Kiely Rodni case: Police search for missing teen

PLACER COUNTY, Calif. (NewsNation) — The search is underway to bring missing 16-year-old Kiely Rodni home.

She was last seen Saturday morning after going to a party with about 100 other young adults in California’s Tahoe National Forest near the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee.

Authorities said that her phone has been out of service since the party and that her car, a silver Honda CRV model year 2013 with California license plate “8YUR127” is also missing.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating Rodni’s disappearance as an abduction.

“We are treating the case as an abduction and that is solely because we are unable to locate her vehicle,” Public Information Officer Angela Musallam said.

Kiely has blonde hair and hazel eyes and is approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall and 115 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black tank top with green Dickies pants. She has numerous piercings, including a nose ring.

Rodni’s mother, Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, shared an emotional plea to the community Sunday night, asking for help to find her daughter. 

“We just want her home and we’re so scared,” Rodni-Nieman said in a video posted by the Sheriff’s Office. “We miss her so much and we love her so much. Kiely, we love you and if you see this, please just come home.” 

Her mother said Rodni told her she was leaving the party around 12:15 a.m. Saturday, but when Rodni-Nieman woke up to find her daughter wasn’t home, she reached out to law enforcement and friends who went to the campsite to look for her.

“I asked her to wake me up when she got in. That was kind of always what we did. She said ‘OK mama love you.’ That was the last,” Rodni-Nieman said.

Multiple agencies, including the Pacer and Nevada County Sheriff’s Offices, have been working together to gather any information on Rodni’s whereabouts.

“She wasn’t there camping,” Rodni’s best friend Magdalene Larson said. “We drove over town looking for places where she might’ve parked her car to sleep.” 

Musallam said that out of the 200-300 juveniles and young adults who were at that party, they believe someone must know something.

A $50,000 reward is being offered for any information that leads to finding Rodni. The family created a website that includes additional information about Rodni’s description and disappearance.

Anyone with information about Kiely’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Placer County Sheriff’s Office at 530-886-5375.

NewsNation affiliate KTXL contributed to this report.