Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Kiely Rodni was wearing sweatshirt with words ‘odd future’ the night she vanished, say police

Investigators previously revealed she had borrowed a hoodie with the Lana Del Ray lyrics ‘you don’t want to be forgotten, you just want to disappear’ that night

Rachel Sharp
Monday 15 August 2022 09:07 EDT
Comments
Kiely Rodni: Missing Truckee teen's disappearance marks one week

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Missing teenager Kiely Rodni was wearing a sweatshirt with the words “odd future” emblazoned across it on the night she vanished without a trace at a campground party, according to police.

Placer County Sheriff’s Office revealed on Sunday that the 16-year-old was spotted in video footage on the evening of 5 August at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California.

In the footage, she is wearing the white hoodie covered in the phrase “odd future” in pink letters.

It is unclear whether Kiely was wearing or in possession of the sweatshirt when she was last seen at around 12.30am the following morning.

However, this is the second sweatshirt the public has been alerted about in connection to the missing teenager after investigators previously revealed that she had borrowed a hoodie with the Lana Del Ray lyrics “you don’t want to be forgotten, you just want to disappear” from someone at the party.

Surveillance footage from a Truckee business about six hours before her disappearance also shows the teenager was wearing a black spaghetti strap bodysuit, green Dickies pants with a black grommet belt and black Vans that night.

Law enforcement officials have also urged the public to keep a look out for a string of gold necklaces that Kiely is believed to have been wearing when she disappeared.

The latest development comes as the desperate search to find the missing teenager entered its second week with investigators still in the dark about what happened to her nine days on from her disappearance.

Despite more than 300 law enforcement officials being drafted in to work on the case and over 1,200 tips received from the public, investigators appear to be no further forward in tracking down Kiely’s whereabouts after around 12.30am on Saturday 6 August.

Kiely was last seen around that time at the party, where officials said around 200 to 300 teenagers had gathered in the woods.

The sweatshirt Kiely was wearing at the party before she disappeared
The sweatshirt Kiely was wearing at the party before she disappeared (Placer County Sheriff’s Office)

Kiely’s mother Lindsey Rodni-Nieman told The Independent last week that her daughter sent her a text message at 11.30pm saying that she would be leaving the party in around 45 minutes. The drive home takes around 25-30 minutes.

“She said she’d be leaving at 12.15 and was going to start heading home,” said Ms Rodni-Nieman.

That was the last time she heard from her daughter.

The teen’s friend Samantha Smith told The Independent that she last spoke to Kiely on the phone at around 12.30am. She had been planning to get a ride home from the party with Kiely but they changed their plans, telling each other to “get home safe” as Ms Smith said Kiely had been drinking too much to drive.

The last known location from Kiely’s cellphone was at around 12.30am close to Prosser Lake – the constructed reservoir that goes around the campground.

Investigators said that it is difficult to get an “exact pinpoint” for the cellphone location data and that it is also possible that the cellphone did continue to ping after that time.

“Just because it was last pinged there, that doesn’t mean that’s where the phone stopped pinging,” Captain Sam Brown of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office told SFGate.

“The ping for the data points was near the water. It’s hard to tell an exact pinpoint.”

Ms Rodni-Nieman said it would be odd for her daughter to let her phone go dead, adding that she has a charger in her car.

Kiely Rodni is believed to have been wearing these necklaces when she disappeared
Kiely Rodni is believed to have been wearing these necklaces when she disappeared (Placer County Sheriff’s Office)

Divers have been searching the lake for any signs of the missing 16-year-old but have recovered nothing to date.

However, the search is complicated by the water’s depth of around 57 feet and poor visibility, officials admitted.

Multiple law enforcement agencies have also been combing the local area by land and air for any clues as to what happened, including the teen’s route from the campground back to her home.

Over the weekend, investigators spent a day digging at what they believed to be “a potential burial site” near the campground.

The search turned out to be a false alarm with ground teams only uncovering the remains of a dog.

Kiely’s car – a silver 2013 Honda CRV – is also still missing.

Law enforcement officials and Kiely’s family members are urging anyone who attended the party and saw Kiely to come forward – no matter how significant they think the information is.

Police have repeatedly said that they are not interested in investigating teenage drinking or partying but just want to bring the 16-year-old home.

Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call the Placer County Sheriff’s Office at 530-581-6320, and choose option 7. Tips can also be emailed to sheriff_tahoeinvesttips@placer.ca.gov and files, including images, can be uploaded to the Placer Sheriff’s Office here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in