Found Deceased CA - Kiely Rodni missing from Party Near Prosser Family Campground in Truckee #9

[Beekarina]

She could have rolled into the water.

The CRV is only available as an automatic in the US.

If you're curious about her vehicle's specifics, you can look them up by the VIN# 2HKRM4H35DH689544. It was made available when she first went missing.

 

[RedHaus]

m not sure if this has been discussed, but there are at least two routes that Kiely could have taken to get home. One is the main paved road that leads to the highway which runs north/south. The other looks like a shortcut of sorts, a dirt road that ultimately gets into a suburban area which leads to the same highway in the direction of her home.

RSBM
Yes, @pentimento, IIRC, that was an early discussion here with this case... the Route 89 vs. Alder Creek Road way home. Not to take away from your great sleuthing, but if you want a deep drill down into that debate, perhaps look at T2 or3?

 

[Sundog]

Someone could have even PUT Kiely in the back of her CRV.

I think if she went to sleep herself, the backseat seems more comfortable, as there would be some cushioning? But let's say she was stumbling around the party as it wound down. Maybe someone saw her, and "tucked" her in to the hatch area, meaning well enough, and then another group came along later and the prank scenario?

I think the passenger seat or driver seat would be more comfortable, as the seats recline.

There isn't enough room to lay down in the hatch, so putting her there doesn't make sense, the back seat isn't that long, but she could have curled up in the back seat if she wanted to, but not in the hatch.

 

[EmmieA]

Possible evidence to support foul play:

Going back to the beginning, what was reported within the first few days of Kiely’s disappearance. SS didn’t want to ride home with Kiely because Kiely was supposedly too intoxicated. SS says that Kiely called her at 12:36 to see if SS still needed a ride home* - SS was already on her way home & told Kiely that she loved her & to get home safe. Later SS told the media that she figured Kiely would either be staying there (overnight?) or would find an alternate ride home.

That makes sense to me - but only if SS is possibly leaving out part of the story. I can’t imagine leaving an extremely drunk young friend to fend for herself — unless that drunk friend has assured me that she found someone to take her keys/drive her or that she was going to head to another party.

Then we have Mags (who left the party after 10 minutes) who seems to know that Kiely was extremely drunk & says there’s no way Kiely could’ve navigated the roads to get out of that area.

We have a friend of the family who believes Kiely might’ve left the party to head to another campground/party.

Again, this was all reported within the first few days of Kiely’s disappearance, before the supposed/perceived “silence” from the other partiers. It looks like there could’ve been a friend or two who knew Kiely was headed to an afterparty. Did someone drive Kiely in her car, to another campsite - possibly right near the water and something went very wrong at the afterparty?

One thing that has never made sense: If Kiely was as wasted as they say, would she really call SS to see if she still needed a ride? I guess my foul play thoughts all revolve around Kiely being extremely intoxicated.

MOO!

Kiely Rodni: Reward money increases to $75,000

The Placer County Sheriff's Office said Saturday it is continued to look for the missing 16-year-old.

www.kolotv.com

 

[RedHaus]

Also, I came upon this photo (hope the source is OK) and it appears to be a fairly steep gradient into the water (relatively speaking and JMO).

RSBM
Bingo, @pentimento! You inadvertently put the nail in the coffin for our long ago debate as to whether KR's 2013 Honda CRV had a sun or moon roof, as SS said she thought KR's car had a sunroof. It DOES NOT! So thank you.

And steep gradient, yes to some degree... There are topo maps of the actual gradient up thread. But remember the day KR disappeared, 8/6, water was 3.5 - 4.0 feet higher and 20-25 feet further up the beach than on 8/21 when AWP found KR's car.

 

[LucyOso]

RSBM for clarity

One of the biggest questions: WHY would Kiely turn off her tracking app after talking to her mom?
IF that is how it happened.

MOO

A wet phone would also shut off tracking.

This was a terrible accident. It is very easy for someone to end up in the only air pocket in a vehicle.

 

[ItalyReader]

Like others here I have many specific questions…



What kind of car intelligence in a 2013 CRV is possible, and especially what information is salvageable when the vehicle has been underwater?



Were the doors locked? From inside or from outside?



Were the keys in the vehicle?



