TRUCKEE, Calif. — The search for a missing Truckee teenager officially came to a tragic end Tuesday. The Placer County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the body found in Prosser Creek Reservoir was 16-year-old Kiely Rodni.
The teenager had been missing since Aug. 6 in Nevada County.
Lindsey Nieman, Rodni's mother, told ABC10 early on in the search that her daughter was an intelligent, beautiful and kind person who graduated from high school at the age of 16.
At Cha Fine Teas of Truckee, there's still shock and disbelief that Rodni will not be coming home. She worked at the store for about a year and a half.
"It's been a long two weeks, and of course, it's one of our own and my heart goes out to her parents especially. We're just broken. That's all I can say," said Cindy Shippy, co-owner of the store.
She remembers Rodni as a hard worker, who bonded with everyone at the store. It's that bond that has left her coworkers in mourning.
"It's just hard to think that somebody you saw like a couple weeks ago is just not here anymore. It's just hard to wrap your head around," said Abby Bunker, who worked with Rodni.
The loss has left her coworkers emotional and wishing that the efforts they made during the search could have somehow brought her back home alive.
"We all like put so much into going to look for her, and putting up posters. And then just the fact that... we all know she's just not around anymore. It just kills the whole community. It's hard," Bunker said.
She remembers Rodni as a honest person and someone others aspired to emulate.
"If you met Kiely, she was like really honest, and she was like really bad***... She is so cool, she's strong (and) she didn't let anybody overpower her," Bunker said.
Shippy, who is a grandmother to a teenager, said she plans to spread the memory of Rodni, a young teen who had an entire future ahead of her.
"You have to move forward. That's life. But doesn't mean it's easy, and I think that we'll all slowly get better," Shippy said. "We just got to pray and hope that we all move. And we hold her up with all the good that she was."
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