Found Deceased CA - Kiely Rodni Missing From Party Near Prosser Family Campground in Truckee #6

[5W's]

People get lucky all of the time. Many times teens drink and drive leaving parties and don’t get in an accident and somehow get home. Sadly sometimes they do get into accidents and sometimes they are fatal.

I grew up in an area like Kiely. People partied in woods all of the time. People would also accidentally hit things with their cars on the way home, get lost… I even knew someone that did accidentally drive into the bay because they thought the road that led to a dock continued on (he was ok) … but by the grace would make it home. with all of the drinking and driving there was one fatality in the county during my time in high school and it happened on a road the person was highly familiar with in a spot many people travel and hadn’t crashed before.

If Kiely was involved in a conspiracy created by friends I’ll be saddened to hear it. However a lot of the conversation here seems to be grasping at straws hoping this wasn’t just an accident related to it being dark, substances being involved, people making poor decisions that ended tragically.

We already know that these kinds of parties happen all the time. Yes, people get lucky all the time in not having accidents when they are inebrieated. I'm not talking about the obvious, I am saying that she was left to her own defenses in such a state meaning anything could have happened. This is what really is bothering me so to say this was merely an accident doesnt justify the outcome of what happened that night to Kiely. Anything means anything its not a conspiracy theory as some want to envision. Its horrible on all accounts. Those other attendees ............... JMO. At one point LE said attendees were not cooperating, the CCTV doesn't show anything of value, it was the campers who called authorities. So yeah ANYTHING could have happened lets not forget that important point.

 

[SpideySense]

But for the sake of thinking it through, let's do a hypothetical. Let's say some sketchy person possibly not even known to a hypothetical woman came upon her car with her in it and did some horrible crime. Now they have a body and a car with DNA evidence all over it and with DNA testing now so sophisticated that they can identify perps through their relatives. But they also have a murky lake a few hundred feet away where both can conveniently disappear. Even if found later, the evidence will be compromised.

Hypotheticals are interesting, but accident and crime investigators have better tools at their disposal: experience and statistics.

They come to a scene and, based on a wealth of data, make a determination about the most probable cause. If a teen is found in her car in a lake near a party where she’d been drinking, and their experience and extensive knowledge of similar situations points to an accident with no foul play, that will be the working theory of their investigation. They will be investigating a potential accident and drowning. If during the course of that investigation, evidence emerges that contradicts that working theory (COD wasn’t drowning, bruises or marks on body indicating a struggle, toxicology reports, witness statements, etc), then that and only that will change the direction of their investigation. It is an established process, a science, and it’s based on what has happened before in these situations, what is most likely rather than what is possible, and the evidence they’re presented with.

If investigators didn’t follow an established step-by-step procedure based in statistics and evidence, resolution of fatalities would be impossible. In this case, if the autopsy result is that Kiely drowned, had no marks indicating a struggle, and wasn’t drugged, and the final conclusion is that she therefore drove into the water by herself and drowned, someone raising questions could still say “How do we know she wasn’t drowned in a bathtub somewhere by a killer wearing cushioned oven mitts to avoid bruising, and then placed in the vehicle and rolled into the lake to make it look like an accidental drowning??” Well, LE investigators don’t suggest or entertain those kinds of hypotheticals because they prevent resolution. MOO

 

[Mamabear2five]

Sometimes LE won't release the autopsy results until all reports are in. Maybe we'll hear more once the toxicology is complete.


Kiely's cause and manner of death were not released, and the investigation into her death is still ongoing, according to the statement.

Body discovered in submerged car confirmed to be missing California teen Kiely Rodni, police say | CNN

The body found inside a submerged car in Northern California Sunday has been confirmed to be missing teen Kiely Rodni, who disappeared at a campground party in the area about three weeks ago, police said.

www.cnn.com

The California Highway Patrol is now conducting a traffic fatality investigation.

Results from toxicology reports are expected in a few weeks. Officials said their investigation is continuing.

Autopsy confirms Kiely Rodni’s remains found in car at Prosser Creek Reservoir

Kiely Rodni has been officially identified as the person whose body was found along with her car at Prosser Creek Reservoir.

www.kcra.com

Based on Kiely being a minor do we think all details such as toxicology report etc will be made public?

 

[SquirrelNutkin]

This is probably a stupid question, but is there any reason they don't make cars airtight and waterproof? Does anyone know the logistics behind it? I'm just genuinely curious why there aren't safety features that either employ outer airbags after full submersion or seal off the vents and why the cabin isn't sealed off. Just wondering why it isn't.

Climate control features require cars to have airflow and it would be very hard to seal those features off. Plus I would imagine given how few cases of this nature there are, it would not be cost effective for them to explore this option.

 

[getthefax]

This is actually pretty rare. It’s much easier to dump a body over a bridge or off a boat than to try and roll a vehicle into the water with the body inside.
I think if there was anyone else involved in KR’s death, it would be as @Arkay talked about with Ted Kennedy; a mva with one person who was able to escape the car, while the other didn’t make it out.

Thanks. Agree, I have not heard of many cases where someone hides a body on purpose inside the victim’s own car. Usually the accident situation where the accident was caused by an impaired driver, where the driver escapes and the victim doesn’t.

In this case could also be some other act or behavior on the part of another person that caused her death, and then panic caused the perp to try to cover it up. * Again, it’s MOO that this is likely to be an accident possibly caused in part to impaired driving, but could be a less likely foul play scenario.*

I’m sure that LE will cover all the bases when investigating and pray for peace and comfort for the families.

 

[Allabouttrial]

Finally had a minute to transcribe the latest Press Conference

Nevada Sheriff: Appreciate everyone's response in being here today to get some more information into our investigation. We have been working with the family, and really since the very beginning, trying to make sure that we focus on all of our efforts being for the family. And at this time, you know, last night we did receive some information of the recovery of the vehicle that we've been searching for, and it was located inside Prosser Lake. It was located within a search zone that we have been searching since the very beginning of our operation. We are very fortunate that we had the assistance of a volunteer group, Adventures with Purpose, that came out with some very specific expertise and were able to to help us in locating the vehicle that we had been searching for, for several weeks.

It's at these times that we really want to recognise the reason why we're all here, and that is for this family. We've said that from day one with our staff, the incredible amount of collaboration that we've received from our partners in this region. You know, clearly being a mountain town we're used to having great collaboration, knowing that none of us have enough resources to go around, but when we all work together I think it is an incredible show of how committed all of our agencies are for our community here. Working hand in hand in unified command, joint command with the Placer County Sheriff's Office, folks from the California Highway Patrol, the Truckee Police Dept. and our friends from the FBI. The amount of effort that all of these agencies, put together, really truly is why we're here today. And as we eliminated a lot of tips and information that was coming in, I think it's very important to understand that all of that work did lead us to this time, and being able to focus on the services that we provide to our families here that are impacted.

We've recovered the vehicle, we recovered the vehicle last night. We have located a decedent inside the vehicle. We believe it is our missing person. We have not been able to positively identify, but it's more than likely where we are today and we wanted to make sure that the family had all that information first. The last thing we want to do is have them learn information outside of our team. So, I think that is one of the points I really want to make sure that our communities know, and the folks that are watching today know is - how truly committed we've been throughout these last few weeks in coming to this resolution.

It's still an active investigation and I understand there will be...and we will continue to receive lot of questions regarding our investigation, and we will release what we can, but at this time our commitment is to this family and that is where we will consistently reach for, making decisions on what we release. And again, it is still a very active investigation. Again, I appreciate everyone being here, getting this information out. The reason why we're here is because of the community support and the amount of work that was put into this investigation to where we could clearly identify very specific areas to search. The Adventures with Purpose folks did a...just a fantastic job at being able to locate the vehicle as quickly as they did, based on, again, a lot of heavy lifting that the folks behind me have done throughout the last couple of weeks. So, I appreciate everyone being here and will open up for some questions.

Reporter - What agency called in AWP? When did you decide that we needed the extra help?

Nevada Captain - I'm not exactly sure that an agency had reached out and requested, from within our unified command, but as everybody's reading online and seeing all the information that was coming out and we realised that there was an interest from AWP we did link up that group with Sargeant Mike Powers, with the PCSO. They had lots of communication as they were going to be travelling to this area and then a lot of detailed information that was shared that wasn't necessarily out to the public yet, that hopefully was of assistance to helping them locate the area to go to.