Will we know if the motor was on or off when it entered the water?



Will we know when the window was rolled down?



What were the very last actions of the vehicle including electronic inputs (radio, windows, other)


What fingerprints will they find? Someone other than Kylie? Apparently fingerprints remain underwater.



My amateur theory, echoing a few other people here, is she knew she was not fit to drive and decided to nap. She didn’t ask anyone for a ride for any number of reasons.



What if she drove to near the beach, parked, locked the doors, and then climbed in the backseat? What if, in climbing into the back she accidentally pressed/moved with her foot or leg the gear shift into neutral? Then the car moved in its own downhill and into the reservoir.

Once there it was dark, maybe she was surprised by the moving of the vehicle downhill in neutral but in her inebriated state it was too difficult to escape?



It would have been very dark.



In this scenario it may have all happened very quickly. This scenario would explain why so soon after contact with her mother and friend, her phone was unreachable.



This is just one scenario I was able to come up with to explain how she ended up in the lake and in alignment with the phone records we know of.



Two other scenarios I thought of were:

2- she took a right then left thinking she was heading towards the main road but actually took a right towards the lake and left into the descent into the reservoir.

3- she parked to nap but left it in neutral accidentally, and the car carried her into the reservoir, perhaps slowly at first in a way she did not realize until it was too late.



I’m not persuaded by foul play arguments yet.





All IMOO in my opinion only, my very amateur opinion.

 

[Sundog]

Like others here I have many specific questions…



What kind of car intelligence in a 2013 CRV is possible, and especially what information is salvageable when the vehicle has been underwater?



Were the doors locked? From inside or from outside?



Were the keys in the vehicle?



Will we know if the motor was on or off when it entered the water?



Will we know when the window was rolled down?



What were the very last actions of the vehicle including electronic inputs (radio, windows, other)


What fingerprints will they find? Someone other than Kylie? Apparently fingerprints remain underwater.



My amateur theory, echoing a few other people here, is she knew she was not fit to drive and decided to nap. She didn’t ask anyone for a ride for any number of reasons.



What if she drove to near the beach, parked, locked the doors, and then climbed in the backseat? What if, in climbing into the back she accidentally pressed/moved with her foot or leg the gear shift into neutral? Then the car moved in its own downhill and into the reservoir.

Once there it was dark, maybe she was surprised by the moving of the vehicle downhill in neutral but in her inebriated state it was too difficult to escape?



It would have been very dark.



In this scenario it may have all happened very quickly. This scenario would explain why so soon after contact with her mother and friend, her phone was unreachable.



This is just one scenario I was able to come up with to explain how she ended up in the lake and in alignment with the phone records we know of.



Two other scenarios I thought of were:

2- she took a right then left thinking she was heading towards the main road but actually took a right towards the lake and left into the descent into the reservoir.

3- she parked to nap but left it in neutral accidentally, and the car carried her into the reservoir, perhaps slowly at first in a way she did not realize until it was too late.



I’m not persuaded by foul play arguments yet.





All IMOO in my opinion only, my very amateur opinion.

I wonder, though, why she would climb into the back seat, rather than just open the passenger door to get to the back seat for a nap, if that is what she did in your first scenario. Seems the latter would be much easier.

 

[ItalyReader]

I wonder, though, why she would climb into the back seat, rather than just open the passenger door to get to the back seat for a nap, if that is what she did in your first scenario. Seems the latter would be much easier.

I was thinking personal security might be a reason to climb into the back while in the vehicle. Maybe there were random people still in the area, and she was alone. Driving to a spot she decided on, then locking the car from the inside, and climbing into the back while inside the car.

 

[RedHaus]

One thing that has never made sense: If Kiely was as wasted as they say, would she really call SS to see if she still needed a ride?

RS&BBM
I have been pondering Nick RA Guy's story in the context of these same phone call data, and have been debating whether to post anything. But your post just now has connected a dot I hadn't fully connected to another dot.

KR called SS at about 12:36 or 12:33 or sometime between then. But rather than ask SS if she wanted a ride, KR asks SS if SS wants to join her at an after party with folks who were camping at Boca Reservoir. Perhaps SS recalled incorrectly.

That covers the phone record on SS/KR's phones and it may be why SS believes KR was going to camp out that night.

