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

[MsGazette]

The nearest businesses are about 4 miles south, and most are closed for the season, and South Dakota sadly doesn't have a missing/endangered alert system. Amber Alert wasn't used because there was no indication of abduction.

That’s a good point. More the reason to call for help. With a nine-year-old child in that cold weather, underdressed and outrunning staff, I think it would be the sensible thing to do. Just IMO. Still praying for a miracle!

 

[sodakblackbird]

I am sure they have constant runners. I do not see why not. I think this is typical behavior one sees with children in residential treatment.

I don’t think a child with autism would be in such a setting. It would be far too chaotic. Children in residential treatment have meltdowns. This would be highly upsetting for a child with autism

Actually, they do have autistic kids there.
They have a really rigid routine they put all the kids on from day one, and if a kid starts stressing out or acting up, they are immediately taken care of.

 

[1&2&3]

At nine years old, it would be my guess that the visitation the day before with her parents and new baby sister was disturbing.

As the hours passed after they left, poor Serenity had many thoughts floating through her mind. We don’t know the real reason she is in this home, so it would be difficult to figure out what this little girl was thinking.

However, I would imagine there was a big play going on in her mind that she had been sent away and this new baby sister got to replace her. Wouldn’t we all have similar thoughts?

My opinions only.

 

[sodakblackbird]

Just something I want to point out. The Rapid City Journal is notorious for editing online articles rather than running an updated version of the story and telling you what's changed.

 

[sodakblackbird]

Ive got insomnia, and I keep thinking about this.

Things that bother me about this:
If she was in the gym, those doors are locked from the inside, and you need a pass code to open them. The only time they are supposed to unlock other than staff access, is if a fire alarm is pulled.

If she was outside, why wasn't she wearing a coat? It was below freezing already.

Did the person she ran from call for help of other staff before or after the parent saw her in the parking lot?

Why, when staff said they saw her run for the trees did they waste time and not call 911?

Staff said they immediately called 911, and then it comes out that they waited at least an hour, if not closer to two hours.

That facility has a ton of cameras, including one aimed at the parking lot/cattle guards area. I wonder why footage of her heading to the road hasn't been released.

Did staff see her run across the cattle guard before or after the parent and passenger said they saw her?

Some thoughts: I actually wonder if staff actually saw her run off to start with, or if a staff member or two are covering their backsides.

The scenario of the person who saw her in the parking lot picking her up is unlikely. If they were returning their kid, that means that they were close to getting them out of the Home. I doubt they would risk getting their child back and going to prison.

I do wonder if them notifying the Home was the first anybody actually knew about her running away.

 

[ilovechili]

Ive got insomnia, and I keep thinking about this.

Things that bother me about this:
If she was in the gym, those doors are locked from the inside, and you need a pass code to open them. The only time they are supposed to unlock other than staff access, is if a fire alarm is pulled.

If she was outside, why wasn't she wearing a coat? It was below freezing already.

Did the person she ran from call for help of other staff before or after the parent saw her in the parking lot?

Why, when staff said they saw her run for the trees did they waste time and not call 911?

Staff said they immediately called 911, and then it comes out that they waited at least an hour, if not closer to two hours.

That facility has a ton of cameras, including one aimed at the parking lot/cattle guards area. I wonder why footage of her heading to the road hasn't been released.

Did staff see her run across the cattle guard before or after the parent and passenger said they saw her?

Some thoughts: I actually wonder if staff actually saw her run off to start with, or if a staff member or two are covering their backsides.

The scenario of the person who saw her in the parking lot picking her up is unlikely. If they were returning their kid, that means that they were close to getting them out of the Home. I doubt they would risk getting their child back and going to prison.

I do wonder if them notifying the Home was the first anybody actually knew about her running away.

