A viral YouTube dive team that specializes in search-and-recovery expeditions for missing persons says they found 16-year-old Kiely Rodni and her car in a California reservoir in about half an hour on Sunday—despite police previously telling them that the location had been searched.
Adventures With Purpose, a search-and-recovery group that has over 2 million YouTube subscribers and has solved roughly two dozen cold cases, revealed the harrowing detail during a Monday press conference announcing how a six-man dive team located Rodni and her 2013 silver Honda CRV under 14 feet of water in Prosser Reservoir. The discovery comes just two weeks after Rodni mysteriously disappeared from a high-school graduation party at a northern California campground.
“We have found Kiely Rodni’s vehicle and have confirmed there were remains inside,” lead investigator Doug Bishop said.
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The Nevada County Sheriff's Shannan Moon on Monday seemed to confirm the volunteer group’s findings, saying in a press conference that “it is more than likely” that the remains found in a car in Prosser Lake are Rodni, although a positive identification has not been made at this point.
Authorities, however, stressed Monday that despite the group’s claims they reached out to local law enforcement after finding the vehicle—they were made aware of the major break in their exhaustive case online.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, the Rodni-Nieman Family said Monday that they are“eternally grateful for the love and support” the community has shown since the teenager went missing.
“While we accept this sadness cast under death’s shadow, the rising sun shines light upon us, reminding us not to mourn our loss, but to celebrate Kiely’s spirit and the gift that we all received in knowing her,” the family said, before asking for privacy. “Kiely will surely remain with us even though we will not get her back.”
Rodni’s boyfriend, Jagger Westfall, also responded Monday to the harrowing news that the teenager’s body and car had been found. In a video posted on Facebook, the 18-year-old admitted that “This was an insanely fucked up situation” and he is still figuring out how to process the news.
“I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who put the effort in and tried so fucking hard to bring her home,” Westfall said in the video, as tears streamed down his face. “She wants us to be happy, she wants us to be safe, and she wants us to have a good life. That’s all she ever wanted for anyone.”
Since her disappearance has garnered national attention, roughly 18 agencies have been involved in the search that has spanned two states and thousands of acres. Authorities say the agencies racked up almost 20,000 man hours and reviewed about 1,800 tips in connection with Rodni's disappearance.
Bishop said that Adventures With Purpose’s search for Rodni at Prosser Reservoir started at around 10:40 a.m on Sunday by placing two “sonar boats in the water.” The group began their search there despite local law enforcement insisting they had already extensively searched the area, which is just miles from where Rodni was last seen. The teenager had attended a graduation party with about 200 other kids at Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California.
One of the volunteer divers, Josh Cantu, told the New York Post that local law enforcement even provided the group with a “grid map and made us confident we didn’t need to search” the body of water that was nearest to where Rodni was last seen on Aug. 6. Prior to searching Prosser Creek, the group had searched Donner Lake and Boca Reservoir for the missing teen.
Nevada County Sheriff Captain Sam Brown confirmed Monday that the area had already been “extensively searched”—but said the group’s claim that law enforcement told them not to search the area is probably “not accurate.” Brown added that the law enforcement “never gave any indication we knew where [Rodni] was at.”
“By 11:15 a.m., [Adventures With Purpose diver Nick Rinn] detected an object underwater using…sonar technology,” Bishop said. “I was able to then confirm that it was in fact a vehicle in roughly 14 feet of water and only 55 feet offshore.”
Rinn then “suited up in his gear and conducted the dive to formally identify and assess the vehicle,” Bishop said. After confirming it was Rodni’s car, he added that the group immediately noticed law enforcement and the teenager's family.
Bishop added that “within minutes,” Rodni’s father and grandfather were at the scene. Local news outlets captured the SUV being pulled from Prosser Lake on Sunday evening.
On Monday, however, Brown said that he believes local law enforcement reached out to Adventures With Purpose after the read the “news online.”
He added that there “are still some sketchy details” about how the group contacted the Rodni family.
Since starting to put its dives online in 2018, Adventures with Purpose has amassed 2.42 million subscribers on YouTube, 126,000 on Instagram, and 1.4 million followers on Facebook. The volunteer group’s YouTube channel provides a wide variety of videos, including solving missing persons or cold cases and finding missing goods like boats and firearms.
Among their most notable cases was the December 2020 discovery of Ethan Kazerzak, a 22-year-old who was missing for seven years in Iowa. Last year, the group found an Arkansas mom and her daughter after nearly 23 years. In March, Adventures with Purpose found the remains of James Amabile, who had been missing for nearly 20 years.
In an Aug. 19 video, Bishop announced the group was planning to head to California to help with the Rodni search—the same day that local law enforcement agencies said they were transitioning the teenager’s case into a “task force style.”
“That means our resources will continue to move forward, but in somewhat of a different manner,” Placer County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Josh Barnhart said last week. “It doesn’t mean the investigation is going to stop. It will continue to move forward.”
Brown added Monday that the group expressed interest to local law enforcement about joining the case.
Asked about why it took Adventures With Purpose about half an hour to find Rodni and her car, Brown stressed that the lake was searched extensively but law enforcement agencies plan to meet to discuss how they could have done better. Brown added that the diver group has sonar technology and a level of expertise that local investigators and volunteers do not have to offer.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Department stated Sunday night they were aware of Adventures With Purpose’s discovery and were at the scene “to investigate the finding” along with several other local and federal agencies. A spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff's Department, which was the principal agency in Rodni’s search, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A media coordinator for the Rodni family told The Daily Beast on Monday that “at this time, I have not received confirmation from law enforcement or the family about the car or Kiely.”
“I am guessing that is what the press conference will be about,” she added.
Bishop stressed Monday that the group is not able to provide more details about their search and findings, noting that the investigation is still open and ongoing. He also noted that a medical examiner is set to confirm Rodni’s identity “in the next few days, I’m sure.”
Authorities said Monday that an autopsy is scheduled on Tuesday.
