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

[Caylee Advocate]

Here is a little more detail about what little angel... Serenity was wearing. I thought all buildings were interconnected at that facility, hmm, sure wish we had the layout of the place.



"Serenity was last seen wearing a long sleeved gray tee shirt with flowers, purple tank top, dark stone washed jeans and black boots."

 

[sodakblackbird]

Forgive me if this was mentioned, but could the other child who ran have been a 'decoy' so that Serenity could run away and be picked up on the road ( a pre-planned escape) ?
Maybe by a well-meaning relative or family friend who felt she didn't belong there?
Surely they would have found her by now if she had succumbed to the cold as she wouldn't have gotten that far in the freezing temperatures!
Who visited her recently?
JMO

Searchers have been unable to do much because of extreme weather. I think we've only had 2-3 days that it got above freezing since she went missing. Right now it's -4, wind chill putting it @-16

 

[sodakblackbird]

Here is a little more detail about what little angel... Serenity was wearing. I thought all buildings were interconnected at that facility, hmm, sure wish we had the layout of the place.



"Serenity was last seen wearing a long sleeved gray tee shirt with flowers, purple tank top, dark stone washed jeans and black boots."

The top one shows the residential and the school/gym, the bottom I believe is staff residence, at least it was a few years ago

 

[Caylee Advocate]

The top one shows the residential and the school/gym, the bottom I believe is staff residence, at least it was a few years ago

Thank you so much.

 

[sodakblackbird]

You would leave the other kids alone?

Id have told the other kids to come with me or go back to the building. Its a long way between the gym and the road, they probably could have caught up to her before she cleared the footbridge.

 

[MsGazette]

New to this site but I've followed the case closely since it's happening a few miles from me.

I can actually address some things brought up here.

I've visited the home myself and facilitye does have cameras both inside and outside of the the buildings.

The doors to the main building are locked and alarmed, and I believe the gym doors are as well.

My understanding is that Serenity was being taken from one building to another, when a classmate ran. One staff member was dealing with that when Serenity busted and ran. The second staff member remained with the other kids and called for assistance.

The home is in a heavily wooded area with steep rocky terrain, and the nearest sheriff's substation is at least a 30 min drive away in good weather. The weather that day was frigid, and snowy.
The address is listed as Rockerville, but it actually sits closer to Keystone/Mt. Rushmore. It sits in a narrow canyon, on a road with sharp turns, and I can tell you from experience, it gets dangerous in bad weather.

Simce she went missing, the temperatures have remained extremely cold, and several storms have dumped fresh snow

Ahhhh this makes sense. The building I’m familiar with here has similar situations. Staff does occasionally escort the children to one of the main buildings for OT or other services. This would be a time where a child could run and staff have a protocol in place for these situations. I think human error and distractibility may have come into play. I know one of the protocols is usually when there is a situation with one of the kids, it’s the job of one or more staff members to turn, focus and even isolate the other kids in the group away from the incident, while another staff member focuses on the distressed child. Because as some of us know, especially with emotional kids, they feed off each other’s emotions and fears. So, it’s just a way to keep control. This is just heartbreaking. Hoping for a miracle. Poor baby must have been so scared once she did run and reality set in.

 

[Caylee Advocate]

Id have told the other kids to come with me or go back to the building. Its a long way between the gym and the road, they probably could have caught up to her before she cleared the footbridge.

Is Teepee Gulch where the fire was a while back? Also, I got a text alert that a body was found in a park in Rapid City (I believe on Friday). Did they ever give any more details? (IF YOU KNOW) TIA.

 

[Jackielee09]

For the locals, when do you think snow melts. April?

 

[LVatty10]

I am such a skeptic. I dont believe this story. Part of me thinks something else happened. Just not sure what. But I dont trust almost anyone when it comes to kids. It takes but a second for a child to disappear.

All moo, not making accusations, just an overreactive mind.

100% agree. I haven’t decided on a theory but my instincts say something isn’t right. Not sure what/who it is. I feel like the person who saw her by the cattle gate while dropping off or picking up someone or something is key. But just MOO right now.

 

[cass523]

Is Teepee Gulch where the fire was a while back? Also, I got a text alert that a body was found in a park in Rapid City (I believe on Friday). Did they ever give any more details? (IF YOU KNOW) TIA.

"Authorities are investigating the death of a man found outside in northeast Rapid City Friday morning.

The body was found in a picnic shelter in Thompson Park at 11 a.m. Friday.

Rapid City police had originally responded to a call of an unconscious subject at the park. He was "obviously deceased" when police arrived, according to a news release

Foul play is not suspected at this time, according to police.

An autopsy will be scheduled to determine his cause of death. Release of the man's name is pending family notification."