I share many of these same thoughts and questions. If the cameras, door locks and monitoring were all working and employed, then I fail to see how this happened. And if it did happen, they should have plenty of evidence of it the way it sounds based on all of those things too and employees as well. I too have wondered if anyone knew she was gone right away, I have even went so far as to wonder if she had been gone from the day or night before but do not suppose that is likely. It gives some hope though as if the day before, it was nicer out, different vehicles and people may have been around. What she was wearing sure fits with that weather better. And clearly there were visits that day, did more families have visitors too, meaning more were coming and going and she could have more easily slipped out amongst them as they did come and go.

That takes me back to her getting into someone's car or trunk or pickup bed unbeknownst to the owner or to someone willingly helping her. Or her running and reaching someone that did.

But then where would she be or have been for all of this time?

My prayers continue.

 

[jewelsmac]

What do you mean by "whomever visited her"? I believe it was probably family that provided the picture of her holding her little sister, taken just the day before. And they could have stopped by and simply picked her up. No need for a cloak and dagger operation.
The theory that it was prearranged seems just too far fetched to me. And how could anybody know she would be in a position to run at a specific time?
Nor would anybody who cared for her well being tell her to run out the door in weather that cold in a roughly timed attempt to meet up, without so much as a coat.
None of the witnesses saw her running toward a car or anything like that.
As for no staff member catching her, but the time staff saw her, she was already by the road. The building sits quite a way off the road. By the time the staffer got out the door and over to the road where she was, she had disappeared.
The biggest issue people keep bringing up is the time before the call to LE. Some say 2 hours, but I believe it was just around or over an hour and a half, and this is really not that long. Their first instinct is to go retrieve her. When the first person fails to find her, she gets others to help. They've always located runners before, so there was no reason initially to suggest that this was any different. They search for awhile, but the terrain makes the going slow. They come back down and call LE when their efforts failed to locate her. That all takes time, especially in that terrain. They were worried for her because of the weather, so pushed themselves to keep looking.
I really don't think it is reasonable to call LE the second a child runs - that would happen far too frequently.
I would probably suggest a shorter window as protocol - if the child hasn't been located , call LE - but to suggest they should have been called in the first 15 minutes is actually pretty unreasonable.
All MOO, of course.

i’m just throwing out guesses here, I have no idea why she’s in that home, how many family members she has, if any of them perhaps wanted to take her in but possibly could not.
I have no problem with how long it took for them to call the police because they did try searching for her and that’s protocol. But as you stated about the train a difficulty of search, now I do think it was a bad decision.
I think you’re mistaking my intent.
Those are things I’m hoping for because those give a possibility that she’s out there alive. I said I “hoped“ for those things. Not that they were viable theories, of course they’re far-fetched, but I’m hoping for those because it would mean that Serenity Could be alive.
My trouble with the timeframe is she was seen leaving almost immediately, but yet no one could catch up with her. I just find that odd.
Like you said they have always found runners before. Why not her? Why was this time different? That’s what I’m trying to examine. Nothing nefarious, just thinking out loud and hoping that a scenario exists where she’s alive.
And I agree, I think their protocol from now on will be to call the police right away. Because they didn’t find her. And they know their terrain is difficult to search. And they know the weathers bad out there. And their protocol failed. Both in her being able to run away, and the failure to fight her.
And she’s out there somewhere.

 

[IceIce9]

At nine years old, it would be my guess that the visitation the day before with her parents and new baby sister was disturbing.

As the hours passed after they left, poor Serenity had many thoughts floating through her mind. We don’t know the real reason she is in this home, so it would be difficult to figure out what this little girl was thinking.

However, I would imagine there was a big play going on in her mind that she had been sent away and this new baby sister got to replace her. Wouldn’t we all have similar thoughts?

My opinions only.

I think that is very likely what little Serenity was thinking.

I know of a situation (friend of my daughter, have known her since she was a baby and is now a young adult) where a little girl was born to a 17 year old mom who was too irresponsible to care for a child so custody was given to great-grandma. Mom eventually grew up and married at age 22, and went on to have 4 more daughters. She didn’t take her first daughter home but
great -grandma continued to care for her.