Reporter - You said the car was found in the area where you've been searching since the beginning. What did AWP have that maybe you guys didn't have? Or why was that missed in the initial search?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think that's a great question. It's one that everybody's going to have, right? Is - how did we not find it when we were searching? The lake was extensively searched with side sonar, with an ROV. We had divers, we had swimmers. I think that's part of what we have to go back to do and debrief. You know, when police officers are out in the field and volunteers and searchers - it doesn't mean that their experts in the field, right? These are sometimes ancillary duties, and we're calling from other agencies to try to jump in and tracking underwater is an extremely difficult thing to do, so I think part of our debrief on any of these situations is - How do we figure out how to improve our services, work on our resources and the way that we use them. A lot of this equipment is high end, very expensive, and you really need to have a lot of practice and expertise, and I think that's where a group like AWP is able to focus and practice those skills and really hone them. And so we're appreciative that they were able to come out and locate it.

I also don't want to take away though, from anything from our volunteers, as well as law enforcement, that have been out there. I mean, we've literally had people swimming in the water, looking down so that we didn't disturb the ground initially. My understanding is the vehicle was upside down, that also makes it more difficult and if silt and things come up above, that can also make things difficult, so....before I can really say - hey why weren't we able to do it, I also could say that we eliminated a lot of areas that we would still be searching if we didn't have all the great people out there, and that helped them give them some guidance as well, I think. Clearly they're expertise in diving and the equipment that they brought to the table assisted us and we appreciate that.

Reporter - Did they specifically have any specific technology that all of these 16 law enforcement agencies didn't have?

Nevada Captain - I'll have to debrief with them before I'd have the answer to that question. I believe we're going to try to do that today.

Reporter - AWP has referenced red tape a couple of times, saying they don't have the red tape that maybe you're assisting agencies have. What is that red tape and why might it be easier for a private organisation to do this?

Nevada Captain - I don't know exactly what we're talking about in regards to red tape. I think that from the very beginning we never deterred anybody, other than certain scenes that we closed off at times that became areas of interest and we wanted to protect for evidence. So, I don't know that there was any red tape ever put on this. I mean, if you look at the amount of man hours that went into it, it was like over 15,000 and I know it's even higher than that now. I don't think that there was ever red tape. There were maps created for civilians to be out. The boat ramp and the lake were never actually shut down because the way we were looking at it is - the more eyes out there, the better off we're going to be for finding Kiely and that was continually the goals so... I'm not sure that there was ever red tape, I think it comes down to lots of factors and, like I said, we're going to debrief and try to figure out how do we become better and do a better job at, you know, these types of operations.

Reporter - Why did agencies believe it was an abduction at first?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think there was a lot of miscommunication. I don't know that it was ever labelled as an 'abduction'. I think that you can never take that off the table, and so, as we talked as a command group and unified command, with all my partners that you see behind us, you couldn't remove that off the table because we hadn't found her, and so, you know, that was some of the struggles with some of the services that we wanted to obtain and things we wanted to do, but we couldn't say it wasn't an abduction but we also never said that it was an abduction. I think that was clarified fairly early on, but we also probably wouldn't have received all the services and all the people if that wasn't an option. If this was truly a search and rescue mission we may not have had all the resources to conduct interviews. I think they identified over 400 juveniles, and to be able to interview all those folks and provide feedback off of all that it takes an army of people, and I think we were lucky to be able to put that together between my partners and agencies that are right behind me.

Reporter - Did any of the juveniles, anybody mention the car going over the side, or (inaudible)

Nevada Captain - I don't believe that statement was made, not to my knowledge.

Reporter - Was there any indication this was an accident or foul play?

Nevada Captain - That's still being investigated. If you like we can turn over to...CHP could give some information. They are conducting the accident investigation, utilising their MAIT team.

CHP Assistant Chief - I can confirm that our department is conducting a fatality traffic collision investigation. We're harnessing all of our resources, working with all of our partners here. As you see, we're utilising our MAIT team, our multi-disciplinary active investigation team to harness more data from the vehicle that was recovered. We're also... we've utilised all of our air resources to map and video and take photographs of the area in question and that's currently ongoing, so I can't comment on the nature and details of that investigation, but I certainly appreciate all the partnership that we have here with our local county and state partners. We'll continue to assist in any overarching way that we can as an agency.

Reporter - Do we know how close the vehicle was to that actual party site?

CHP Assistant Chief - I don't have the exact location in terms of distance but it was relatively close to the area in question.

Reporter - Like a few hundred yards or half a mile?

CHP Assistant Chief - I couldn't say, I haven't seen the exact data and the mapping - that's still ongoing.

Reporter - Did many party goers leave by the same route?

CHP Assistant Chief - Now this is...I can't comment on all of that, but what I can tell you, and I think it's been discussed, is this is a very popular area, there's a lot of foot traffic, a lot of vehicular traffic, on and off-road, so certainly criss-crossed and a lot of extensive movement in that area, continually throughout this time of year, certainly.

Reporter - Is there any suspicion that it could have been another car that maybe hit this car, or was it a one person car situation?

CHP Assistant Chief - I don't have that information that I could comment on at this time. What I can tell you is, we'll do a thorough investigation. We'll take every piece of information that we have, including what's already been provided to us, and we'll reach some conclusions that will be provided to the parties of interest at that time. Thank you.

Reporter - Before AWP went out there this weekend when was the last time that we had swimmers or divers, from any of these 16 agencies, out there searching that area?

Nevada Captain - I would say that we actually have divers, not necessarily in Prosser, but in lots of bodies of water up until even the days that they were there. There were many ponds that we were following up on Coldstream, as well as other bodies of water. So, I don't know that dive teams every discontinued. It was more of trying to still follow up on all of those things, and I believe AWP also had been diving at other lakes as well, within the area.

Reporter - Was there any timeframe from the time that AWP started - How long it took them to find it?

Nevada Captain - You're talking on Prosser Lake specifically?

Reporter - Yes.

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think it was relatively quickly but I don't have an exact time. Again we're going to have to debrief with them, figure out, you know, between putting equipment down, getting in the water and identifying where the car was at.

Reporter - Can you talk about what happened last night in terms of taking the car out? What kind of law enforcement was there and what happened last night?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think most of the LE partners you see behind me were present during that time, trying to do the best they could for ensuring that everything was done correctly and also trying to add some levels of privacy to the best of the ability, in worrying about the family and ensuring that they were covered as well, but I mean beyond that I don't know what your specific question is asking.

Reporter - Well put simply - How do you get a car out that's offshore? How does that happen, and then where does the car go? What happens from last night when you arrived to today?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, so once the car is located dive teams were assembled. I believe, Placer County was probably still the primary dive team. They have to use lots of devices to lift the car, turn it over and then the use of tow trucks was what made it possible for pulling the vehicle out of the water, and the vehicle is taken down - the FBI have offered up assistance and are going to be helping to conduct the investigation regarding the vehicle itself and making sure that we don't miss something that may be in there that we're not aware of.

Reporter - Are you guys confident the car was in the water since the night of the party?

Nevada Captain - I've no reason to believe that it wasn't but, you know, until we have those answers I wouldn't know the answer to it.

Reporter - Can you just clarify, as far as what teams have been in that area before AWP, if any, on that specific...on Prosser?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I mean it's almost so many that it'd be hard to link out between the different teams. There were numerous boats, Almeda, Nevada County, Placer County, swimmers came from Washoe County. We had divers from every single one of those agencies and then some. I mean, it was a vast amount of people and I would just say unless you've conducted these types of searches and tried to do it, it does take a level of expertise and nothing's perfect. You know when you fly a helicopter over the air trying to identify if something is there, most places give that less than a 5% chance of probability of detection, meaning - if you flew over you only have a 5% chance of seeing something. You add trees and brush and bushes and dirt and all these other things and it becomes a pretty difficult task. Even though, once you find the answer on hindsight everything looks 20/20. The reality is - it's not that simple, it is pretty complex and it's tough. So, again, we're just appreciative that the resources came out and were help us in locating it.

