Missing Nevada County teen found dead Friday
A widespread search for a 16-year-old girl who went missing since Wednesday night ended Friday afternoon when authorities found her body less than a mile from a rural Nevada County home where she was last seen.
The teen, identified by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office only as Trinity, was found dead about 2 p.m. Friday in a heavily wooded river drainage area.
“At this point there is nothing suspicious and her cause of death is unknown,” sheriff’s officials said in social media posts. “Our coroners division will be conducting a full investigation, including an autopsy.”
Trinity walked away from a home in the 18000 block of Kentucky Ravine Road around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The residence is roughly 10 miles northwest of Grass Valley. Her body was found about a half of a mile north of the home.
The Sheriff’s Office conducted searches for the teen over the past two days, including overnight. Authorities on Thursday night used an aircraft fitted with infrared cameras to search for Trinity, with no success.
Temperatures would have been near freezing when Trinity left the residence. The Grass Valley area reached as low as 33 degrees Wednesday night, National Weather Service records show.
“We have been in communication with the family and extend our deepest condolences to them as they work through this loss. We ask that you please respect their privacy,” sheriff’s officials said Friday afternoon. “Our deep appreciation goes to the hundreds of volunteers from agencies throughout Northern California that have assisted in this search.”
More than a dozen law enforcement agencies, including the sheriff’s offices of Butte, Contra Costa, Marin, Placer, San Mateo, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba counties, assisted in a mutual-aid search effort.
Nevada and Placer counties’ sheriff’s offices led the search effort earlier this year for Truckee teen Kiely Rodni, also a 16-year-old girl, who went missing in August after last being seen at a large campground party near the Prosser Creek Reservoir.
Authorities in that case ultimately turned to a volunteer dive group, Adventures With Purpose, which found Kiely’s vehicle upside down in the reservoir. The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office announced last month that Kiely’s death resulted from drowning after accidentally crashing into the reservoir, and that there were no signs of foul play.