Each time a new baby was born mom came to introduce “your new sister” to her first daughter. Mom and husband and 4 daughters never included first daughter in any vacations or other family things. Mom never attended any school functions, dance recitals, etc. for first daughter.

This little girl had poured out her feelings after each visit from her mom. Definitely the “replacement child” feelings came out, as well as “Am I not good enough/pretty enough/etc.” which was heartbreaking.

 

[Jim_M]

I think that is very likely what little Serenity was thinking.

I know of a situation (friend of my daughter, have known her since she was a baby and is now a young adult) where a little girl was born to a 17 year old mom who was too irresponsible to care for a child so custody was given to great-grandma. Mom eventually grew up and married at age 22, and went on to have 4 more daughters. She didn’t take her first daughter home but
great -grandma continued to care for her.

Each time a new baby was born mom came to introduce “your new sister” to her first daughter. Mom and husband and 4 daughters never included first daughter in any vacations or other family things. Mom never attended any school functions, dance recitals, etc. for first daughter.

This little girl had poured out her feelings after each visit from her mom. Definitely the “replacement child” feelings came out, as well as “Am I not good enough/pretty enough/etc.” which was heartbreaking.

That is heartbreaking, mean, cruel, and I will stop there.

Oh dear Serenity, I hope you never felt anything like this.

I wish you could see, and feel, all the love that strangers are showering you with. We all care. We all pray for a positive outcome. I know Serenity will always hold a place in my heart.

 

[ilovechili]

i’m just throwing out guesses here, I have no idea why she’s in that home, how many family members she has, if any of them perhaps wanted to take her in but possibly could not.
I have no problem with how long it took for them to call the police because they did try searching for her and that’s protocol. But as you stated about the train a difficulty of search, now I do think it was a bad decision.
I think you’re mistaking my intent.
Those are things I’m hoping for because those give a possibility that she’s out there alive. I said I “hoped“ for those things. Not that they were viable theories, of course they’re far-fetched, but I’m hoping for those because it would mean that Serenity Could be alive.
My trouble with the timeframe is she was seen leaving almost immediately, but yet no one could catch up with her. I just find that odd.
Like you said they have always found runners before. Why not her? Why was this time different? That’s what I’m trying to examine. Nothing nefarious, just thinking out loud and hoping that a scenario exists where she’s alive.
And I agree, I think their protocol from now on will be to call the police right away. Because they didn’t find her. And they know their terrain is difficult to search. And they know the weathers bad out there. And their protocol failed. Both in her being able to run away, and the failure to fight her.
And she’s out there somewhere.

I would like to say I get entirely where you are coming from.

Questioning protocol, cameras, LE, events, misreported news and facts, does not always mean a person thinks anything is nefarious, they are looking for the answers and for hope that the person is alive or the perp is caught. In every case, we do not know the workplace, the home, the families, the LE, the circumstances so it is never anything personally accusatory at anyone, how could it possibly be, we do not know the people involved or the facility, etc? And if something is bad in a case, it only takes one bad apple and does not mean the rest are either.

Only to speak for myself, I am not speaking for you or anyone else, but I question, I speculate. Our goals are always the same though.

The intent is only always to find out what happened and find some hope and hopefully hear the missing person, etc. has been found. If someone slipped up but with no ill intent, address it. If someone had an ill intent, find them and arrest them. If a protocol could have been better, discuss it and change it if one can these days, it probably is not easy to do so and maybe they are dam*ed if they do give chase and are dam*ed if they don't. If she took off and that is exactly what happened, well then they will be able to show that with video, the witness in the car, employee interviews, timelines and more facts maybe they have than we do at this point.

There are things people question and I believe we are still so far as I know a nation that allows one to think for themselves. One example is she had winter boots on but no coat. It is a perfectly normal question and normal curiosity to wonder why or so I would think.

Again entirely, jmo and thoughts.

My prayers and hope for Serenity will continue.