Reporter - Were there signs that the person in the car tried to escape?

Nevada Captain - I think that's too preliminary for us to be able to deter that, at this time.

Reporter - Was there more than one body in the vehicle?

Nevada Captain - No, there was not more than one body in the vehicle.

Reporter - Describe the difficulties of what waters does over 2 weeks to evidence.

Nevada Captain - It depends, that's a complicated question. I'm not an expert in water. However, temperature of the water, and things like that, come into play but it can add difficulty based on many factors that can cause damage to, obviously, things that we want to look at, to investigate but also to bodies that may have been submerged for a period of time.

Reporter - Is there a likelihood there could have been tyre tracks or some type of signal that a car did go into the water there? Did rain impact that? Did this heavy activity in the area impede seeing those signs?

Nevada Captain - I think everything's a factor, but again, that's where we rely on the MAIT team from CHP to come in with their expertise and be able to provide some of those answers.

Reporter - It seems that AWP have pretty sophisticated equipment. Is it something that the agencies here have or you all still need?

Nevada Captain - I'll have to debrief with them to figure out what equipment exactly they used to see if it's items that we have, or if it's a matter of training with the items that we have. Until we talk to them and know exactly what they used and how they went about it, I wouldn't be able to answer that correctly.

Reporter - They also said the car was 14 ft. deep. Did you all go that far to look for the car?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, some of that information is sometimes deceiving, so yeah the car was reported at 14 or 15 ft. However, the water level, since the 6th, has also dropped a vertical of 3.5-4 ft. which could be 20-25 ft. off of shore, so a lot of things have changed in those aspects. Until we really can look into all that information and sort through it, it's difficult to say whether those factors had a play in it or not. I still think it's more important for us to debrief, look at training, look at equipment, look at tools and look at outside entities that are experts, where this is maybe their full-time gig that they do and try to see...and have that involvement from the community to come out and help support.

Reporter - At this time can you tell if there are any signs of foul play?

Nevada Captain - At this time we're not going to be able to say anything like that.

Reporter - It's been said that people were drinking at the party that night. Was anything found in the car that could lead you to believe that she was drinking (inaudible) where the person found was?

Nevada Captain - The investigations ongoing, so we're not going to be able to comment on that.

Reporter - I feel like where they found the car it might have been pretty far from the road. Do you have suspicions that maybe the people were parking on that little island?

Nevada Captain - I wouldn't be able to comment on that either, unless somebody gave some statements to that. I hadn't heard any information like that though.

Reporter - Do you have any theories as to how the car got in the water? And also, what gear was the car found in?

Nevada Captain - I think if I make up theories then I'm just guessing and I'm going to lead us back into a trail that not's certain, so we'll wait until we have those facts and details. And as far as the car, we're not going to release any information until we've done a solid investigation on it.

Reporter - Who received the first call from AWP? And what was that call like?

Nevada Captain - I don't know that we received a first call. I think we reached out to them after we read it online, and so, I'm not sure, you know, again, with 150 LE officials it's possible that a call came in and something happened, but from the unified command and talking with my partners, none of us were aware of an initial, so we tasked the investigative Sergeant with contacting them and reaching out. So, I believe, best I know, we did that proactively on our end.

Reporter - And they contacted the family?

Nevada Captain - I think there's still some sketchy details on exactly how that contact went out, so I don't want to speak on behalf of the family.

Reporter - What was it when you heard? You personally, when you heard that they might of found the car - What went through your head?

Nevada Captain - Well, I think what we were all thinking, which is - hopefully this is true and we've got a lot of work ahead of us to make sure that we still do right by the family. Our biggest concern is making sure that the family has been aware of everything from day 1, and that we're not shielding them, but we're also not bombarding them with things. There's a lot of up and downs throughout this investigation, a lot of emotional turns throughout the whole thing and our goal was to make sure we're supportive of the family throughout this whole task. And doing our best in that.

Reporter - How long will the investigation into the car...maybe that's for Highway Patrol or the FBI - How long does an investigation, to look at a car, take to figure out what may have happened?

Nevada Captain - I mean, I think there's a lot of factors in that. I don't mind turning it over to CHP and let them answer.

CHP Assistant Captain - Because, obviously, we have a multi-faceted investigation with multiple agencies it can take time. You know, the FBI is working, evaluating the vehicle, we have to come in and do that. We want to allow them to work, we'll come in and examine data, examine the vehicle, have all our investigators look at that car. So, depending on circumstances it can be several days, it could be several weeks, we also want to wait on other information related from the coroner's office and other things that all get compiled into a comprehensive investigation. So the easy answer is - it could take a while.

Reporter - There was a report that AWP was told by (inaudible) that they did not need to search Prosser, or at least in the specific area where the car was found because that had been extensively searched already. Is that true?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I'd say that's probably not accurate and we shared maps, ping information and locations. And so, we probably shared that that was extensively searched and sonar was used and that may add to the level of where they chose to go to first, or last. However, nothing was prevented or shared, and I don't believe that we gave any indication that we thought we knew where she was at because clearly from all of our daily press releases we reported over and over again, that we didn't know where she was at and we needed anybody's help and assistance in finding that location.

Reporter - But you were working in partnership with AWP?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I believe that what ultimately occurred was that our Sergeant was able to make contact with them. Sergeant Powers with the PCSO come up with a plan and shared information on where things were at. So, we're still appreciative, like I said, of them being able to locate the vehicle.

Reporter - Will they get the cash reward for helping find the vehicle and the body?

Nevada Captain - It's not a question I'll be able to answer.

Reporter - May I ask - Have you been able to determine a cause of death? And will there be a toxicology report being conducted?

Placer Captain - Autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow and toxicology results generally take 4-6 weeks for a return on those and at that time we will provide that back over to Nevada County.

Reporter - Does anyone from the family want to make any comments at this point, specifically about this massive search and all the tips that came in?

LE - I don't believe they do at this point. So with that we'll go ahead and wrap up the press conference. Thank you all for coming here today. We certainly appreciate it and pay attention to both PCSO as well as NCSO, as we continue to share details as they become available. Thank you.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Finally had a minute to transcribe the latest Press Conference

Nevada Sheriff: Appreciate everyone's response in being here today to get some more information into our investigation. We have been working with the family, and really since the very beginning, trying to make sure that we focus on all of our efforts being for the family. And at this time, you know, last night we did receive some information of the recovery of the vehicle that we've been searching for, and it was located inside Prosser Lake. It was located within a search zone that we have been searching since the very beginning of our operation. We are very fortunate that we had the assistance of a volunteer group, Adventures with Purpose, that came out with some very specific expertise and were able to to help us in locating the vehicle that we had been searching for, for several weeks.

It's at these times that we really want to recognise the reason why we're all here, and that is for this family. We've said that from day one with our staff, the incredible amount of collaboration that we've received from our partners in this region. You know, clearly being a mountain town we're used to having great collaboration, knowing that none of us have enough resources to go around, but when we all work together I think it is an incredible show of how committed all of our agencies are for our community here. Working hand in hand in unified command, joint command with the Placer County Sheriff's Office, folks from the California Highway Patrol, the Truckee Police Dept. and our friends from the FBI. The amount of effort that all of these agencies, put together, really truly is why we're here today. And as we eliminated a lot of tips and information that was coming in, I think it's very important to understand that all of that work did lead us to this time, and being able to focus on the services that we provide to our families here that are impacted.

We've recovered the vehicle, we recovered the vehicle last night. We have located a decedent inside the vehicle. We believe it is our missing person. We have not been able to positively identify, but it's more than likely where we are today and we wanted to make sure that the family had all that information first. The last thing we want to do is have them learn information outside of our team. So, I think that is one of the points I really want to make sure that our communities know, and the folks that are watching today know is - how truly committed we've been throughout these last few weeks in coming to this resolution.

It's still an active investigation and I understand there will be...and we will continue to receive lot of questions regarding our investigation, and we will release what we can, but at this time our commitment is to this family and that is where we will consistently reach for, making decisions on what we release. And again, it is still a very active investigation. Again, I appreciate everyone being here, getting this information out. The reason why we're here is because of the community support and the amount of work that was put into this investigation to where we could clearly identify very specific areas to search. The Adventures with Purpose folks did a...just a fantastic job at being able to locate the vehicle as quickly as they did, based on, again, a lot of heavy lifting that the folks behind me have done throughout the last couple of weeks. So, I appreciate everyone being here and will open up for some questions.

