Interview with Kiely's Mum and Step-dad.
Reporter - Kiely's mum says the last time she heard from her daughter was at the party, when Kiely sent her a text saying she was getting ready to leave, and Lindsey, her mum, said she knew something was wrong.
Kiely's mum and step-dad, Tony, spoke to me about their daughter, who she is as a person, how they're getting through this last week plus, going into 2 weeks, excruciating days, and those working countless hours to try to find their daughter.
Tell me Lindsey - What has it been like in terms of the authorities? and who's involved now in the search?
Mum - We have, it seems, like a very extensive collaboration of local, state and federal authorities that have been working together since, at least, Monday, days are blending. Everyone's on the same page, everybody is working tirelessly and together, and from our standpoint it feels good to see the connection and the collaboration between all of the different agencies that are here.
Reporter - You know Lindsey, I can't even put myself in your shoes. I'm thankful that you're speaking to us and I hope we get this out there, and it must feel surreal, like you're floating here and not knowing what will happen next.
Tony, this was a senior party, as I understand, we were talking earlier, do any of the kids know anything, or are they speaking out?
Step-dad - Some of the kids are, some of the kids aren't. We're trying to get to the kids that aren't speaking, because they're the ones that have the story that we need. We're trying to get....
Reporter - Sorry to interrupt, do you think they do know more? Describe the community for those of us who don't know - Is it tight-knit? Does everyone know of people, at least, that they didn't know exactly who it was? The party was what 200, 300 people?
Step-dad - Yeah, from my understanding, there was a really big party and there was people from all over. So, it's you know....we are a small, tight knit community. We are also hugely accessed from a lot of other really big communities very easily. So, with social media the way it is these days, it's very easy for anybody to find out where these kids could be hanging out.
Reporter - And Lindsey, tell us about the last communication you had with Kiely, your daughter. You were texting right?
Mum - Yeah, we were texting. We text a lot throughout, you know, through every day. We have a lot of communication between the two of us. The very last text that I got from her, was at 11.30, the night of the party, saying that she was planning on leaving in about 45 minutes, and would be heading home. One of the reasons, even that she had sent that text then, was because originally we had planned, and agreed upon, a 12.30 curfew for the night, and so, leaving at 12.15 would have put her home at about 12.45 instead. And she wa...is so good at always reaching out and checking in, that she did that just to let me know that she was just planning on being 13 minutes late.
Reporter - And you said be careful, like all mum's do, and how did she respond?
Mum - She said '
I will momma, I love you'.
Reporter - How Lindsey, are you getting through the day? Is the focus on the search, of course, and like Tony said, I mean, there's so much with social media, that hopefully you can piece together some of the pieces.
Mum - Yeah, I get through the days with the support of my community, my family, my friends, my faith, I hope. My knowledge that the reason that we have not found anything is not for a lack of resources or effort, or want. I....
Reporter - Lindsey, we've seen her image, the nation has seen Kiely - Describe her personality, what she's like.
Mum - She's wonderful, she's funny and smart, and tenacious, a little bit of a spitfire. She's everything that is wonderful about a teenage girl. She is turning into this strong woman with her own thoughts and convictions and she's not afraid to share those. She is open and loving to everyone. I was just talking with somebody else about her connection to so so so many people across the board and whatever that is. She has so many interests that she can make quick connections with pretty much anybody she meets, almost immediately, whether it's talking about food and baking recipes, or it's about hockey, or it's about playing the violin, or where it's about country music, where it's about.....
Step-dad - Cars and....
Mum - Cars, yeah. Her driving show mobiles, going fishing and camping, you know, going into the city, visiting museums. Yeah she....
Reporter - 16 years old. What are her plans? I'm trying to picture myself at that age, at this party. You never think anything could happen. Did she have plans the next day, and what did it look like after graduation? What were the plans leading up to that?
Mum - Yeah, so her plans - She did have plans for the next day, she was going to be going camping with three other kids. We had actually talked about even those plans on Friday morning, the last time that I saw her, that we checked in. And her plans for the future, because she has so many interests about so many things really, her two primary interests and passions are science and music, and so she still is in the process of deciding if she wants to pursue a career in medicine - being a surgeon, or if she wants to pursue a career in music and both of them, you know, we have been supporting her, in just this journey, of finding what path forward will fulfil her most, and her spirit as a human in life.
Reporter - She just sounds like a wonderful person, as I know she is. Tony, when the cameras aren't around and...are you piecing together, kind of, her closest friends? Have you been in contact with them? Are they giving you any hope here?
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Mum starts to speak)
Step-dad - Yeah, we are all kind of giving each other hope. We lean against each other to help get through this tough time.
Reporter - Go ahead Lindsey, sorry.
Mum - Her dear dear friends are dear to us and dear to our heart and close. We're keeping, as Tony was saying, we're all staying close together right now and sharing love and sharing stories, and sharing laughter and tears.
Reporter - And I did read that there's kind of like a teen group, am I right? searching for her? Like, a group of teens, and I believe it was someone, the local authority was saying, that he found that promising.
Mum - Yeah, the teen response in this area, in our community, has been overwhelming. I think that these teenagers who are are coming forward, at large, are doing so from this well of courage that they're drawing from within themselves. And I think that, you know, that our youth deserve a lot of praise and recognition that they're coming forward in a very courageous way. This is hard for everyone and you know, it's scary to do hard things sometimes. It's scary to....it's scary to face this, head on, and they are doing so like champions.
Reporter - And, I would say, just speaking to both of you, that you both are too. There really are no words to say. I hope that we can get the word out here, and our love and thoughts are with you both and we hope that Kiely comes home soon. Thank you.
