Lindsey Rodni-Nieman got a text from her teenage daughter Kiely Rodni late Friday night, saying she was planning to leave a party in about 45 minutes and would be coming straight home.
Rodni-Nieman recalled in an interview with ABC News on Monday that she told her to be safe and that she loved her. Rodni-Nieman replied "OK, mom, I love you, too" but she never came home.
The 16-year-old was last seen early Saturday around 12:30 a.m. local time near the Prosser Family Campground in the small, Northern California town of Truckee, which is located some 20 miles north of Lake Tahoe. The Placer County Sheriff's Office said that she was at a party with upwards of 300 people when she disappeared along with her vehicle, a silver 2013 Honda CRV with California license plates.
Panic started to set in when Rodni did not return home the following morning
According to the Placer County Sheriff's Office, which is leading the ongoing investigation and search for the missing teen, Rodni's phone has been out of service since then. Angela Musallam, public information officer for the Placer County Sheriff's Office, said in an interview on Monday that Rodni's cellphone went dead and became virtually untraceable shortly after.
When Rodni's mom awoke that morning to find her teen daughter still not home and her vehicle missing from their driveway, panic started to set in, according to KCRA. Rodni-Nieman said that she called her daughter and sent her texts, too, and she did not answer. That was when she knew something was wrong.
The worried mom said she does not believe her daughter ran away because all her clothes and belongings are still at home, and it was already so out of character for Rodni to not call or text back.
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Authorities not ruling out possible abduction
Rodni's friend, Sami Smith, said she was the last person to talk with her at the party early Saturday. Smith said she was having a fun time at a party, just being a teenager. She added that everything Rodni drank, she drank out of, and there was nothing that seemed off about her that night.
Smith said that she never expected this to happen ever and nobody in this town did. Musallam had said that detectives are not ruling out a possible abduction given that there is no trace of Rodni or her car, according to NBC News. Placer County Sgt. Scott Alford made it clear, however, to reporters during a briefing on Tuesday that they don't have any evidence right now that supports an abduction.
Alford said that they are considering everything at this stage. He added that this is a missing person's case and this is a search-and-rescue effort. The Placer County Sheriff's Office has urged anyone who saw Rodni that night to come forward, and investigators have received over 200 tips so far.
