a campsite, when acquaintances reported she seemed quite inebriated.
Police said earlier this week that they had received 300 tips since Rodni was reported missing on Saturday. They also said that they had allocated 265 people to the search and had recorded a total of 4,600 hours.
Authorities have dispatched helicopters to perform overhead searches for the missing adolescent in addition to the boats and dive teams who have been scanning the reservoir.
Detective Sergeant Scott Alford, who is in charge of the investigation, said yesterday that no stone will be left unturned and urged those who attended the party to come forward.
‘This is a search and rescue effort that has stretched beyond the region where Kiely was last seen,’ he said.
‘Right now, we don’t have any evidence to support an abduction, but we’re not ruling anything out.’
‘This is being examined as a missing persons case and a search and rescue operation, not as an abduction,’ said the police.
The reservoir, a 760-acre lake just underneath the camp site where Kiely was last seen, was searched by police boats and aircraft on Tuesday. More than 100 officers searched the area surrounding the campsite where she was last seen, with police boats and divers exploring the 73-foot-deep Prosser Creek Reservoir straight below.
Police have closed off access routes to the reservoir and are reported to be working on the hypothesis that Kiely, 16, drove her silver Honda SUV into the lake by mistake.
A Nevada County Sheriff’s Department dive team was also on site early Tuesday morning, setting up near the reservoir, southwest of the camping area, and reachable by a dirt track.
Blonde Kiely was last seen at a gathering for high school students at the Prosser Family Camp Ground in Truckee, California, in the early hours of Saturday morning.
According to police, more than 100 teens attended the party, with some coming from as far away as the San Francisco Bay region and Reno, Nevada.
Friends said that Kiely had been drinking and that they were concerned about her driving home.
Kiely’s friends and family have appealed for anybody with information to come forward, but family friend Abby, who requested not to be identified by her last name, told DailyMail.com that it is tough.
‘They don’t want to come forward, I suppose because of underage drinking and stuff like that,’ she said.
‘We’re trying to convince them that we don’t care about booze and are just interested in any information that may help us locate Kiely.’
‘We are attempting to acquire as much information as possible – our emphasis is returning Kiely home safely,’ stated the Placer County Sheriff’s Office in a statement.
‘We ask that anybody with information concerning Kiely contact our tip line.’ You are free to stay anonymous.’
According to police, they have received over 100 tips so far and have assigned 77 staff to the investigation, who are working with over 150 volunteers.
Cops have also used license plate technology in their hunt, examining automobiles as far away as Reno, Nevada, but have yet to discover Kiely’s vehicle.
However, as officials investigate all possibilities, the lake has become the focal point of the hunt.
Kiely was last seen at 12.30 a.m. on Saturday at the Prosser Family Camp Ground, which is located 10 minutes north of Truckee and a short distance from the motel her family owns.
The adolescent texted her mother, Lindsey, 42, that she would be leaving in 45 minutes, about 11.30 p.m.
She was supposed to meet pals at a nearby Starbucks at 9 a.m. before going on a camping trip, but she didn’t show up, leading her mother to call the cops.
Lindsey told DailyMail.com on Monday that she feared her daughter had been taken and asked the accused kidnapper to return her to her.
‘I am afraid,’ she replied. My mind races, and my sleep is disrupted by nightmares… things I can’t get out of my brain.’
‘I last saw her on Friday morning; she was supposed to meet us for a vintage car exhibition, but she changed her mind and choose to attend this party instead.’
‘I increased her curfew. I’d done it previously and felt confident. She contacted me around 11.30 p.m. to say she’d be heading for home at 12.15 a.m.
‘She said, “I love you, mum,” and that was the last time I heard from her.’
Lindsey is certain that her daughter would not have fled. ‘My daughter is not a runaway – not to stigmatize children who are – but she is not. She had the means to flee and would have done so if she had chosen to.’