Vile YouTube star ordered to pay $17.5m to dad of teen found dead in car after spreading horrific lie about her death

By EMMA RICHTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 16:52, 19 May 2026 | Updated: 16:54, 19 May 2026 A twisted YouTube star who claimed the case of a California teen found dead in her car was a hoax has been ordered to pay $17.5 million to the victim's father.  A jury reached a verdict on Monday in the case against Ryan Upchurch after he was found to have caused Daniel Rodni, the father of Kiely Rodni, severe emotional and psychological damage from the misinformative and distasteful videos he shared online.  Kiely, 16, went missing on August 6, 2022, after attending a party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, about three hours outside of San Francisco.  A large-scale search was launched for her, and two weeks later, the teen's body was found inside her submerged SUV about 55ft from shore.  A coroner later ruled that she died from an accidental drowning, and there were no signs of foul play.   Shortly after Kiely disappeared, Upchurch, who has more than three million subscribers, shared that the tragedy was a 'scam' brought forward by her family so they could raise money on GoFundMe, according to a July 2023 defamation lawsuit reviewed by the Daily Mail.  In the videos, the Tennessee-based content creator, who was called a 'true-crime would-be sleuth' in the lawsuit, not only claimed that the girl's family made the whole case up for financial gain, but that Kiely, her father, and her grandfather, David Robertson, were 'not real', the filing stated.  During the heartbreaking search for his daughter, Daniel and his wife, Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, went out every day looking for Kiely and rushed to the scene when she was located.  Ryan Upchurch has been ordered to pay Kiely Rodni's father, Daniel Rodni, $17.5 million after a jury found that he caused severe emotional and psychological damage to the family with his vile YouTube videos about the case  Kiely, 16, went missing on August 6, 2022, after attending a party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California. She was found dead inside her submerged car two weeks later They often set up camp with other family members and friends for the searches, with Daniel being pictured by Fox News Digital on August 11, 2022, next to a large missing poster featuring his daughter's image.  Adventures With Purpose (AWP), a volunteer underwater search and rescue dive team, discovered Kiely and her vehicle on August 21 of that year.  David was captured receiving the devastating news that she was found dead by AWP divers Doug Bishop and Nick Rinn.  He questioned how cops had failed to spot the huge car when they claimed they had already scoured the water closest to the party, exclaiming 'that's f***ing impossible.'  In the video, AWP showed how they found her car upside-down in just 14ft of water, and 55ft from the shore, using sonar technology.  The team took two sonar boats onto the water on the morning of August 21 and identified Kiely's 2013 silver Honda under the water.  They confirmed that her body was found in the back of the car, with the passenger window broken and the driver's rear window halfway down. She was also confirmed to not be wearing a seatbelt, and it is unclear the exact circumstances that led to the windows being open and broken. Adventures With Purpose (AWP), a volunteer underwater search and rescue dive team, discovered Kiely and her vehicle on August 21 of that year. (Pictured: Kiely's SUV being pulled from the water)  During the heartbreaking search for his daughter, Daniel (pictured) and his wife, Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, went out every day looking for Kiely At the time, Rinn claimed that the way they found Kiely was 'suspicious', but a medical examiner later ruled out foul play.  After the discovery, the team called Kiely's relatives, before contacting authorities, with her dad and grandfather rushing to the scene to see what the divers found.  When told how close to shore the car was, and that it was in the same area that cops had previously scoured, David said: 'How the f*** could they have missed it? That's f***ing impossible'. Her dad then asked a few questions about how she was found, before getting emotional and saying 'I can't see this cause it's going to be my last memory and I can't f***ing do it' before leaving the scene. After the final verdict came through on the defamation case against Upchurch, his legal team said that their client apologized for his actions.   David was captured receiving the devastating news that she had been found dead by AWP divers Doug Bishop and Nick Rinn A coroner later ruled that she died from an accidental drowning, and there were no signs of foul play 'The freedom of speech is one of the most fundamental rights that is necessary for every free society, and that right is one that needs protecting now more than ever.  'While Mr. Upchurch is a staunch advocate for the United States Constitution and the rights that so many veterans fought and died for, Mr. Upchurch can be that advocate and also feel sympathy for a family in their time of grief.  'It is in this spirit that Mr. Upchurch would like to extend his heartfelt sympathy to the Rodni, Robertson, and Nieman families. Mr. Upchurch asks that the family be given respect and time to grieve and move forward with their lives, and would ask that the family be allowed to heal in peace,' Bailiff Law, LLC shared.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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