Reporter - What agency called in AWP? When did you decide that we needed the extra help?

Nevada Captain - I'm not exactly sure that an agency had reached out and requested, from within our unified command, but as everybody's reading online and seeing all the information that was coming out and we realised that there was an interest from AWP we did link up that group with Sargeant Mike Powers, with the PCSO. They had lots of communication as they were going to be travelling to this area and then a lot of detailed information that was shared that wasn't necessarily out to the public yet, that hopefully was of assistance to helping them locate the area to go to.

Reporter - You said the car was found in the area where you've been searching since the beginning. What did AWP have that maybe you guys didn't have? Or why was that missed in the initial search?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think that's a great question. It's one that everybody's going to have, right? Is - how did we not find it when we were searching? The lake was extensively searched with side sonar, with an ROV. We had divers, we had swimmers. I think that's part of what we have to go back to do and debrief. You know, when police officers are out in the field and volunteers and searchers - it doesn't mean that their experts in the field, right? These are sometimes ancillary duties, and we're calling from other agencies to try to jump in and tracking underwater is an extremely difficult thing to do, so I think part of our debrief on any of these situations is - How do we figure out how to improve our services, work on our resources and the way that we use them. A lot of this equipment is high end, very expensive, and you really need to have a lot of practice and expertise, and I think that's where a group like AWP is able to focus and practice those skills and really hone them. And so we're appreciative that they were able to come out and locate it.

I also don't want to take away though, from anything from our volunteers, as well as law enforcement, that have been out there. I mean, we've literally had people swimming in the water, looking down so that we didn't disturb the ground initially. My understanding is the vehicle was upside down, that also makes it more difficult and if silt and things come up above, that can also make things difficult, so....before I can really say - hey why weren't we able to do it, I also could say that we eliminated a lot of areas that we would still be searching if we didn't have all the great people out there, and that helped them give them some guidance as well, I think. Clearly they're expertise in diving and the equipment that they brought to the table assisted us and we appreciate that.

Reporter - Did they specifically have any specific technology that all of these 16 law enforcement agencies didn't have?

Nevada Captain - I'll have to debrief with them before I'd have the answer to that question. I believe we're going to try to do that today.

Reporter - AWP has referenced red tape a couple of times, saying they don't have the red tape that maybe you're assisting agencies have. What is that red tape and why might it be easier for a private organisation to do this?

Nevada Captain - I don't know exactly what we're talking about in regards to red tape. I think that from the very beginning we never deterred anybody, other than certain scenes that we closed off at times that became areas of interest and we wanted to protect for evidence. So, I don't know that there was any red tape ever put on this. I mean, if you look at the amount of man hours that went into it, it was like over 15,000 and I know it's even higher than that now. I don't think that there was ever red tape. There were maps created for civilians to be out. The boat ramp and the lake were never actually shut down because the way we were looking at it is - the more eyes out there, the better off we're going to be for finding Kiely and that was continually the goals so... I'm not sure that there was ever red tape, I think it comes down to lots of factors and, like I said, we're going to debrief and try to figure out how do we become better and do a better job at, you know, these types of operations.

Reporter - Why did agencies believe it was an abduction at first?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think there was a lot of miscommunication. I don't know that it was ever labelled as an 'abduction'. I think that you can never take that off the table, and so, as we talked as a command group and unified command, with all my partners that you see behind us, you couldn't remove that off the table because we hadn't found her, and so, you know, that was some of the struggles with some of the services that we wanted to obtain and things we wanted to do, but we couldn't say it wasn't an abduction but we also never said that it was an abduction. I think that was clarified fairly early on, but we also probably wouldn't have received all the services and all the people if that wasn't an option. If this was truly a search and rescue mission we may not have had all the resources to conduct interviews. I think they identified over 400 juveniles, and to be able to interview all those folks and provide feedback off of all that it takes an army of people, and I think we were lucky to be able to put that together between my partners and agencies that are right behind me.

Reporter - Did any of the juveniles, anybody mention the car going over the side, or (inaudible)

Nevada Captain - I don't believe that statement was made, not to my knowledge.

Reporter - Was there any indication this was an accident or foul play?

Nevada Captain - That's still being investigated. If you like we can turn over to...CHP could give some information. They are conducting the accident investigation, utilising their MAIT team.

CHP Assistant Chief - I can confirm that our department is conducting a fatality traffic collision investigation. We're harnessing all of our resources, working with all of our partners here. As you see, we're utilising our MAIT team, our multi-disciplinary active investigation team to harness more data from the vehicle that was recovered. We're also... we've utilised all of our air resources to map and video and take photographs of the area in question and that's currently ongoing, so I can't comment on the nature and details of that investigation, but I certainly appreciate all the partnership that we have here with our local county and state partners. We'll continue to assist in any overarching way that we can as an agency.

Reporter - Do we know how close the vehicle was to that actual party site?

CHP Assistant Chief - I don't have the exact location in terms of distance but it was relatively close to the area in question.

Reporter - Like a few hundred yards or half a mile?

CHP Assistant Chief - I couldn't say, I haven't seen the exact data and the mapping - that's still ongoing.

Reporter - Did many party goers leave by the same route?

CHP Assistant Chief - Now this is...I can't comment on all of that, but what I can tell you, and I think it's been discussed, is this is a very popular area, there's a lot of foot traffic, a lot of vehicular traffic, on and off-road, so certainly criss-crossed and a lot of extensive movement in that area, continually throughout this time of year, certainly.

Reporter - Is there any suspicion that it could have been another car that maybe hit this car, or was it a one person car situation?

CHP Assistant Chief - I don't have that information that I could comment on at this time. What I can tell you is, we'll do a thorough investigation. We'll take every piece of information that we have, including what's already been provided to us, and we'll reach some conclusions that will be provided to the parties of interest at that time. Thank you.

Reporter - Before AWP went out there this weekend when was the last time that we had swimmers or divers, from any of these 16 agencies, out there searching that area?

Nevada Captain - I would say that we actually have divers, not necessarily in Prosser, but in lots of bodies of water up until even the days that they were there. There were many ponds that we were following up on Coldstream, as well as other bodies of water. So, I don't know that dive teams every discontinued. It was more of trying to still follow up on all of those things, and I believe AWP also had been diving at other lakes as well, within the area.

Reporter - Was there any timeframe from the time that AWP started - How long it took them to find it?

Nevada Captain - You're talking on Prosser Lake specifically?

Reporter - Yes.

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think it was relatively quickly but I don't have an exact time. Again we're going to have to debrief with them, figure out, you know, between putting equipment down, getting in the water and identifying where the car was at.

Reporter - Can you talk about what happened last night in terms of taking the car out? What kind of law enforcement was there and what happened last night?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think most of the LE partners you see behind me were present during that time, trying to do the best they could for ensuring that everything was done correctly and also trying to add some levels of privacy to the best of the ability, in worrying about the family and ensuring that they were covered as well, but I mean beyond that I don't know what your specific question is asking.

Reporter - Well put simply - How do you get a car out that's offshore? How does that happen, and then where does the car go? What happens from last night when you arrived to today?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, so once the car is located dive teams were assembled. I believe, Placer County was probably still the primary dive team. They have to use lots of devices to lift the car, turn it over and then the use of tow trucks was what made it possible for pulling the vehicle out of the water, and the vehicle is taken down - the FBI have offered up assistance and are going to be helping to conduct the investigation regarding the vehicle itself and making sure that we don't miss something that may be in there that we're not aware of.

Reporter - Are you guys confident the car was in the water since the night of the party?

Nevada Captain - I've no reason to believe that it wasn't but, you know, until we have those answers I wouldn't know the answer to it.

