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

[K9Enzo]

It is a bit confusing that weather is such a complaint in this case. Serenity is not the first child or person to go missing
during one season and still not located into another season.

Could it be that the searchers know there is not any way they are going to find an alive Serenity? Therefore, working in the heat makes their job really miserable with the sun bearing down on them all day?

First, it was the snow and ice made the terrain unsafe to search. Now we are hearing about the heat. Perhaps it’s just bothersome to me! It grates on my nerves that anyone in the search parties or the Sheriff finds the weather to be intolerable.

This is a 9 year old child, she has family, friends, and many loved ones that need her found. They are suffering more than any searcher volunteering his/her time. What is up?

My response and opinion is pretty straightforward. The safety of searchers is always considered and should be. For SAR and volunteers this is a recovery effort, they are not searching for a live child.

On a side note: I can absolutely tell you SAR hearts are heavy when they don’t find or recover the missing.

 

[AnnaGrace]

Serenity is never far from my thoughts. I'm always hoping for an update on her or the search. I hope there's news soon.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

58 mins ago:
“First of three days of searching for young Serenity Dennard by the Colorado Forensic Canines (CFC). A big thanks to Letta and her dog Piper, Linda and her dog Banner and navigator Gary.
Pennington County Chief Deputy Brian Mueller, Captain Tony Harrison and Gayle Schmidt with Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department are working with the CFC.”
First of three days of searching for... - Pennington County Sheriff's Office | Facebook

 

[SkipperKey3]

Serenity is never far from my thoughts. I'm always hoping for an update on her or the search. I hope there's news soon.

Same here.
And I can't tell you how many times in the last couple of weeks the word "serenity" or the name "Serenity" has popped up around me. And every time it does, I think of Serenity.

 

[AnnaGrace]

Same here.
And I can't tell you how many times in the last couple of weeks the word "serenity" or the name "Serenity" has popped up around me. And every time it does, I think of Serenity.

Yes. And anything about the Dakotas. It's the same for me.

 

[PommyMommy]

JUL 7, 2019
KELOLAND On The Go, July 7
[...]

A forensic canine unit from Colorado has joined the crews who have been searching for Serenity Dennard, the 9-tear-old girl who walked away from the Black Hills Children’s Home more than five months ago.

Today will be slightly warmer than yesterday as afternoon highs warm to the low to middle 80s. Leftover rain from last night may linger around central and eastern SD.

 

[Rocco]

From the Senator's site:

This is a video of Serenity's last KNOWN walk, before her disappearance

 

[girlhasnoname]

From the Senator's site:

This is a video of Serenity's last KNOWN walk, before her disappearance

This video gave me chills, poor Serenity. I know the weather was much different at the time of her disappearance, but it appears she could have gotten to the cattleguard heading to the main road fairly quickly. The dogs lost her scent there, could she have been picked up by another vehicle? I've never given that much weight until now.

Hoping answers are coming soon!

 

[Curiousobserver]

This video gave me chills, poor Serenity. I know the weather was much different at the time of her disappearance, but it appears she could have gotten to the cattleguard heading to the main road fairly quickly. The dogs lost her scent there, could she have been picked up by another vehicle? I've never given that much weight until now.

Hoping answers are coming soon!

That is the best case scenario right now; that she was picked up by someone. The temperatures were brutal on the day/night she went missing and not survivable for more than an hour or two for how she was dressed.

Most lost children are found a mile or so from where they were last seen and I can't believe she got too much farther in that cold on her own. Searchers would have come across her by now.

I have actually thought that she was picked up from the very beginning.

 

[Burnt_Biscuits]

From the Senator's site:

This is a video of Serenity's last KNOWN walk, before her disappearance

Ya know damn well that someone picked her up... I believe this was a '' planned '' meeting place...

 

[CSIDreamer]

Ya know damn well that someone picked her up... I believe this was a '' planned '' meeting place...

I don't know the answer to this, so I'm honestly asking. Who in the world has free enough communication with a 9 year old in a children's home to plan that?

 

[Curiousobserver]

Ya know damn well that someone picked her up... I believe this was a '' planned '' meeting place...

Anything is possible but I have always thought it was opportunistic.

Her family wouldn't have needed to abduct her.