KR turns off her phone (or puts in in airplane mode) so she can't be tracked. And since she is no condition to drive, someone offers to drive her over to Boca. Or, she simply drives herself by following a small group that leave.

Recall, the Placer County Sheriff Office posts on Twitter that KR may have gone somewhere else after the party.

At Boca, something goes terribly wrong - an overdose? alcohol poisoning? aspiration on vomit? a head injury from a fight that swelled? And sadly KR dies over night. The next morning, hung over and groggy, some folks find KR and then panic.

Hopefully good forensics, autopsy, and toxicology will ferret out COD, as in this scenario it would not be drowning.

KR is now in the back hatch of her SUV and the two people trying to manage the situation - perhaps friends of KR's - can't get KR's car started. So they call for roadside assistance in some bizarre foggy poorly thought through action.

How KR's car gets from Boca to Prosser - possibly to be staged as a tragic accident - is where my idea weakens, as none of us have come up with a good scenario yet. The only thing I can think of is KR's car is hidden during the day on 8/6.

Recall, the Placer County Sheriff Office didn't announce KR was missing on their FB page until 8/6, 8:41pm.

And then in the pitch dark hours of late 8/6 early 8/7 KR's car is dumped into Prosser Lake right near the party site. The kids (young adults?) hope no one will ever find her car in the deep water and if it is found, it will look like an accident.

ALL IMO.

ET: further snip quoted post

 

[LucyOso]

I wonder, though, why she would climb into the back seat, rather than just open the passenger door to get to the back seat for a nap, if that is what she did in your first scenario. Seems the latter would be much easier.

I don't think she intentionally "climbed" anywhere. The vehicle went into the water and was inverted. She had the wherewithal to unbuckle her belt. With the car upside-down and front engine top heavy, freezing water pouring/rushing in, she most likely was pushed that way towards the air pocket in back. The accident alone is a shock, trying to self-rescue, sober or not, is a huge feat, even for people who are prepared. Plus, with the vehicle oriented upside-down, even if searching for a window, it would have been extremely confusing with water literally pouring into the open windows.

She also could have float back there after death as well.

There are so many stories of people ending up in their vehicles in bodies of water. So many vehicle recovery stories. The anatomy of every vehicle crash is different. The same with sunken boats or other watery deaths. This case is so sad. IMOO there was no foul play involved. This is more something to cling to when it is hard to accept a lovely young teendying in such a horrible way.

 

[O.Incandenza]

I was thinking along the same lines this morning - I truly do think she was wasted, that is what was reported from several sources & why would they lie about that? But for her car to end up where it did, under her control, I don’t think she could’ve gotten there in her condition - She would’ve ended up in the trees on the side of the road before she made it to the lake.

Do any of these make it more likely that she drove herself to the lake (intentionally or not):
- A little tipsy & tired, not paying attention
- Hallucinating (mushrooms have been mentioned)
- Upset about something that happened at the party
- Concussion from a fight at the party
- Afterparty

And maybe I have to stay off SM but I do feel like there is something sinister at play here - from the group at the party or from the town in general, something just seems off

MOO!

I don't really understand the logic of saying that if she was sober enough to drive the roads around the lake successfully for a few minutes then she can't have been drunk enough to make a wrong turn and drive into the lake. In the vast majority of drunk driving accidents the impaired driver has driven a decent distance before the accident occurs. Often on busy streets or highways. Being impaired doesn't usually mean you're totally incapable of driving, it just means that you're more likely to make mistakes or get distracted and your reaction time will be slowed.

When I was around Kiely's age, one of my friends drove home drunk from some party. He successfully navigated about 20 miles of windy roads and then drove straight off the road and down an embankment because he got distracted and completely missed a turn. He rolled his car multiple times and totaled it, but he walked away pretty much unharmed. Pure luck. If he'd ended up in a lake instead of a field, he'd almost certainly be dead.

 

[EmmieA]

RSBM for clarity

One of the biggest questions: WHY would Kiely turn off her tracking app after talking to her mom?
IF that is how it happened.

MOO

Does anyone know more about this - Can you turn off the tracking? My sister tracks her kids via an app and there’s nothing they can do about it - she controls the settings. But I know there are many different ways to track and Kiely’s mom said it was a family thing - so maybe it’s something each individual can control?