 

[LVatty10]

@Bugurl747 I am torn on whether she actually ran away. I certainly believe she could have run or did run and someone picked her up (however unlikely). But I can also see something much more nefarious involving the parking lot people or home staff.

As a lawyer, I tend to focus on details that seem “coincidental.” In my experience, these things tend to be important. Here are the things that bother me:
- The change in home directors story re time she went missing and calling 911. I’m not suggesting it was nefarious on his part but it suggests that the home staff wasn’t truthful when he asked or he knew it was bad and lied to media/LE initially.
- The parking lot people. Not to beat a dead horse, but it seems strange that more than one adult happens to be in the parking lot and sees Serenity but lose sight of her. Again, maybe it is a coincidence but strange nonetheless.
- The search warrants for phone records. Makes me think LE caught the home lying about time between serenity running and 911 call.
- serenity seen standing by the gate more than 20 mins after she initially ran. If she was really attempting to run away, why was she standing there more than 20 mins later? Could be that she was cold. But it bothers me.

 

[LVatty10]

FYI... I am assuming the passenger in the car of the woman dropping someone off was an adult or teenager given that she left that person in the car when she went in to report that serenity was outside. I would never leave a child in my car for one second unattended.

 

[PommyMommy]

I am sure they have constant runners. I do not see why not. I think this is typical behavior one sees with children in residential treatment.

I don’t think a child with autism would be in such a setting. It would be far too chaotic. Children in residential treatment have meltdowns. This would be highly upsetting for a child with autism

UPDATE: Sheriff's Office looking for couple who last saw missing girl
Unfortunately once in a while they get away from us. It’s very, very rare. I don’t remember another situation like this one where a child has been gone this long," he said.

 

[ilovechili]

@Bugurl747 I am torn on whether she actually ran away. I certainly believe she could have run or did run and someone picked her up (however unlikely). But I can also see something much more nefarious involving the parking lot people or home staff.

As a lawyer, I tend to focus on details that seem “coincidental.” In my experience, these things tend to be important. Here are the things that bother me:
- The change in home directors story re time she went missing and calling 911. I’m not suggesting it was nefarious on his part but it suggests that the home staff wasn’t truthful when he asked or he knew it was bad and lied to media/LE initially.
- The parking lot people. Not to beat a dead horse, but it seems strange that more than one adult happens to be in the parking lot and sees Serenity but lose sight of her. Again, maybe it is a coincidence but strange nonetheless.
- The search warrants for phone records. Makes me think LE caught the home lying about time between serenity running and 911 call.
- serenity seen standing by the gate more than 20 mins after she initially ran. If she was really attempting to run away, why was she standing there more than 20 mins later? Could be that she was cold. But it bothers me.

Great points. I forgot about the 20 minutes at the gate--I remember reading it but cannot remember if it was confirmed and then the timeline changed on the call for help, etc. That is odd though if she stood there 20 minutes. I can't recall who allegedly saw that?

 

[SkipperKey3]

I respectfully disagree. She is a child. 911 should be called immediately, especially in these circumstances. She could be on the spectrum, which makes the delay to law enforcement dangerous. If you are referring to an adult, that may be different. These kids are in this home for special reasons and I’m sure her running escape was considered an elopement. Not only should they be called for help, but there is usually a plan in place where an alert goes out, even to the surrounding community/businesses at times. IMO, respectfully.

This is a great resource to those that are interested.

AWAARE - Autism Wandering Resources

Let me modify what I said. I don't think 911 should be called simply because she was seen outside. The staff member went outside to get her. But at the point the staff member reached the road, did a quick search and realized she wasn't visible, and a more thorough search was in order because she went up into the hills, at that point 911 should have been called. I really only means that 911 shouldn't be called every time a child runs, because generally the child is not out of site and easily retrieved.
So an hour and a half is too long to wait, but 5 minutes would be too short, as it would take longer than that to see her, get to where she was seen, realize that she was not visible and off the grounds, and get back to the building.