Reporter - Can you just clarify, as far as what teams have been in that area before AWP, if any, on that specific...on Prosser?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I mean it's almost so many that it'd be hard to link out between the different teams. There were numerous boats, Almeda, Nevada County, Placer County, swimmers came from Washoe County. We had divers from every single one of those agencies and then some. I mean, it was a vast amount of people and I would just say unless you've conducted these types of searches and tried to do it, it does take a level of expertise and nothing's perfect. You know when you fly a helicopter over the air trying to identify if something is there, most places give that less than a 5% chance of probability of detection, meaning - if you flew over you only have a 5% chance of seeing something. You add trees and brush and bushes and dirt and all these other things and it becomes a pretty difficult task. Even though, once you find the answer on hindsight everything looks 20/20. The reality is - it's not that simple, it is pretty complex and it's tough. So, again, we're just appreciative that the resources came out and were help us in locating it.

Reporter - Were there signs that the person in the car tried to escape?

Nevada Captain - I think that's too preliminary for us to be able to deter that, at this time.

Reporter - Was there more than one body in the vehicle?

Nevada Captain - No, there was not more than one body in the vehicle.

Reporter - Describe the difficulties of what waters does over 2 weeks to evidence.

Nevada Captain - It depends, that's a complicated question. I'm not an expert in water. However, temperature of the water, and things like that, come into play but it can add difficulty based on many factors that can cause damage to, obviously, things that we want to look at, to investigate but also to bodies that may have been submerged for a period of time.

Reporter - Is there a likelihood there could have been tyre tracks or some type of signal that a car did go into the water there? Did rain impact that? Did this heavy activity in the area impede seeing those signs?

Nevada Captain - I think everything's a factor, but again, that's where we rely on the MAIT team from CHP to come in with their expertise and be able to provide some of those answers.

Reporter - It seems that AWP have pretty sophisticated equipment. Is it something that the agencies here have or you all still need?

Nevada Captain - I'll have to debrief with them to figure out what equipment exactly they used to see if it's items that we have, or if it's a matter of training with the items that we have. Until we talk to them and know exactly what they used and how they went about it, I wouldn't be able to answer that correctly.

Reporter - They also said the car was 14 ft. deep. Did you all go that far to look for the car?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, some of that information is sometimes deceiving, so yeah the car was reported at 14 or 15 ft. However, the water level, since the 6th, has also dropped a vertical of 3.5-4 ft. which could be 20-25 ft. off of shore, so a lot of things have changed in those aspects. Until we really can look into all that information and sort through it, it's difficult to say whether those factors had a play in it or not. I still think it's more important for us to debrief, look at training, look at equipment, look at tools and look at outside entities that are experts, where this is maybe their full-time gig that they do and try to see...and have that involvement from the community to come out and help support.

Reporter - At this time can you tell if there are any signs of foul play?

Nevada Captain - At this time we're not going to be able to say anything like that.

Reporter - It's been said that people were drinking at the party that night. Was anything found in the car that could lead you to believe that she was drinking (inaudible) where the person found was?

Nevada Captain - The investigations ongoing, so we're not going to be able to comment on that.

Reporter - I feel like where they found the car it might have been pretty far from the road. Do you have suspicions that maybe the people were parking on that little island?

Nevada Captain - I wouldn't be able to comment on that either, unless somebody gave some statements to that. I hadn't heard any information like that though.

Reporter - Do you have any theories as to how the car got in the water? And also, what gear was the car found in?

Nevada Captain - I think if I make up theories then I'm just guessing and I'm going to lead us back into a trail that not's certain, so we'll wait until we have those facts and details. And as far as the car, we're not going to release any information until we've done a solid investigation on it.

Reporter - Who received the first call from AWP? And what was that call like?

Nevada Captain - I don't know that we received a first call. I think we reached out to them after we read it online, and so, I'm not sure, you know, again, with 150 LE officials it's possible that a call came in and something happened, but from the unified command and talking with my partners, none of us were aware of an initial, so we tasked the investigative Sergeant with contacting them and reaching out. So, I believe, best I know, we did that proactively on our end.

Reporter - And they contacted the family?

Nevada Captain - I think there's still some sketchy details on exactly how that contact went out, so I don't want to speak on behalf of the family.

Reporter - What was it when you heard? You personally, when you heard that they might of found the car - What went through your head?

Nevada Captain - Well, I think what we were all thinking, which is - hopefully this is true and we've got a lot of work ahead of us to make sure that we still do right by the family. Our biggest concern is making sure that the family has been aware of everything from day 1, and that we're not shielding them, but we're also not bombarding them with things. There's a lot of up and downs throughout this investigation, a lot of emotional turns throughout the whole thing and our goal was to make sure we're supportive of the family throughout this whole task. And doing our best in that.

Reporter - How long will the investigation into the car...maybe that's for Highway Patrol or the FBI - How long does an investigation, to look at a car, take to figure out what may have happened?

Nevada Captain - I mean, I think there's a lot of factors in that. I don't mind turning it over to CHP and let them answer.

CHP Assistant Captain - Because, obviously, we have a multi-faceted investigation with multiple agencies it can take time. You know, the FBI is working, evaluating the vehicle, we have to come in and do that. We want to allow them to work, we'll come in and examine data, examine the vehicle, have all our investigators look at that car. So, depending on circumstances it can be several days, it could be several weeks, we also want to wait on other information related from the coroner's office and other things that all get compiled into a comprehensive investigation. So the easy answer is - it could take a while.

Reporter - There was a report that AWP was told by (inaudible) that they did not need to search Prosser, or at least in the specific area where the car was found because that had been extensively searched already. Is that true?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I'd say that's probably not accurate and we shared maps, ping information and locations. And so, we probably shared that that was extensively searched and sonar was used and that may add to the level of where they chose to go to first, or last. However, nothing was prevented or shared, and I don't believe that we gave any indication that we thought we knew where she was at because clearly from all of our daily press releases we reported over and over again, that we didn't know where she was at and we needed anybody's help and assistance in finding that location.

Reporter - But you were working in partnership with AWP?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I believe that what ultimately occurred was that our Sergeant was able to make contact with them. Sergeant Powers with the PCSO come up with a plan and shared information on where things were at. So, we're still appreciative, like I said, of them being able to locate the vehicle.

Reporter - Will they get the cash reward for helping find the vehicle and the body?

Nevada Captain - It's not a question I'll be able to answer.

Reporter - May I ask - Have you been able to determine a cause of death? And will there be a toxicology report being conducted?

Placer Captain - Autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow and toxicology results generally take 4-6 weeks for a return on those and at that time we will provide that back over to Nevada County.

Reporter - Does anyone from the family want to make any comments at this point, specifically about this massive search and all the tips that came in?

LE - I don't believe they do at this point. So with that we'll go ahead and wrap up the press conference. Thank you all for coming here today. We certainly appreciate it and pay attention to both PCSO as well as NCSO, as we continue to share details as they become available. Thank you.

@Allabouttrial Thank you so much for all your hard work! It's truly appreciated!

 

[ralyla]

I can't stop thinking about the fact she, likely in an inebriated state, was able to leave a huge party that her friends were attending unnoticed. Additionally, no one heard her go into the water or saw it? I understand tragic accidents happen and I'm not putting the blame on her friends who are reeling. Just so hard for me to understand. MOO.

 

[Curiosa20]

Hypotheticals are interesting, but accident and crime investigators have better tools at their disposal: experience and statistics.

They come to a scene and, based on a wealth of data, make a determination about the most probable cause. If a teen is found in her car in a lake near a party where she’d been drinking, and their experience and extensive knowledge of similar situations points to an accident with no foul play, that will be the working theory of their investigation. They will be investigating a potential accident and drowning. If during the course of that investigation, evidence emerges that contradicts that working theory (COD wasn’t drowning, bruises or marks on body indicating a struggle, toxicology reports, witness statements, etc), then that and only that will change the direction of their investigation. It is an established process, a science, and it’s based on what has happened before in these situations, what is most likely rather than what is possible, and the evidence they’re presented with.