I’m asking because if Kiely was going to take a nap, I can’t see her turning off the tracking data. But if she were going to an afterparty, I could see turning off tracking (if possible.)

“Ms Rodni-Nieman said that their family members share cellphone location data and so she checked her daughter’s phone.

The last location data was at the campground where the party took place at 12.03am.

She has since learned that Snapchat data shows her cellphone at the same location at around 12.30am.”

Kiely Rodni’s mother reveals she almost didn’t go to camp party on night she vanished

EXCLUSIVE: Kiely Rodni’s mother tells Rachel Sharp how ‘nothing was out of the ordinary’ the day her daughter disappeared and why she thinks someone knows something that will lead them to the missing teen

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Gemmie]

My question is does anybody know if that road has signs saying boat "Boat Ramp" along the way? If signs exist, it makes me question my theory more but if they don't, I have no problem believing she simply went the wrong way and drove straight into the water. The ramp is close to where she was found, which I marked on the pic in green. It seems reasonable that her car could have floated that short distance, especially if she entered with some speed. Also, note I'm talking about the ramp that was close to the party and not on the opposite side.

SBMFF

Welcome to WS and great first post!

I'm not sure you'd need to change your theory either way. Too often people just do not see signs. One guy I knew used to drive down this residential road, no middle lines, rarely another car to drop his focus of the road, and wondered why there was no sign to slow down for a school that was a few blocks away. I've seen it, he apparently missed, even though he was on that road a fair bit.

ETA - And he was LOOKING for one and complaining there was none.

I live in a college town and I swear the college students do NOT see stop signs. (Yes, I know they see them, they just don't care IMO. *eyeroll*) Lastly, I remember once when some old lady didn't even slow down for a stop sign and almost hit me, and was oblivious to both! (I know because I followed her home to have a talk with her).

So, sign or not, sometimes people simply do not notice them. I'm thinking especially if messed up and/or emotional about something. Due to that I wouldn't necessarily change your theory over that one thing.

 

[shushu]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed, but there are at least two routes that Kiely could have taken to get home. One is the main paved road that leads to the highway which runs north/south. The other looks like a shortcut of sorts, a dirt road that ultimately gets into a suburban area which leads to the same highway in the direction of her home. (I dropped a pin near the suburban area and google says it takes about four minutes to get there). I was thinking that she knows the area well and has a 4WD vehicle. Maybe she was trying to avoid being on the highways and main road for any significant length of time (or she may have know a route which avoids the highway completely) because she had been drinking, or maybe this is the route she always takes. Anyway, if she did take the back road, then she would go right by the fork in the road that leads directly to the beach where her car was pulled from the water (I believe I have the right location, but correct me if I'm wrong!). Anyway, google maps says it would have taken her about two minutes to get to that fork from Prosser Family Campground. The road, although dirt, doesn't look that bad or treacherous, and if you have a 4WD vehicle no problem. I've included screen shots of the two different routes, and then a closeup of the back route which has the fork leading to the beach. Note: This also presumes that the water level was low enough (as in the map) that she could pass using the back road. Just some thoughts... JMO.

ETA: I was just thinking that in the AWP video, Kiely's father left the beach area on an ATV, presumably going home, and I doubt he took that on the highway. Also, in a DM article, the grandfather said something like 'she knows that road,' she's tough,' 'some people would see that road and not take it.' It made me wonder what road he was talking about because the paved road looks pretty docile.

Paved road to the highway.

View attachment 366943

Dirt road which leads to the highway.
View attachment 366942

Closeup of dirt road which passes the beach.
View attachment 366946

This seems very likely. Makes total sense to avoid the main roads, and it's impossible not to think she came to the beach fork marked on the map with the school district and went the wrong way. It literally lines up with where her car was found. When routes were earlier discussed, Kiely had not been located so it's worth rehashing. I really think you're correct and she drove this path. All I can think is that her inexperience and alcohol level somehow took her from that fork to the beach and into the water. Did she drive straight in or was it more a case of realizing her error and somehow hitting the gas instead of the brake when trying to turn around? Also, with water levels higher, there was less beach to drive. The distance doesn't seem to far and the road and beach seem very drivable to me.

