A volunteer search-and-rescue SCUBA team from Oregon announced on Sunday that they had found the body of California teen Kiely Rodni, 16, who has been missing since August 6th. Rodni was last seen at the park in Truckee, California — and others at the party reported that she had been drinking at the party.
Adventures with Purpose, whose YouTube following is in the millions, travel around the United States to help families solve cold cases involving missing loved ones — and they joined the search for Rodni on Saturday as officials began to scale back their search efforts after two weeks without any leads.
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The team shared a post on Sunday claiming that they had found the missing teen in a submerged vehicle.
“WE JUST FOUND KIELY RODNI…,” the caption read. “Car is upside down in only 14′ of water. We have CONFIRMED Kiely is inside. Family Notified. Law Enforcement on their way.”
“We will be on scene the rest of the day, will have a live stream tomorrow, and will make an announcement as to what time later this afternoon,” the post concluded. “Thank you everyone for your support and donations in getting us here to help Kiely and her family.”
“When you miss a loved one or a friend … and you don’t know, it’s a nightmare,” Doug Bishop, team leader of Adventures with Purpose explained. “What we provide is those answers, when we’re able to. That’s what we’re hoping to do in this case.”
Bishop went on to say that the group’s YouTube following had pushed them toward this particular case, adding, “With 15 to 20 million viewers per month, there was an overwhelming demand, not only by multiple different agencies, all of our supporters.”
They searched several areas in and around Donner Lake and Boca Reservoir, skipping over several ponds that would not have been deep enough for Rodni’s vehicle to submerge.
“It’s tough,” Bishop said as they began their search. “I don’t want to find her. If she’s here and something has happened to her, I do. I want to be able to provide the family and this community answers so they can properly lay her to rest.”