If investigators didn’t follow an established step-by-step procedure based in statistics and evidence, resolution of fatalities would be impossible. In this case, if the autopsy result is that Kiely drowned, had no marks indicating a struggle, and wasn’t drugged, and the final conclusion is that she therefore drove into the water by herself and drowned, someone raising questions could still say “How do we know she wasn’t drowned in a bathtub somewhere by a killer wearing cushioned oven mitts to avoid bruising, and then placed in the vehicle and rolled into the lake to make it look like an accidental drowning??” Well, LE investigators don’t suggest or entertain those kinds of hypotheticals because they prevent resolution. MOO

I respectfully disagree with a couple of major points you made.
Investigators don’t start off with a theory and then work from there to try to prove it.
Nor do they arrive in a scene with a wealth of data and make a determination of a probable cause.
If they were so prejudiced so as to start and investigation with a pre established formulated outcome in their minds based on statistical
data and past experience, they would not be reliable investigators. Experience only serves to inform good judgement needed to evaluate complexity, utilize resources and demonstrate facts with a clear head and eye.
They are not trying to prove a pre conceived theory at all, much less prepared to “adjust it” to fit incoming evidence. Also, they aren’t working to get a result that fits in a pre determined statistical slot.
Statistics are the result of outcomes not the causal element of an investigation.
And hypotheticals are addressed and evaluated during an investigation. The end result should provide resolution and clarity to the matter at hand. Certainty is ideal.
Then folks can decide if they accept the outcome or challenge it with various tools amd avenues available to them.

 

[Curiosa20]

Finally had a minute to transcribe the latest Press Conference

Nevada Sheriff: Appreciate everyone's response in being here today to get some more information into our investigation. We have been working with the family, and really since the very beginning, trying to make sure that we focus on all of our efforts being for the family. And at this time, you know, last night we did receive some information of the recovery of the vehicle that we've been searching for, and it was located inside Prosser Lake. It was located within a search zone that we have been searching since the very beginning of our operation. We are very fortunate that we had the assistance of a volunteer group, Adventures with Purpose, that came out with some very specific expertise and were able to to help us in locating the vehicle that we had been searching for, for several weeks.

It's at these times that we really want to recognise the reason why we're all here, and that is for this family. We've said that from day one with our staff, the incredible amount of collaboration that we've received from our partners in this region. You know, clearly being a mountain town we're used to having great collaboration, knowing that none of us have enough resources to go around, but when we all work together I think it is an incredible show of how committed all of our agencies are for our community here. Working hand in hand in unified command, joint command with the Placer County Sheriff's Office, folks from the California Highway Patrol, the Truckee Police Dept. and our friends from the FBI. The amount of effort that all of these agencies, put together, really truly is why we're here today. And as we eliminated a lot of tips and information that was coming in, I think it's very important to understand that all of that work did lead us to this time, and being able to focus on the services that we provide to our families here that are impacted.

We've recovered the vehicle, we recovered the vehicle last night. We have located a decedent inside the vehicle. We believe it is our missing person. We have not been able to positively identify, but it's more than likely where we are today and we wanted to make sure that the family had all that information first. The last thing we want to do is have them learn information outside of our team. So, I think that is one of the points I really want to make sure that our communities know, and the folks that are watching today know is - how truly committed we've been throughout these last few weeks in coming to this resolution.

It's still an active investigation and I understand there will be...and we will continue to receive lot of questions regarding our investigation, and we will release what we can, but at this time our commitment is to this family and that is where we will consistently reach for, making decisions on what we release. And again, it is still a very active investigation. Again, I appreciate everyone being here, getting this information out. The reason why we're here is because of the community support and the amount of work that was put into this investigation to where we could clearly identify very specific areas to search. The Adventures with Purpose folks did a...just a fantastic job at being able to locate the vehicle as quickly as they did, based on, again, a lot of heavy lifting that the folks behind me have done throughout the last couple of weeks. So, I appreciate everyone being here and will open up for some questions.

Reporter - What agency called in AWP? When did you decide that we needed the extra help?

Nevada Captain - I'm not exactly sure that an agency had reached out and requested, from within our unified command, but as everybody's reading online and seeing all the information that was coming out and we realised that there was an interest from AWP we did link up that group with Sargeant Mike Powers, with the PCSO. They had lots of communication as they were going to be travelling to this area and then a lot of detailed information that was shared that wasn't necessarily out to the public yet, that hopefully was of assistance to helping them locate the area to go to.

Reporter - You said the car was found in the area where you've been searching since the beginning. What did AWP have that maybe you guys didn't have? Or why was that missed in the initial search?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think that's a great question. It's one that everybody's going to have, right? Is - how did we not find it when we were searching? The lake was extensively searched with side sonar, with an ROV. We had divers, we had swimmers. I think that's part of what we have to go back to do and debrief. You know, when police officers are out in the field and volunteers and searchers - it doesn't mean that their experts in the field, right? These are sometimes ancillary duties, and we're calling from other agencies to try to jump in and tracking underwater is an extremely difficult thing to do, so I think part of our debrief on any of these situations is - How do we figure out how to improve our services, work on our resources and the way that we use them. A lot of this equipment is high end, very expensive, and you really need to have a lot of practice and expertise, and I think that's where a group like AWP is able to focus and practice those skills and really hone them. And so we're appreciative that they were able to come out and locate it.

I also don't want to take away though, from anything from our volunteers, as well as law enforcement, that have been out there. I mean, we've literally had people swimming in the water, looking down so that we didn't disturb the ground initially. My understanding is the vehicle was upside down, that also makes it more difficult and if silt and things come up above, that can also make things difficult, so....before I can really say - hey why weren't we able to do it, I also could say that we eliminated a lot of areas that we would still be searching if we didn't have all the great people out there, and that helped them give them some guidance as well, I think. Clearly they're expertise in diving and the equipment that they brought to the table assisted us and we appreciate that.

Reporter - Did they specifically have any specific technology that all of these 16 law enforcement agencies didn't have?

Nevada Captain - I'll have to debrief with them before I'd have the answer to that question. I believe we're going to try to do that today.

Reporter - AWP has referenced red tape a couple of times, saying they don't have the red tape that maybe you're assisting agencies have. What is that red tape and why might it be easier for a private organisation to do this?

Nevada Captain - I don't know exactly what we're talking about in regards to red tape. I think that from the very beginning we never deterred anybody, other than certain scenes that we closed off at times that became areas of interest and we wanted to protect for evidence. So, I don't know that there was any red tape ever put on this. I mean, if you look at the amount of man hours that went into it, it was like over 15,000 and I know it's even higher than that now. I don't think that there was ever red tape. There were maps created for civilians to be out. The boat ramp and the lake were never actually shut down because the way we were looking at it is - the more eyes out there, the better off we're going to be for finding Kiely and that was continually the goals so... I'm not sure that there was ever red tape, I think it comes down to lots of factors and, like I said, we're going to debrief and try to figure out how do we become better and do a better job at, you know, these types of operations.

Reporter - Why did agencies believe it was an abduction at first?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think there was a lot of miscommunication. I don't know that it was ever labelled as an 'abduction'. I think that you can never take that off the table, and so, as we talked as a command group and unified command, with all my partners that you see behind us, you couldn't remove that off the table because we hadn't found her, and so, you know, that was some of the struggles with some of the services that we wanted to obtain and things we wanted to do, but we couldn't say it wasn't an abduction but we also never said that it was an abduction. I think that was clarified fairly early on, but we also probably wouldn't have received all the services and all the people if that wasn't an option. If this was truly a search and rescue mission we may not have had all the resources to conduct interviews. I think they identified over 400 juveniles, and to be able to interview all those folks and provide feedback off of all that it takes an army of people, and I think we were lucky to be able to put that together between my partners and agencies that are right behind me.

Reporter - Did any of the juveniles, anybody mention the car going over the side, or (inaudible)

Nevada Captain - I don't believe that statement was made, not to my knowledge.

Reporter - Was there any indication this was an accident or foul play?

Nevada Captain - That's still being investigated. If you like we can turn over to...CHP could give some information. They are conducting the accident investigation, utilising their MAIT team.

CHP Assistant Chief - I can confirm that our department is conducting a fatality traffic collision investigation. We're harnessing all of our resources, working with all of our partners here. As you see, we're utilising our MAIT team, our multi-disciplinary active investigation team to harness more data from the vehicle that was recovered. We're also... we've utilised all of our air resources to map and video and take photographs of the area in question and that's currently ongoing, so I can't comment on the nature and details of that investigation, but I certainly appreciate all the partnership that we have here with our local county and state partners. We'll continue to assist in any overarching way that we can as an agency.