 

[Beekarina]

I don't really understand the logic of saying that if she was sober enough to drive the roads around the lake successfully for a few minutes then she can't have been drunk enough to make a wrong turn and drive into the lake. In the vast majority of drunk driving accidents the impaired driver has driven a decent distance before the accident occurs. Often on busy streets or highways. Being impaired doesn't usually mean you're totally incapable of driving, it just means that you're more likely to make mistakes or get distracted and your reaction time will be slowed.

When I was around Kiely's age, one of my friends drove home drunk from some party. He successfully navigated about 20 miles of windy roads and then drove straight off the road and down an embankment because he got distracted and completely missed a turn. He rolled his car multiple times and totaled it, but he walked away pretty much unharmed. Pure luck. If he'd ended up in a lake instead of a field, he'd almost certainly be dead.

For me, it is what we know of the road/path and how ending up in the water basically requires a perfect storm of errors. It's a super rough, rutted path, with many places sober people driving it at night had difficulty. AWP had difficulty during the day. Yet, there were no signs of a vehicle going off the road, taking out sage brush, clipping a tree, etc.?

We have been told Kiely was in no shape to drive. Totally effed up. Was planning to sleep in her car. Do you think your friend was this level of impaired? I feel either Kiely was not as messed up as we've been led to believe and then, yes, she may have made it down to the water, OR something else went on.

It's the inconsistencies for me. Too many places where I stop and think: "That doesn't make sense." or "Wait. that doesn't quite add up either.'

Nothing is impossible. I just think it is more likely there is more to this, because of the aforementioned inconsistencies, the contradictions and then also factoring in Roadside Nick, and the rest associated.

 

[EmmieA]

I don't really understand the logic of saying that if she was sober enough to drive the roads around the lake successfully for a few minutes then she can't have been drunk enough to make a wrong turn and drive into the lake.

RSBM
I’m just brainstorming, coming up with possibilities. I said she would crash into the trees before making it into the lake because it wasn’t a straight driving path from the party area to the lake - there were several wrong turns. And I’m going off of what her friend Mags said about her:

“We know there’s no way she could have gotten herself out of there if she was drunk,” she said. “The roads in and out are too hard. With how drunk she was she wouldn’t have been able to navigate them.”

(I attached the article that was quoted from in an earlier post)
MOO

 

[Beekarina]

I think the passenger seat or driver seat would be more comfortable, as the seats recline.

There isn't enough room to lay down in the hatch, so putting her there doesn't make sense, the back seat isn't that long, but she could have curled up in the back seat if she wanted to, but not in the hatch.

Yes, it would be far more comfortable.

I probably wasn't very clear, because I'm trying to be respectful. I will be more blunt. Here's what I was picturing:

These young people are basically having a free for all out in the woods. One of them has described at as such. It's feral. Kiely is out of it. She's fumbling around, maybe a couple of the guys see her. As @RedHaus I believe, speculated, maybe Kiely's hatch was open during the party since it was a meeting place, where SS and other friends went for drinks.

"Oopsy daisy! In you go, Rodni! Sleep it off girl!" (Shut the trunk--maybe this is how a strap gets stuck hanging out--, guys go off into the night.....)

Now those young people? They may not even remember the next day. If they DO? They're pooping bricks.

 

[Allabouttrial]

RSBM
I’m just brainstorming, coming up with possibilities. I said she would crash into the trees before making it into the lake because it wasn’t a straight driving path from the party area to the lake - there were several wrong turns. And I’m going off of what her friend Mags said about her:

“We know there’s no way she could have gotten herself out of there if she was drunk,” she said. “The roads in and out are too hard. With how drunk she was she wouldn’t have been able to navigate them.”

(I attached the article that was quoted from in an earlier post)
MOO

Mags was only at the party for 10 minutes, how does she know how drunk Kiely was?

 

[EmmieA]

@RedHaus I like how you tied Nick RA Guy and Boca into that scenario. I tend to believe Nick; Doug from AWP seems very certain that Nick is credible & it sounds like Nick has turned everything over to LE so there has to be something there. He would have her license plate number & surveillance footage and I can’t see him bothering to involve LE if he wasn’t certain it was her car.