Search for Kiely Rodni in Lake Tahoe area leads to arrest of sex offender

The exhaustive search for missing California teenager Kiely Rodni has led to the arrest of a sex offender on unrelated charges, authorities said.

The arrest was made Thursday as police rounded up sex offenders in the Lake Tahoe area as part of their investigation into the missing person’s case that has drawn national attention.

Sex offender compliance checks “resulted in the discovery of multiple sex registrants in violation of their terms,” ​​the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

One offender was arrested and criminal charges were pending against another, officials said.

Rodni, 16, was last seen at a campground party with several hundred other young revelers in the Tahoe National Forest on August 6.

She had been drinking and was probably too drunk to drive home, 18-year-old partygoer Sami Smith told Fox News Digital.

Detectives interviewed less than half of the party attendees, Placer County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Angela Musallam reportedly said.

According to authorities, many revelers remained silent for fear of being accused of “illegal activity”.

“Although our detectives have interviewed over 100 partygoers, they would like even more cooperation,” Musallam told the outlet.

None of the potential witnesses interviewed by police saw the first high school graduate leave the party, officials said.

Rodni’s phone last rang around 12:30 p.m. in a clearing in the woods near the site of the huge Truckee outdoor party, and his 2013 Honda CRV was nowhere to be found, cops said.

Officials announced on Monday they would scale back the “astronomical” search for the teenager after investigators spent some 9,000 hours combing the area by land, air and lake.

“We are moving towards a more limited but ongoing search and rescue effort,” said Nevada County Sheriff’s Capt. Sam Brown.