California couple who disappeared after attending Hot August Nights in Reno found dead

This story was updated to clarify where the car was found near Penn Valley, Calif. 

A Yuba City, California, couple who went missing after attending Hot August Nights in Reno on Aug. 6 were found dead outside their crashed car off Highway 20 in Nevada County. 

The bodies of Janette Pantoja, 29, and Juan Almanza Zavala, 36, were found around 5 p.m. Wednesday by a man who spotted the car off an embankment near Poker Flat Road near Penn Valley and Smartsville. The car wasn't visible from the road. 

The crash site was about 30 minutes from Yuba City and 100 miles from Reno. 

Police have not said whether Pantoja and Zavala were ejected or possibly survived the initial impact. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the case as a vehicle accident. 

Pantoja and Zavala were reported missing a day after Truckee teen Kiely Rodni went missing from a party at a Nevada County campground.

Related:What we know about search for Kiely Rodni 11 days after her disappearance

While police never linked the two cases, residents of both the small Yuba City and Truckee communities questioned if they could be related.

The search for Kiely Rodni is now nearing two weeks and police have said they are struggling for any clues to where the missing honors student may have gone. She disappeared after attending a party of 200-300 teenagers and young people at the Prosser Reservoir campsite, just outside Truckee.

Siobhan McAndrew tells stories about the people of Northern Nevada and covers education in Washoe County. Read her journalism right here. Consider supporting her work by subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal.