ACTIVE SEARCH SD - Serenity Dennard, 9, Children’s Home Society, Pennington County, 3 Feb 2019 #2

[carbuff]

I went back and listened again and it actually just says she had "RAD like behaviors". I don't know if she was officially diagnosed or not.

And I'm not sure whether I'd consider stepmom a reliable source, come to that.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Currently in the low 50s there, with mostly sunny skies. Wouldn't this be a good day for LE to assemble a team and thoroughly check out the area that the dogs showed interest in. Just wondering, since apparently a massive snow storm is moving in later tonight. I'd hate to see them miss an opportunity.
For that matter, wouldn't this be a good day for her to be found? Please?

 

[SkipperKey3]

Do we know for a fact that Serenity had been diagnosed with RAD? Or are we just assuming or extrapolating?

I don't think it has ever been disclosed that Serenity was diagnosed specifically with RAD. There have been a few small details that seem to contraindicate this. Even very early on, they thought that she might be trying to get to family. Really hard to say looking in from the outside.

 

[ilovechili]

I'm sure I'm not aware of the difficulties inherent in the search, but I can't believe this child hasn't been found yet!

I agree and I have heard all of the reasons. Even with all of those reasons, I find it very difficult to understand. We are well over a month past and this case seems to have more attention now well after the fact than it ever seemed to receive then when there likely was more hope.

Maybe that is unfair but it is how I feel. I get there are seasons called winter, however, there have also been some pretty big rescues and searches in winter.

I know this sounds judgmental and I admit it, it is. Just venting I guess.

 

[ilovechili]

Currently in the low 50s there, with mostly sunny skies. Wouldn't this be a good day for LE to assemble a team and thoroughly check out the area that the dogs showed interest in. Just wondering, since apparently a massive snow storm is moving in later tonight. I'd hate to see them miss an opportunity.
For that matter, wouldn't this be a good day for her to be found? Please?

Oh they are arranging a search for Sunday with volunteers. Like how many days out. No one is searching in the meantime on the decent days? I thought they were all ready to go and was what they used the bad weather for, to plan for when there was a day like this?

Sorry, just frustrated. On her behalf.

 

[SkipperKey3]

I agree and I have heard all of the reasons. Even with all of those reasons, I find it very difficult to understand. We are well over a month past and this case seems to have more attention now well after the fact than it ever seemed to receive then when there likely was more hope.

Maybe that is unfair but it is how I feel. I get there are seasons called winter, however, there have also been some pretty big rescues and searches in winter.

I know this sounds judgmental and I admit it, it is. Just venting I guess.

I totally get that. And they did put forth a pretty massive effort the first few days. In fact, it was called the biggest search and rescue attempt in local history. But with the temperatures hovering around 0 and snow falling, it was not only difficult, it was dangerous. They finally had to call a halt.
It it is hard enough under ideal conditions to cover that much ground efficiently, especially in rugged terrain and tons of downed trees and all.
I know you are frustrated. I'm trying my best to be patient. It isn't easy. I just want that poor little girl found.

 

[flashy09]

It's even sadder to me if she didn't have RAD that her mother didn't visit her or communicate to her in the home. I can't get over that she did not even know Serenity was there?! Why the father did not communicate that blows my mind. My only guess is that Darcy had some blowout with Serenity and told the father she was done and he took her word for it. Have we figured out how long she had been there?

It seems Serenity enjoyed her bedtime ritual, cried during custody transfers, and talked about her mother at the home. She seemed to have formed a bond and I can't imagine what damage another broken bond did to her. I do wonder if she made a conscious choice to not go back to the home when she started to get cold. What a sad life for a little girl, RAD or not.

 

[PayrollNerd]

The search planned for Sunday is pending weather per Lynne DiSantos SD Senator’s Facebook page. Someone in the comments recommended, when the weather clears, to find people with spelunking gear to go in the caves. Snow can cover an opening to a cave. You could fall in what you think is just a small hole or dip in the terrain and it end up much deeper. This is what worries me about untrained volunteers searching without a topography map. Maybe they need to get on Google Earth and at least have a realistic look at the terrain beforehand.

 

[carbuff]

The search planned for Sunday is pending weather per Lynne DiSantos SD Senator’s Facebook page. Someone in the comments recommended, when the weather clears, to find people with spelunking gear to go in the caves. Snow can cover an opening to a cave. You could fall in what you think is just a small hole or dip in the terrain and it end up much deeper. This is what worries me about untrained volunteers searching without a topography map. Maybe they need to get on Google Earth and at least have a realistic look at the terrain beforehand.

That's one of the reasons why LE often doesn't call for volunteer searchers. The kindness and motivation of the volunteers is great, but often they're putting themselves in more danger than they realize--and then instead of searching, they have to rescue the rescuers.

 

[TwoDogNight]

When the snow melts and it is appropriate to get the dogs out there again, they will be far more likely to locate her body, if it is out there. Searching on foot for a body in that area with snow on the ground is pretty ineffective.

 

[Caylee Advocate]

Blizzard warning for Rapid City Wednesday. This makes my heart heavy and sad. Still holding onto hope and a miracle for Serenity.