Sioux Falls news

 

[carbuff]

100% agree. I haven’t decided on a theory but my instincts say something isn’t right. Not sure what/who it is. I feel like the person who saw her by the cattle gate while dropping off or picking up someone or something is key. But just MOO right now.

Add me to the list of people who think something is off, and I can't my finger on it either. Not family for sure. Ordinarily I would suspect some kind of coverup by those who were there, but there seem to be too many witnesses for that.

 

[Caylee Advocate]

This link has a good pic of the footbridge being discussed.

Black Hills Children's Home Society receives a small portion from $55 million donation

 

[ilovepierre]

100% agree. I haven’t decided on a theory but my instincts say something isn’t right. Not sure what/who it is. I feel like the person who saw her by the cattle gate while dropping off or picking up someone or something is key. But just MOO right now.

Do you think that person is involved somehow?
The person by the cattle guard was another parent picking up/dropping off (can’t remember which) their own child.
Why would they take Serenity?

IMO

 

[SkipperKey3]

Searchers have been unable to do much because of extreme weather. I think we've only had 2-3 days that it got above freezing since she went missing. Right now it's -4, wind chill putting it @-16

That's a good 45 degrees below normal. And this coming weekend (the first weekend in March) is also supposed to be in the single digits and lower. Compare that to the first weekend in March last year, where the temperatures were in the mid-50s. There is nothing in the 10-day forecast that even gets up to freezing (32), let alone normal temperatures.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Do you think that person is involved somehow?
The person by the cattle guard was another parent picking up/dropping off (can’t remember which) their own child.
Why would they take Serenity?

IMO

The person wasn't by the cattle guard, they were in the car in the visitor's parking area. They came with another person to drop somebody off, I believe, although I don't know if it was a child or an employee. That person (in the car) saw Serenity by the cattle guard, per reports.

 

[LVatty10]

Do you think that person is involved somehow?
The person by the cattle guard was another parent picking up/dropping off (can’t remember which) their own child.
Why would they take Serenity?

IMO

Do we know for fact (ie reported in MSM) that it was another parent picking up/dropping off a child? If so. I wouldn’t rule out their being involved but i would think it less likely that a parent took her. Wasn’t there a passenger in the car? Who is that person? Regardless of who they are, i still think they are key for many reasons... what was serenity doing exactly? Did she look happy, sad, scared, cold, etc? What was her demeanor, body language?

Are we sure it wasnt an employee or friend of an employee or non parent visitor? Was the passenger also an adult? Two adults being in the parking lot as serenity is “standing by the cattle gate” seems almost too convenient. Maybe not. Sorry I’m rambling.

 

[MsGazette]

Do we know for fact (ie reported in MSM) that it was another parent picking up/dropping off a child? If so. I wouldn’t rule out their being involved but i would think it less likely that a parent took her. Wasn’t there a passenger in the car? Who is that person? Regardless of who they are, i still think they are key for many reasons... what was serenity doing exactly? Did she look happy, sad, scared, cold, etc? What was her demeanor, body language?

Are we sure it wasnt an employee or friend of an employee or non parent visitor? Was the passenger also an adult? Two adults being in the parking lot as serenity is “standing by the cattle gate” seems almost too convenient. Maybe not. Sorry I’m rambling.

Seems odd. Any child on the grounds unaccompanied would likely be reported to staff immediately.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Do we know for fact (ie reported in MSM) that it was another parent picking up/dropping off a child? If so. I wouldn’t rule out their being involved but i would think it less likely that a parent took her. Wasn’t there a passenger in the car? Who is that person? Regardless of who they are, i still think they are key for many reasons... what was serenity doing exactly? Did she look happy, sad, scared, cold, etc? What was her demeanor, body language?

Are we sure it wasnt an employee or friend of an employee or non parent visitor? Was the passenger also an adult? Two adults being in the parking lot as serenity is “standing by the cattle gate” seems almost too convenient. Maybe not. Sorry I’m rambling.

So many questions. I believe they said that one adult went in with whoever they were dropping off, be it child or employee, while a second adult stayed in the car, and it was adult in the car that saw Serenity by the cattle gate. I think that the adults subsequently reported it and then, not seeing Serenity any more, drove up and down the main road looking for her, to no avail. Up until then, it seems, it was assumed that she was still indoors.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Seems odd. Any child on the grounds unaccompanied would likely be reported to staff immediately.

I believe it was, and then they drove around trying to find her.

 

[sodakblackbird]

Is Teepee Gulch where the fire was a while back? Also, I got a text alert that a body was found in a park in Rapid City (I believe on Friday). Did they ever give any more details? (IF YOU KNOW) TIA.

Teepee is where the Battle Creek fire started. It actually started at the Home.