Reporter - Do we know how close the vehicle was to that actual party site?

CHP Assistant Chief - I don't have the exact location in terms of distance but it was relatively close to the area in question.

Reporter - Like a few hundred yards or half a mile?

CHP Assistant Chief - I couldn't say, I haven't seen the exact data and the mapping - that's still ongoing.

Reporter - Did many party goers leave by the same route?

CHP Assistant Chief - Now this is...I can't comment on all of that, but what I can tell you, and I think it's been discussed, is this is a very popular area, there's a lot of foot traffic, a lot of vehicular traffic, on and off-road, so certainly criss-crossed and a lot of extensive movement in that area, continually throughout this time of year, certainly.

Reporter - Is there any suspicion that it could have been another car that maybe hit this car, or was it a one person car situation?

CHP Assistant Chief - I don't have that information that I could comment on at this time. What I can tell you is, we'll do a thorough investigation. We'll take every piece of information that we have, including what's already been provided to us, and we'll reach some conclusions that will be provided to the parties of interest at that time. Thank you.

Reporter - Before AWP went out there this weekend when was the last time that we had swimmers or divers, from any of these 16 agencies, out there searching that area?

Nevada Captain - I would say that we actually have divers, not necessarily in Prosser, but in lots of bodies of water up until even the days that they were there. There were many ponds that we were following up on Coldstream, as well as other bodies of water. So, I don't know that dive teams every discontinued. It was more of trying to still follow up on all of those things, and I believe AWP also had been diving at other lakes as well, within the area.

Reporter - Was there any timeframe from the time that AWP started - How long it took them to find it?

Nevada Captain - You're talking on Prosser Lake specifically?

Reporter - Yes.

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think it was relatively quickly but I don't have an exact time. Again we're going to have to debrief with them, figure out, you know, between putting equipment down, getting in the water and identifying where the car was at.

Reporter - Can you talk about what happened last night in terms of taking the car out? What kind of law enforcement was there and what happened last night?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I think most of the LE partners you see behind me were present during that time, trying to do the best they could for ensuring that everything was done correctly and also trying to add some levels of privacy to the best of the ability, in worrying about the family and ensuring that they were covered as well, but I mean beyond that I don't know what your specific question is asking.

Reporter - Well put simply - How do you get a car out that's offshore? How does that happen, and then where does the car go? What happens from last night when you arrived to today?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, so once the car is located dive teams were assembled. I believe, Placer County was probably still the primary dive team. They have to use lots of devices to lift the car, turn it over and then the use of tow trucks was what made it possible for pulling the vehicle out of the water, and the vehicle is taken down - the FBI have offered up assistance and are going to be helping to conduct the investigation regarding the vehicle itself and making sure that we don't miss something that may be in there that we're not aware of.

Reporter - Are you guys confident the car was in the water since the night of the party?

Nevada Captain - I've no reason to believe that it wasn't but, you know, until we have those answers I wouldn't know the answer to it.

Reporter - Can you just clarify, as far as what teams have been in that area before AWP, if any, on that specific...on Prosser?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I mean it's almost so many that it'd be hard to link out between the different teams. There were numerous boats, Almeda, Nevada County, Placer County, swimmers came from Washoe County. We had divers from every single one of those agencies and then some. I mean, it was a vast amount of people and I would just say unless you've conducted these types of searches and tried to do it, it does take a level of expertise and nothing's perfect. You know when you fly a helicopter over the air trying to identify if something is there, most places give that less than a 5% chance of probability of detection, meaning - if you flew over you only have a 5% chance of seeing something. You add trees and brush and bushes and dirt and all these other things and it becomes a pretty difficult task. Even though, once you find the answer on hindsight everything looks 20/20. The reality is - it's not that simple, it is pretty complex and it's tough. So, again, we're just appreciative that the resources came out and were help us in locating it.

Reporter - Were there signs that the person in the car tried to escape?

Nevada Captain - I think that's too preliminary for us to be able to deter that, at this time.

Reporter - Was there more than one body in the vehicle?

Nevada Captain - No, there was not more than one body in the vehicle.

Reporter - Describe the difficulties of what waters does over 2 weeks to evidence.

Nevada Captain - It depends, that's a complicated question. I'm not an expert in water. However, temperature of the water, and things like that, come into play but it can add difficulty based on many factors that can cause damage to, obviously, things that we want to look at, to investigate but also to bodies that may have been submerged for a period of time.

Reporter - Is there a likelihood there could have been tyre tracks or some type of signal that a car did go into the water there? Did rain impact that? Did this heavy activity in the area impede seeing those signs?

Nevada Captain - I think everything's a factor, but again, that's where we rely on the MAIT team from CHP to come in with their expertise and be able to provide some of those answers.

Reporter - It seems that AWP have pretty sophisticated equipment. Is it something that the agencies here have or you all still need?

Nevada Captain - I'll have to debrief with them to figure out what equipment exactly they used to see if it's items that we have, or if it's a matter of training with the items that we have. Until we talk to them and know exactly what they used and how they went about it, I wouldn't be able to answer that correctly.

Reporter - They also said the car was 14 ft. deep. Did you all go that far to look for the car?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, some of that information is sometimes deceiving, so yeah the car was reported at 14 or 15 ft. However, the water level, since the 6th, has also dropped a vertical of 3.5-4 ft. which could be 20-25 ft. off of shore, so a lot of things have changed in those aspects. Until we really can look into all that information and sort through it, it's difficult to say whether those factors had a play in it or not. I still think it's more important for us to debrief, look at training, look at equipment, look at tools and look at outside entities that are experts, where this is maybe their full-time gig that they do and try to see...and have that involvement from the community to come out and help support.

Reporter - At this time can you tell if there are any signs of foul play?

Nevada Captain - At this time we're not going to be able to say anything like that.

Reporter - It's been said that people were drinking at the party that night. Was anything found in the car that could lead you to believe that she was drinking (inaudible) where the person found was?

Nevada Captain - The investigations ongoing, so we're not going to be able to comment on that.

Reporter - I feel like where they found the car it might have been pretty far from the road. Do you have suspicions that maybe the people were parking on that little island?

Nevada Captain - I wouldn't be able to comment on that either, unless somebody gave some statements to that. I hadn't heard any information like that though.

Reporter - Do you have any theories as to how the car got in the water? And also, what gear was the car found in?

Nevada Captain - I think if I make up theories then I'm just guessing and I'm going to lead us back into a trail that not's certain, so we'll wait until we have those facts and details. And as far as the car, we're not going to release any information until we've done a solid investigation on it.

Reporter - Who received the first call from AWP? And what was that call like?

Nevada Captain - I don't know that we received a first call. I think we reached out to them after we read it online, and so, I'm not sure, you know, again, with 150 LE officials it's possible that a call came in and something happened, but from the unified command and talking with my partners, none of us were aware of an initial, so we tasked the investigative Sergeant with contacting them and reaching out. So, I believe, best I know, we did that proactively on our end.

Reporter - And they contacted the family?

Nevada Captain - I think there's still some sketchy details on exactly how that contact went out, so I don't want to speak on behalf of the family.

Reporter - What was it when you heard? You personally, when you heard that they might of found the car - What went through your head?

Nevada Captain - Well, I think what we were all thinking, which is - hopefully this is true and we've got a lot of work ahead of us to make sure that we still do right by the family. Our biggest concern is making sure that the family has been aware of everything from day 1, and that we're not shielding them, but we're also not bombarding them with things. There's a lot of up and downs throughout this investigation, a lot of emotional turns throughout the whole thing and our goal was to make sure we're supportive of the family throughout this whole task. And doing our best in that.

Reporter - How long will the investigation into the car...maybe that's for Highway Patrol or the FBI - How long does an investigation, to look at a car, take to figure out what may have happened?

Nevada Captain - I mean, I think there's a lot of factors in that. I don't mind turning it over to CHP and let them answer.

CHP Assistant Captain - Because, obviously, we have a multi-faceted investigation with multiple agencies it can take time. You know, the FBI is working, evaluating the vehicle, we have to come in and do that. We want to allow them to work, we'll come in and examine data, examine the vehicle, have all our investigators look at that car. So, depending on circumstances it can be several days, it could be several weeks, we also want to wait on other information related from the coroner's office and other things that all get compiled into a comprehensive investigation. So the easy answer is - it could take a while.