Weather Alerts - The Weather Channel | Weather.com

Rapid City, SD 10-Day Weather Forecast - The Weather Channel | Weather.com

 

[ilovechili]

I totally get that. And they did put forth a pretty massive effort the first few days. In fact, it was called the biggest search and rescue attempt in local history. But with the temperatures hovering around 0 and snow falling, it was not only difficult, it was dangerous. They finally had to call a halt.
It it is hard enough under ideal conditions to cover that much ground efficiently, especially in rugged terrain and tons of downed trees and all.
I know you are frustrated. I'm trying my best to be patient. It isn't easy. I just want that poor little girl found.

I get it too. To a point. And sometimes just need to express the frustration. I also do not like what I sometimes perceive as differences in how one case is handled versus the next. Media coverage varies as well. Yet I get that states vary, resources vary, weather varies, etc.

We also get to sometimes see some amazing rescues or children found safe and I think hope the next will be that way as well.

I will say in each and every case I learn things. This particular case learning about such facilities, more about RAD, adoption and more.

And as always, my prayers continue.

 

[ilovepierre]

Do we know for a fact that Serenity had been diagnosed with RAD? Or are we just assuming or extrapolating?

Serenity’s adoptive mother said she had RAD.
Now whether it was an official diagnosis or not, I don’t know.

IMO

 

[Catmommy]

In my opinion only, we don't need to worry about that dear baby anymore. We just need to pray that she is found.

 

[PommyMommy]

Currently in the low 50s there, with mostly sunny skies. Wouldn't this be a good day for LE to assemble a team and thoroughly check out the area that the dogs showed interest in. Just wondering, since apparently a massive snow storm is moving in later tonight. I'd hate to see them miss an opportunity.
For that matter, wouldn't this be a good day for her to be found? Please?

How much snow is on the ground?
MOO

 

[Jim_M]

How much snow is on the ground?
MOO

I think/believe we had asked this previously. I recall looking for accumulations, but I don't remember us getting anything with hard numbers. It would be great if someone in the area could provide us with the info.

I wonder if that could be one of the questions for Lynne DiSantos SD Senator, or someone on her staff? I know we would have a much clearer picture of what they are dealing with, on the ground.

 

[Jim_M]

I get it too. To a point. And sometimes just need to express the frustration. I also do not like what I sometimes perceive as differences in how one case is handled versus the next. Media coverage varies as well. Yet I get that states vary, resources vary, weather varies, etc.

We also get to sometimes see some amazing rescues or children found safe and I think hope the next will be that way as well.

I will say in each and every case I learn things. This particular case learning about such facilities, more about RAD, adoption and more.

And as always, my prayers continue.

Great to see you staying as positive as you can be. I think we all have varying degrees of hope. Especially when you look at the versus. Which may take us closer to the reality.

Right now I know I wish this angelic little girl found some type of refuge. Of course, anyone who would have rescued her, would need to be a loving, caring person. I don't know if I like those odds. The reality of too many bad people out there just boggles my mind.

And yet, I struggle with finding our sweet Serenity frozen in a cuddle. I tear up just partly envisioning that. So, yes, the hope that she is safe. Somewhere. Out there, in our little corner of the Universe.

 

[Jim_M]

In my opinion only, we don't need to worry about that dear baby anymore. We just need to pray that she is found.

Hmmmm, praying that she is found actually means you are still worrying about sweet Serenity. I hope I'm not coming across as disagreeing with you. It really just means the worry has changed in focus. IMO we all worry about finding all of our missing. Sometimes if only to provide them a final resting place.

 

[ilovechili]

Great to see you staying as positive as you can be. I think we all have varying degrees of hope. Especially when you look at the versus. Which may take us closer to the reality.

Right now I know I wish this angelic little girl found some type of refuge. Of course, anyone who would have rescued her, would need to be a loving, caring person. I don't know if I like those odds. The reality of too many bad people out there just boggles my mind.

And yet, I struggle with finding our sweet Serenity frozen in a cuddle. I tear up just partly envisioning that. So, yes, the hope that she is safe. Somewhere. Out there, in our little corner of the Universe.

Agree, not easy though is it? I have slim hope but had anyone good rescued her, I just think they would have come forward by now but who knows right? It would have to be something like that because I do not see her surviving on her own this long even had she found some type of shelter. Yet like you I struggle to maintain some shred of hope.

 

[carbuff]

I think/believe we had asked this previously. I recall looking for accumulations, but I don't remember us getting anything with hard numbers. It would be great if someone in the area could provide us with the info.

I wonder if that could be one of the questions for Lynne DiSantos SD Senator, or someone on her staff? I know we would have a much clearer picture of what they are dealing with, on the ground.

I'm not familiar with that particular part of South Dakota, but in the US plains generally it's hard to estimate snow cover because there's so much drifting. You can have a ten-foot drift next to bare ground. But I found some photos taken around the region after the storm two weeks ago. I don't know whether any of them are near where Serenity disappeared but conditions seem to be pretty similar all over: PHOTOS: South Dakota Snow Drifts

Since the temperatures have been well below freezing for most of that time, I doubt if conditions have changed very much. Maybe a little melting on the warm days.