 

[PommyMommy]

Ive got insomnia, and I keep thinking about this.

Things that bother me about this:
If she was in the gym, those doors are locked from the inside, and you need a pass code to open them. The only time they are supposed to unlock other than staff access, is if a fire alarm is pulled.

If she was outside, why wasn't she wearing a coat? It was below freezing already.

Did the person she ran from call for help of other staff before or after the parent saw her in the parking lot?

Why, when staff said they saw her run for the trees did they waste time and not call 911?

Staff said they immediately called 911, and then it comes out that they waited at least an hour, if not closer to two hours.

That facility has a ton of cameras, including one aimed at the parking lot/cattle guards area. I wonder why footage of her heading to the road hasn't been released.

Did staff see her run across the cattle guard before or after the parent and passenger said they saw her?

Some thoughts: I actually wonder if staff actually saw her run off to start with, or if a staff member or two are covering their backsides.

The scenario of the person who saw her in the parking lot picking her up is unlikely. If they were returning their kid, that means that they were close to getting them out of the Home. I doubt they would risk getting their child back and going to prison.

I do wonder if them notifying the Home was the first anybody actually knew about her running away.

BBM

I think the staff member who called for help did so immediately (10:45 a.m.), however, they didn't know that Serenity went outside. By the time the woman who was dropping off a relative (11:00 a.m.) reported seeing Serenity outside, 15 minutes had elapsed. They were looking for her inside the building.

Also, the director originally stated that 911 was called immediately and later corrected that to the staff member called for help immediately, and 911 was called when they couldn't locate Serenity. The director wasn't there when Serenity ran and was relaying events as told to him - the staff member called for help immediately could easily be misunderstood as they called 911 immediately. I don't think anyone was untruthful.
MOO

 

[ilovechili]

Let me modify what I said. I don't think 911 should be called simply because she was seen outside. The staff member went outside to get her. But at the point the staff member reached the road, did a quick search and realized she wasn't visible, and a more thorough search was in order because she went up into the hills, at that point 911 should have been called. I really only means that 911 shouldn't be called every time a child runs, because generally the child is not out of site and easily retrieved.
So an hour and a half is too long to wait, but 5 minutes would be too short, as it would take longer than that to see her, get to where she was seen, realize that she was not visible and off the grounds, and get back to the building.

This was not in response to me but just to add my two cents worth if okay, I agree for instance if a child in general gets out of your yard and is in sight, you go get them first and foremost as fast as you can, call them back, different responses, depending on the age of your child too and where they headed. Rather than call 911, the first thing would be to stop them, get them, keep them in sight. I do think a facility like this though, I think the minute you realize you cannot catch up or they go out of sight, 911 should be called. It is just a personal opinion and I know it is easy to judge from a computer screen, not having been there.

Additionally, we have the conflicting stories of whether anyone did anything immediately to keep her in sight, go after her, etc. It either come from different media mistakes, different accounts by employees, witnesses, etc. or the fact maybe no one saw her but no one wants to admit it either, lose a job, etc. All possibilities imho.

 

[jewelsmac]

I would like to say I get entirely where you are coming from.

Questioning protocol, cameras, LE, events, misreported news and facts, does not always mean a person thinks anything is nefarious, they are looking for the answers and for hope that the person is alive or the perp is caught. In every case, we do not know the workplace, the home, the families, the LE, the circumstances so it is never anything personally accusatory at anyone, how could it possibly be, we do not know the people involved or the facility, etc? And if something is bad in a case, it only takes one bad apple and does not mean the rest are either.

Only to speak for myself, I am not speaking for you or anyone else, but I question, I speculate. Our goals are always the same though.

The intent is only always to find out what happened and find some hope and hopefully hear the missing person, etc. has been found. If someone slipped up but with no ill intent, address it. If someone had an ill intent, find them and arrest them. If a protocol could have been better, discuss it and change it if one can these days, it probably is not easy to do so and maybe they are dam*ed if they do give chase and are dam*ed if they don't. If she took off and that is exactly what happened, well then they will be able to show that with video, the witness in the car, employee interviews, timelines and more facts maybe they have than we do at this point.