 

[AnnaGrace]

Wow! If this is correct and the dogs tracked her to that spot, lost her scent there and didn't pick it back up, it certainly leads one to think she was picked up there. I don't know what to think now. I had just recently come to terms that she was lost and succumbed to the weather. Now, I just don't know.

 

[K9Enzo]

IMO, I would urge strong caution in the interpretation of the tracking dog(s) unless it came from the SAR command lead (given by the handler), then given to LE as a statement.

 

[Burnt_Biscuits]

I don't know the answer to this, so I'm honestly asking. Who in the world has free enough communication with a 9 year old in a children's home to plan that?

Her family ??... perhaps Chad and or Kasandra ??... friends of the family ???... There is more to this disappearance then is being said... The whole story is NOT being told.. why else would there be a gag order for family members not to discuss this with the public or media ??....

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Yesterday at 8:26 PM [EDT]:
“Our Colorado K9 teams are done searching for the day. Unfortunately Serenity Dennard was not found, but a lot of ground was covered. The search and investigation continue.”
Our Colorado K9 teams are done searching... - Pennington County Sheriff's Office | Facebook

1 hr ago:
“Piper is ready for another day of searching. Grateful for Colorado Forensic Canines assisting us in our ongoing efforts to find Serenity. Lette is Piper's handler and Gary is one of CFC's assistants.”
Piper is ready for another day of... - Pennington County Sheriff's Office | Facebook

1 hr ago:
“Linda and Banner, Gary, PCSO Investigator Jamin Hartland, Lette and Piper working this beautiful Monday morning.”
Pennington County Sheriff's Office

The first post includes a video of yesterday’s search, and the second post one from this morning.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Her family ??... perhaps Chad and or Kasandra ??... friends of the family ???... There is more to this disappearance then is being said... The whole story is NOT being told.. why else would there be a gag order for family members not to discuss this with the public or media ??....

Seems wildly improbable. Not impossible, but not very likely. And LE has followed up on all family members, I believe.

 

[SkipperKey3]

IMO, I would urge strong caution in the interpretation of the tracking dog(s) unless it came from the SAR command lead (given by the handler), then given to LE as a statement.

I agree. That video is interesting, but I've never seen it actually said by dog handlers or LE that Serenity was actually tracked to the road, where the trail ends.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Wow! If this is correct and the dogs tracked her to that spot, lost her scent there and didn't pick it back up, it certainly leads one to think she was picked up there. I don't know what to think now. I had just recently come to terms that she was lost and succumbed to the weather. Now, I just don't know.

If she was merely picked up there by the cattle grate, though, wouldn't the person who spotter her have seen that? My understanding of what the person saw indicated that she was walking north along the road when they lost sight of her, not that she was just standing by the cattle grate.

 

[SkipperKey3]

From the Senator's site:
" -
This is a video of Serenity's last KNOWN walk, before her disappearance

This is indeed an interesting video, but it is not accurate, at least not entirely.
0:14 - "She walked out of these doors at 11:20 AM." - It has always been stated that she ran from the gym at 10:45-ish and was seen outside at 11:00 up by the road. Not sure where the 11:20 time comes from.
2:00 - "The last person to see her drove past her at this cattleguard" - Again, not true. To my knowledge, nobody has ever said they "drove past her". The person who spotter her was in the parking lot, not driving by. And she wasn't just at the cattleguard, but walking north along the road.
2:04 - "They drove by again a few minutes later and she was NO LONGER THERE" - this is only partially true. They did leave the parking lot and drove up and down looking for her, but didn't find her.

The video, however, does give a good feel for the area, even if it is in the summertime rather than in the winter when Serenity ran. It does give you an idea that Serenity, walking north along the road, would have quickly disappeared from the sight of somebody in the parking lot, because of the trees around the parking lot and bordering the road.

I would be curious to know, if this video is accurate regarding the tracking dogs, WHEN the tracking was done. It would have been quite some time later, rather than immediately. It was several hours before LE even arrived, and I don't believe at that point that they had a dog team there. And by the time they got a search together, there had been a fair amount of traffic on the road, and dropping temps, and snowfall, all of which would have served to eliminate her scent on the road. Were they used at that point further north on the road to try to determine where she may have left the road, such as on the little road that intersects S. Rockerville Rd. a little north of the Home? The video doesn't say, and I've never read of such an attempt either.