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

[misgrn]

Again, I don't know BHCH's run policies or procedures (and we know they didn't follow them) but where I worked if staff lost sight of a child running away at the last facility I worked at, we checked our dumpsters. Granted ours were in a closed unlocked fenced in area but we searched that area and looked inside the dumpster just in case. Ours had the heavy plastic lids. None of our shorter kids could flip those kids open, let alone close them if the were all the way open so not sure if Serenity would be able too. We were in town and the possibility of a child hiding there was slim because of all the places they could go instead but we still checked them.

The other residential treatment place I worked locked the gate for the dumpster area but we still checked it.

I would think that since BHCH is rural with wild animals in the area, they would keep the lids at least closed. I seem to remember a pic showing a dumpster in an open area but maybe I am remembering it wrong or it was an old picture. I hope they searched any that were on or near the property.

 

[Caylee Advocate]

Cadaver dogs pick up scents while searching for Serenity Dennard



"As for the possibility of Serenity Dennard being moved by wild animals in the area, Thom said it's not likely." ??????????

 

[K9Enzo]

Cadaver dogs pick up scents while searching for Serenity Dennard



"As for the possibility of Serenity Dennard being moved by wild animals in the area, Thom said it's not likely." ??????????

Interesting. IMO, I don’t think about large animals like bears and mountain lions but smaller scavenger animals, they will also take off with clothing.

 

[human]

Hmmm, you got me thinking of the dumpsters our trash service uses. They are a thick plastic material. Some have lids, some have sliding side panels.

I really really hope that they checked out these possibilities back in the beginning.

And I wonder, if they continue to draw a blank on this little girl, would they even pursue checking into their trash hauler? Like, how soon after she ran, was their trash day? I hope not that very day!

How could a dumpster have sliding side panels? The garbage would fall out if opened by her

 

[flashy09]

So the cadaver dogs have not had a scent for 2 weeks according to the article. Does that mean they are not alerting anymore when brought back to the same spot in the more recent searches?

 

[PommyMommy]

So the cadaver dogs have not had a scent for 2 weeks according to the article. Does that mean they are not alerting anymore when brought back to the same spot in the more recent searches?

I may be wrong but I think that is just because the last dog team searches were two weeks ago. MOO

 

[Anicole]

How could a dumpster have sliding side panels? The garbage would fall out if opened by her

Almost all commercial dumpsters here have side panels that slide open/closed. If they're full, and someone opens them, sure, the trash will come out if it's right there. But, they open and close so that you can put smaller stuff in without having to sling it over the top. The sliding doors are always closed when they're full or getting close to being full, and I've watched the waste truck drivers get out and close them if they're open on pick-up days before being dumped into the truck.

 

[human]

Almost all commercial dumpsters here have side panels that slide open/closed. If they're full, and someone opens them, sure, the trash will come out if it's right there. But, they open and close so that you can put smaller stuff in without having to sling it over the top. The sliding doors are always closed when they're full or getting close to being full, and I've watched the waste truck drivers get out and close them if they're open on pick-up days before being dumped into the truck.

I have. never seen anything with sliding doors. Is it something like this?

Sliding Side Door | Impact Plastics

 

[CSIDreamer]

I have. never seen anything with sliding doors. Is it something like this?

Sliding Side Door | Impact Plastics

Yes, exactly.

 

[Stunned]

Haleigh Cummings, 11 year? 12?

 

[Podengo]

I’m in N.C. and Ive never seen a dumpster without a sliding door on the side.

 

[PommyMommy]

Haleigh Cummings, 11 year? 12?

Feb 10, 2019 marked 10 years missing.

 

[Jethro4WS]

i don't know if they have spent time searching through the creeks during these searches but the one spot that I would like to know if it were searched is Hippie Hole, in general, and the waterfall basin at the bottom of the falls and the pooling area at the top of the falls.

Google Maps

 

[Steelslady]

OMG, thank God I got back on here in time. Editing this post- I don't know how it ended up on this thread!

 

[Jim_M]

i don't know if they have spent time searching through the creeks during these searches but the one spot that I would like to know if it were searched is Hippie Hole, in general, and the waterfall basin at the bottom of the falls and the pooling area at the top of the falls.

Google Maps

Would Serenity have been able to make it that far? And, more importantly, does LE think she could make it that far?

Don't they have a map with all their GPS tagging on their searches? Is there a newer, updated, version of that? That would show the extent of their searching IMO. At least I think so.

 

[Jethro4WS]

Would Serenity have been able to make it that far? And, more importantly, does LE think she could make it that far?

Don't they have a map with all their GPS tagging on their searches? Is there a newer, updated, version of that? That would show the extent of their searching IMO. At least I think so.

It is 1.25 miles as the crow flies. A practical walk on the flat land without going down into the gulch is about 1.5 miles from the Children's Home to the location on the map. And about 3.2 miles (lots of bends and turns following the creek) if she went and followed the little creek that runs behind the Children's home southward. That small creek later merges with Battle Creek and that is what leads to the Hippie Hole.

What I don't know is what kind of water volume was in the creek. While the USGS does have a depth gauge on Battle Creek, they don't collect data from sometime in November until sometime in March. What I do know is that it was rather warm with highs in the upper 40s to even the low 60s for several of the days prior to her disappearance with the day before being a bit colder and, of course, the day she disappeared having temperatures falling from 40 degrees around noon. (I use the Keystone, SD weather location for that information as that is much closer and much more similar to the weather conditions near the Children's Home than Rapid City weather.)

 

[human]

It is 1.25 miles as the crow flies. A practical walk on the flat land without going down into the gulch is about 1.5 miles from the Children's Home to the location on the map. And about 3.2 miles (lots of bends and turns following the creek) if she went and followed the little creek that runs behind the Children's home southward. That small creek later merges with Battle Creek and that is what leads to the Hippie Hole.

What I don't know is what kind of water volume was in the creek. While the USGS does have a depth gauge on Battle Creek, they don't collect data from sometime in November until sometime in March. What I do know is that it was rather warm with highs in the upper 40s to even the low 60s for several of the days prior to her disappearance with the day before being a bit colder and, of course, the day she disappeared having temperatures falling from 40 degrees around noon. (I use the Keystone, SD weather location for that information as that is much closer and much more similar to the weather conditions near the Children's Home than Rapid City weather.)

How soon would hypothermia set in as she was walking along?

 

[sloane7777]

OMG, thank God I got back on here in time. Editing this post- I don't know how it ended up on this thread!

LOL I answered the wrong post on this thread and got myself banned for a week, it basically looked like I was trashing the mods ...dont feel too bad , I'm sure mine sounded worse than yours ! I still feel bad about what it sounded like EEKS!!

 

[Jethro4WS]

How soon would hypothermia set in as she was walking along?

Not for quite a while if she didn't get wet - perhaps a few hours. Hypothermia is when your body temperature drops below 95 degrees. It more often occurs when you are wet and much more so if you are immersed in water since water is much better conductor of heat than the air - 25 times more conductive. Consequently water is 25 times faster than air at removing heat from a human body. Water will keep drawing heat as it attempts to equalize its temperature with the temperature of the warmer body.

But simply having wet clothes, even just pant legs, is enough to draw down body temperature and your body just can't produce heat fast enough to replace the heat being drawn off. But it takes a longer amount of time than having been immersed in water.

Remaining dry, even without a coat or some layers of clothing, would still take a few hours for hypothermia to set in.

How far Serenity could have gone really depends on how determined Serenity was in trying to get to wherever she thought she was going.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Without a coat in the 30s (minus whatever the wind chill was), I do not believe it would take a few hours for hypothermia to set in. MOO.