There are things people question and I believe we are still so far as I know a nation that allows one to think for themselves. One example is she had winter boots on but no coat. It is a perfectly normal question and normal curiosity to wonder why or so I would think.

Again entirely, jmo and thoughts.

My prayers and hope for Serenity will continue.

Thank you, and I could not agree more.

 

[SkipperKey3]

@Bugurl747 I am torn on whether she actually ran away. I certainly believe she could have run or did run and someone picked her up (however unlikely). But I can also see something much more nefarious involving the parking lot people or home staff.

As a lawyer, I tend to focus on details that seem “coincidental.” In my experience, these things tend to be important. Here are the things that bother me:
- The change in home directors story re time she went missing and calling 911. I’m not suggesting it was nefarious on his part but it suggests that the home staff wasn’t truthful when he asked or he knew it was bad and lied to media/LE initially.
- The parking lot people. Not to beat a dead horse, but it seems strange that more than one adult happens to be in the parking lot and sees Serenity but lose sight of her. Again, maybe it is a coincidence but strange nonetheless.
- The search warrants for phone records. Makes me think LE caught the home lying about time between serenity running and 911 call.
- serenity seen standing by the gate more than 20 mins after she initially ran. If she was really attempting to run away, why was she standing there more than 20 mins later? Could be that she was cold. But it bothers me.

The change in time - odd, but I need to go back and see the original report. It may be a misunderstanding.
The parking lot people - that is not strange at all. The parking lot is down a hill from the road, with trees around it. So she was spotted, they reported it, but she disappears from their vantage point.
The search warrants - that has never been answered and I have wondered about that since they mentioned it. I don't think they would need a search warrant to verify time of the 911 call though, as that would have been logged.
Serenity standing by the gate for 20 minutes - that is pure speculation, and I don't think it is true. Just because she was seen there does not mean she was standing there the whole time. First she had to find a way out - again, something that is unclear - does the gym door go directly outside or to a hallway? Then once out did she run directly to the gate and wait? I don't think so. Neither the parking lot people nor the staff member indicated that she was merely waiting. They both reported her as moving - to the road, along the road, then up into the hills. At no point was she seen simply standing and waiting. I don't think it is a valid assumption to say that when she left the gym, she ran as fast as she could for the cattle guard and then simply stood there for 20 minutes. That still doesn't explain entirely what Serenity did for those 15 or 20 minutes, but I think the parking lot people didn't say she was running, just walking. And it does take time to walk from the gym to the road.

 

[jewelsmac]

The change in time - odd, but I need to go back and see the original report. It may be a misunderstanding.
The parking lot people - that is not strange at all. The parking lot is down a hill from the road, with trees around it. So she was spotted, they reported it, but she disappears from their vantage point.
The search warrants - that has never been answered and I have wondered about that since they mentioned it. I don't think they would need a search warrant to verify time of the 911 call though, as that would have been logged.
Serenity standing by the gate for 20 minutes - that is pure speculation, and I don't think it is true. Just because she was seen there does not mean she was standing there the whole time. First she had to find a way out - again, something that is unclear - does the gym door go directly outside or to a hallway? Then once out did she run directly to the gate and wait? I don't think so. Neither the parking lot people nor the staff member indicated that she was merely waiting. They both reported her as moving - to the road, along the road, then up into the hills. At no point was she seen simply standing and waiting. I don't think it is a valid assumption to say that when she left the gym, she ran as fast as she could for the cattle guard and then simply stood there for 20 minutes. That still doesn't explain entirely what Serenity did for those 15 or 20 minutes, but I think the parking lot people didn't say she was running, just walking. And it does take time to walk from the gym to the road.

Agreed on the 911 call. LE would have records of this and would not need a warrant to figure out when they called.