As the FBI announced Thursday that it was adding 16-year-old Keeley Mae Rodney to its national missing persons database, the search for the girl, who was last seen five days ago at a seniors camp farewell party, continued in earnest.
Dozens of people flocked to a recreation center in Truckee, the California town from which Rodney disappeared, to ask how they could help with the search, according to Cassie Hebel, a friend who spoke to The Daily Beast on behalf of the family.
“I know they are very grateful,” she said.
It’s unclear if Kiely ever made it home from the party at the Prosser family camp in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to Placer County authorities. She had texted her mother, Lindsay Rodney-Nieman, from the campsite that she would be home soon. “I told her to be careful and that I loved her. And she said, ‘Okay, mom, I love you too,'” Rodney-Nieman told ABC News on Tuesday. “She never came home.”
“It’s surreal, it’s terrifying,” David Robertson, Rodney’s grandfather, told KNTV. “You would never think something would happen to you. This only happens on TV”
The Prosser Family Campground, where people go hiking or biking, is seen as a “safe place.” Like the neighborhood’s backyard,” Rodney-Nieman told The Independent on Thursday. But the party was much larger than previous gatherings at the campground, with between 200 and 300 minors and youths showing up to dance and socialize, according to local authorities.
At a news conference Thursday, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said more than 500 reports had been received since Saturday — including from people outside of California — and that investigators were following up on more than 380 leads. Despite a massive effort that now includes 16 agencies and federal authorities, according to Capt. Sam Brown of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, “we’re still missing leads.”
Brown explained that investigators and volunteers still don’t have an “exact location” around which to set a search radius, which is “unusual, especially with a large object like a car,” meaning Rodney’s 2013 silver Honda CRV. which is still missing.
“Only” because of the missing vehicle, investigators are treating Keely’s disappearance as a potential kidnapping, according to Angela Musallam of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities on Thursday also released new photos of Keely, including one taken about a month before she disappeared. In the image, she is wearing layered gold necklaces, which police said she is believed to have been wearing on Friday night. The 16-year-old, who had several piercings including a nose ring, was also wearing a black bodysuit and green Dickies trousers. She also reportedly had a gray Lana Del Ray hoodie.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office also praised the community for coming together. It’s the support of the community that keeps Rodni-Nieman going, according to Cassie Hebel. Especially “phenomenal” were the kids Keeley’s age who set out to find her – “The Teen Squad,” as Hebel called them. “It’s been hard for them, but they’re dealing with the stress,” she explained.
Jagger Westfall, Rodney’s boyfriend, told Fox40 on Thursday that he texted her to “be safe” and “don’t do anything stupid” just before she left for the Prosser family camp.
“I definitely feel like in the current situation she’s safe,” Westfall said. “I don’t know where she is. There’s nothing we can do at this point. But I fully believe she is alive and well.
Others close to Keeley don’t believe she ran away. Rodney-Niemann told The Independent that there appeared to be “nothing out of the ordinary” with her daughter the morning of the party; a friend, Kate Kuno, told Fox40 they had made crème brûlée hours before. “Everything was normal,” the teenager said.
Hebel told The Beast that he had few specific details he could share about the ongoing search, but added, “There is hope on earth, and we’re constantly talking about how we want that miracle. But we just move on… Any moment, right? Any moment.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office asked anyone with information to contact Detective Stephanie Frykberg at 530-392-5609; call the anonymous tip line at 530-581-6320; or email sheriff_tahoeinvest@placer.ca.gov.
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