Desperate search for missing teen feared 'abducted from party'
A frantic search is underway for a missing 16-year-old girl over fears she was abducted from a party at a campground.
Kiely Rodni was last seen at about 12.30am on Saturday (local time) near the Prosser Family Campground, in the US state of Nevada, at a gathering attended by more than 100 teens and young adults, police said.
Kiely drove herself to the celebration for graduating high school students, where alcohol is believed to have been consumed, around 9.45pm, local media reports.
The teen told friends she was too drunk to drive home but texted her mum Lindsey Rodni-Nieman around 11.30pm to say she would be heading home soon.
However, Ms Rodni-Nieman told local publications no one saw her daughter leave, or can remember her driving away.
Her phone, which last pinged at the party, has been out of service ever since, and her car, a 2013 silver Honda CRV, has not been found, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said.
Missing daughter's last text to mum
When Kiely failed to meet up with friends the following morning for a camping trip, Ms Rodni-Nieman called police for help, triggering an extensive search.
“My mind reels and my sleep is plagued with nightmares... thoughts that I just can't get out of my head,” the “terrified” mum told Daily Mail.
“I last saw her on Friday morning, she was going to meet us to go to a vintage car show but then she changed her mind and wanted to go to this party instead.
“I extended her curfew, I had done it before and felt safe. She texted me at 11.30pm to say she would be leaving at 12.15am to come home.
“She said ‘I love you, mum.’ That was the last I heard from her.”
It is unknown if Kiely left the party willingly, hitched a ride with someone else or was taken forcefully.
A spokesperson for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed the teen’s disappearance is being treated as an abduction because they’re unable to locate her car.
The 16-year-old’s friend Samantha Smith, who received Kiely’s last phone call at 12.36am, said she believes her friend was taken because “she was in no state to drive” and wouldn’t have made it far.
“So my concern is that somebody might have offered to drive her home and then didn’t take her home,” Ms Smith told KOVR-TV.
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'We just want her home'
Ms Rodni-Nieman has pleaded in an online video shared by authorities for anyone with information about her daughter to come forward.
“We just want her home. We’re so scared, and we miss her so much,” she said.
“Kiely we love you and if you see this, please just come home. I want nothing more than to hug you.
“And if anybody else out there, if you know where she is or know anything about where she might be, if you have any ideas or thoughts, please come forward and share them.”
The mum said they’re not looking to get anyone in trouble regarding underage drinking that reportedly took place at the party
“We just want to see our daughter home,” she said.
The police are offering a $50,000 reward for information.
The teen’s family has set up a website with information on Kiely’s disappearance and how to get information to authorities.
They have also created a GoFundMe to help raise additional money for the reward.
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