Here’s a thought: if you don’t actually have any special skills and or unique information to bring to the table, maybe stop thinking you can solve every viral true crime case from behind your computer screen?

For every Adventures with Purpose, the group of volunteer divers from YouTube who painstakingly tracked down Kiely Rodni‘s body, there’s a few hundred folks who just get a feeling about someone and post their conspiracy theories online. It’s a few of these internet sleuths who are making the life of Kiely’s boyfriend even more hellish than it would have been already.

For those who don’t know, the late 16-year-old, who went missing from a party in the woods in Truckee, California and was later found dead, submerged inside her vehicle at the bottom of the Prosser Creek Reservoir, had a boyfriend named Jagger Westfall. He spoke to reporters early on when this was still a missing person case, explaining how he and other friends were were out searching for her in some of their favorite spots, such as Reno, Nevada.

But lately he’s been off the radar — and there’s a reason for that! According to a source speaking to The Sun on Tuesday, the poor teen has been the target of some pretty disturbing online speculation — which has turned into death threats lobbed at him!

The messed up thing is, these internet detectives have no idea what they’re talking about. The insider explained the grieving boyfriend has an alibi for the whole night and morning of Kiely’s disappearance:

“Jagger was in Napa Valley until 8am on the Saturday. He didn’t get back to Truckee until noon and then joined the search to look for Kiely… He has proof of him not being in the area and has spoken with police and the FBI and given them the information.”

Can’t say we’re surprised he’s been interviewed by police already. Of course the authorities would want to speak to him first thing. He’s the boyfriend! Especially when Kiely was considered missing, he would have been one of the best sources of information on where she might run off to on her own, who she had beef with, etc. The source added:

“Jagger has time and location stamps the night of the party and into the next day, the police are not interested in him, he is not a part of the investigation.”

And if they’re satisfied with his alibi, everyone else should be, too, right? Well, the problem is some outlet apparently got it wrong. The insider explains:

“He was misquoted in an article saying he was at the party with Kiely, he was never there, he now doesn’t want to talk publicly.”

Oof. For what it’s worth, we never saw any quote in which he said he was there. We’ve only heard about his final messages with the young woman — and his efforts to find her.

The source says Jagger “doesn’t understand the hate” he’s getting online considering there’s nothing pointing his way.

The simple answer is probably that folks who get obsessed with these cases consume way too much true crime content — and it turns out to be the boyfriend quite a lot of the time. They’re not basing their conclusion on the evidence in this case. They’re just guessing because it’s fun for them.

(Innerestingly, he actually wasn’t the boyfriend anymore. The Sun‘s source claims they broke up a while back but had stayed close.)

Sadly there are some jerks who are taking their ghoulish fixation way, way too far. The insider revealed:

“He gets direct messages, comments and tags, texts and calls and emails all the time, accusations, death threats and people telling him to kill himself, about everything you can think of.”

That’s horrible. The source added:

“It’s a lot for him to deal with as a young teen, everyone close to him knows he wasn’t involved, and he’s trying to laugh it off, but it’s tough as he’s also grieving.”

So awful. Our hearts go out to the poor kid — and anyone else close to a victim who is getting this kind of vitriol spewed at them for no good reason.

As for the real investigation, it sounds like that’s taking a while. Even Kiely’s autopsy results have been delayed until November, probably due to the condition of her body after being underwater for two weeks.

We hope whoever is really responsible for what happened to the teen is found — but when that does happen, we won’t hold our breath for any of these trolls sending death threats to apologize.

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