Reporter - There was a report that AWP was told by (inaudible) that they did not need to search Prosser, or at least in the specific area where the car was found because that had been extensively searched already. Is that true?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I'd say that's probably not accurate and we shared maps, ping information and locations. And so, we probably shared that that was extensively searched and sonar was used and that may add to the level of where they chose to go to first, or last. However, nothing was prevented or shared, and I don't believe that we gave any indication that we thought we knew where she was at because clearly from all of our daily press releases we reported over and over again, that we didn't know where she was at and we needed anybody's help and assistance in finding that location.

Reporter - But you were working in partnership with AWP?

Nevada Captain - Yeah, I believe that what ultimately occurred was that our Sergeant was able to make contact with them. Sergeant Powers with the PCSO come up with a plan and shared information on where things were at. So, we're still appreciative, like I said, of them being able to locate the vehicle.

Reporter - Will they get the cash reward for helping find the vehicle and the body?

Nevada Captain - It's not a question I'll be able to answer.

Reporter - May I ask - Have you been able to determine a cause of death? And will there be a toxicology report being conducted?

Placer Captain - Autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow and toxicology results generally take 4-6 weeks for a return on those and at that time we will provide that back over to Nevada County.

Reporter - Does anyone from the family want to make any comments at this point, specifically about this massive search and all the tips that came in?

LE - I don't believe they do at this point. So with that we'll go ahead and wrap up the press conference. Thank you all for coming here today. We certainly appreciate it and pay attention to both PCSO as well as NCSO, as we continue to share details as they become available. Thank you.

A minute you say? Fantastic!! Thank you so much!

 

[Curiosa20]

Is the campground or that part of the lake in Nevada County?

 

[5W's]

Hypotheticals are interesting, but accident and crime investigators have better tools at their disposal: experience and statistics.

They come to a scene and, based on a wealth of data, make a determination about the most probable cause. If a teen is found in her car in a lake near a party where she’d been drinking, and their experience and extensive knowledge of similar situations points to an accident with no foul play, that will be the working theory of their investigation. They will be investigating a potential accident and drowning. If during the course of that investigation, evidence emerges that contradicts that working theory (COD wasn’t drowning, bruises or marks on body indicating a struggle, toxicology reports, witness statements, etc), then that and only that will change the direction of their investigation. It is an established process, a science, and it’s based on what has happened before in these situations, what is most likely rather than what is possible, and the evidence they’re presented with.

If investigators didn’t follow an established step-by-step procedure based in statistics and evidence, resolution of fatalities would be impossible. In this case, if the autopsy result is that Kiely drowned, had no marks indicating a struggle, and wasn’t drugged, and the final conclusion is that she therefore drove into the water by herself and drowned, someone raising questions could still say “How do we know she wasn’t drowned in a bathtub somewhere by a killer wearing cushioned oven mitts to avoid bruising, and then placed in the vehicle and rolled into the lake to make it look like an accidental drowning??” Well, LE investigators don’t suggest or entertain those kinds of hypotheticals because they prevent resolution. MOO

I agree with your point. But there are many cases even with a thorough investigation "cause of death is undetermined" that's even possible with a situation where the person is found underwater. So basically we are at square one.

 

[SpideySense]

I respectfully disagree with a couple of major points you made.
Investigators don’t start off with a theory and then work from there to try to prove it.
Nor do they arrive in a scene with a wealth of data and make a determination of a probable cause.
If they were so prejudiced so as to start and investigation with a pre established formulated outcome in their minds based on statistical
data and past experience, they would not be reliable investigators. Experience only serves to inform good judgement needed to evaluate complexity, utilize resources and demonstrate facts with a clear head and eye.
They are not trying to prove a pre conceived theory at all, much less prepared to “adjust it” to fit incoming evidence. Also, they aren’t working to get a result that fits in a pre determined statistical slot.
Statistics are the result of outcomes not the causal element of an investigation.
And hypotheticals are addressed and evaluated during an investigation. The end result should provide resolution and clarity to the matter at hand. Certainty is ideal.
Then folks can decide if they accept the outcome or challenge it with various tools amd avenues available to them.

I would disagree with me, too, if I thought those were the points that I made.

I think you may have misunderstood me, or maybe I wasn’t clear. I didn’t say that investigators start with a theory and then try to prove it. Not even remotely close to the point I was making, so I’m sorry that’s how it got interpreted. And they do come to a scene with a wealth of data: that data includes their training, their experience, their access to stats and information on certain types of accidents, certain types of crimes, etc. I didn’t say they come to a scene with a wealth of data about the specifics of that particular scene. Rather, in performing an investigation, they have knowledge, procedures, and access to resources that assist them in interpreting the facts and evidence at a particular scene.

My point was simply this: investigation focuses on facts, data, and probability based on historical knowledge, stats and trends. As information is gathered during the course of an investigation, it will be interpreted based on probability, and the results of the investigation will reflect what most likely occurred based on all the evidence. Does creativity and thinking outside the box play a part? Absolutely! But unlikely, uncommon, or far fetched hypotheticals are not entertained as a routine investigative tool.

 

[K_i_w_i]

I am just hoping this was an accident and the ME discovers water in her lungs? I realized that - after hearing the question about if there is evidence of her trying to escape the vehicle- asked during the presser.
If it is not found - I would be concerned.
This has bothered me all day. Since I saw the car.

When I saw that close up photo of her car as it was being retrieved (no I couldn't see anything inside the car) I noticed (like most people) the broken drivers window and the dent in the door and my first thought is she tried with all her strength to escape that car but she couldn't...and then I just get a huge anxious feeling. Just terrifying.

I hope although she is a minor they release some basic info once the investigation is complete - even though it's none of our business - just so we know what actually happened.

 

[Pinkizzy]

Google Maps shows sunken car where missing man’s body was found

William Moldt went missing in mysterious circumstances 22 years ago after a night out in Florida.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Beekarina]

Entirely possible, to be sure, but my personal observation is that many teens keep theirs in their back pocket. If Kiely did, it likely remained there, but I have no idea if she would have or did.

If she used Spotify, etc she likely had the phone plugged into her car for music? That is what my teens do, anyway. Would be my guess. Hopefully the phone would have been attached/in a car holder of some sort, but there is always the possibility she also could have been using it while driving.

 

[Beekarina]

Thanks for posting this. She's been to this area before since she's a local JMO. Probably numerous times, so she missed the forks in the road to turn left or right, IDK. IMO not likely. If she was that inebrieated then she couldn't even drive and would have an accident with someone else's car at the party or leaving the party. Why haven't we heard of other's at the party having a problem leaving in terms of driving. They were also attendees at the same party with Kiely in similar conditions. So people who were not local didn't miss the forks but she did?

This makes sense, and fits with her already being down by the water.

Could there have been a secondary party location? Not really an after party per se, but a little hang out and chat area?

There are always young people hanging out at the lakes here late at night long after they have officially closed. Kids go party on ocean beaches. Seems like some might have found their way down to the water, a little quieter, more privacy, etc?

Doesn't need to be anything sinister in intent to have had a tragic outcome.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

Climate control features require cars to have airflow and it would be very hard to seal those features off. Plus I would imagine given how few cases of this nature there are, it would not be cost effective for them to explore this option.

I think an easier solution would be not to make roads that lead into water. Why is this even a thing? Boat ramps should have gates and there's no reason any road used for driving should lead into water. It's not like people driving on pavement suddenly want to start driving on water. It's just a mechanism for death.

 

[Beekarina]

I think an easier solution would be not to make roads that lead into water. Why is this even a thing? Boat ramps should have gates and there's no reason any road used for driving should lead into water. It's not like people driving on pavement suddenly want to start driving on water. It's just a mechanism for death.

Agree completely about gates, some solar lights etc for ramps.

I think this was more of an ATV trail than an actual road she would have taken to end up near and eventually in, the water, but I might be mistaken? I would need to go back to one of the earlier threads to find the maps and discussions about vehicles on the "beaches".

 

[AggieLou]

Something just feels off to me also about this case. But time hopefully will tell, straighten it all out, and we will know what happened.