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

[AnnaGrace]

Replying to SkipperKey.
This is true, and is why I said if this is correct. I would need to hear it from LE or a team handler/lead on the search. We haven't heard anything like that from them to my knowledge. Still, it makes one question if that could have happened. I would love for the search teams to find something, anything of Serenity. I want her found.

 

[1&2&3]

Did the videography just stop at the gate as I am sure the official posts say “she was walking north along the road when they lost sight of her”?

Thanks for the video. Beautiful and secluded area. Of course Serenity would have been running so would have made quicker time from the door she exited to the road.

I only see two possibilities. One is that we haven’t been told the true story of what happened which has raised a question with the timeframe from the beginning or two, that Serenity was picked up.

The area searched today is how far in walking distance from the house? Is there any possibility Serenity could have walked that distance in the cold?

While I know everything is being done to find Serenity, what is the normal length of time a search is carried out for a person?

My feelings are this search may be extended due to the fact the state is involved in a lost child. Serious troubles!

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

8 mins ago:
“We thank the Colorado Forensic Canines (CFC) for their expertise and guidance in the search for Serenity Dennard, missing since February 3. They spent the last three days searching an expanded area around the Black Hills Children's Home. At the end of this long, hot day, the dogs enjoyed paying ball in the creek.”

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=811762089225884

Colorado Forensic Canines search for Serenity

 

[Rocco]

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.

Thanks for pointing out the actual facts. I'm with you---the video is interesting but that's about it. Accuracy doesn't seem to be at the top of the Senator's list when putting out information. It's more about sensationalism and bizarre polls now days for her IMO.

 

[K9Enzo]

8 mins ago:
“We thank the Colorado Forensic Canines (CFC) for their expertise and guidance in the search for Serenity Dennard, missing since February 3. They spent the last three days searching an expanded area around the Black Hills Children's Home. At the end of this long, hot day, the dogs enjoyed paying ball in the creek.”

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=811762089225884

Colorado Forensic Canines search for Serenity

This video makes me incredibly happy. Working dogs being rewarded with a ball and a dip in the cool creek after a search. Even though they did not find her, they cleared a area. Good doggies.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

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.

RSBM for focus

All from Pennington County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page:
Feb. 3:
“[SBM]
Pennington County Deputies, Pennington County Search and Rescue, Custer County Search and Rescue, Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City Fire Department and at least three dogs are searching the area around Highway 16 and Rockerville.” (BBM)
[Not sure what time this was posted ... sorry ... but according to the article linked below:

“1:16 p.m.:
Several deputies on scene. Lt. Sheriff Kraig Wood calls authorizes mobilization of Pennington County Search and Rescue teams that builds through the afternoon into a 35 person search effort.” (BBM)
Reported timelines on Serenity Dennard's disappearance are confusing

[back to the PCSO FB page]
“6:44pm—We have NOT yet found Serenity. We have no leads. It’s cold, 4 degrees and snowing. We do not need additional searchers. Many professionals are looking for this child.”

“9pm—We still have NOT found Serenity. Unfortunately no updates since she was seen before noon. No leads. The search continues.”

“5pm 2/4/19:
[SBM]
More than 65 people and four dogs continue searching the area around the Children’s Home including Pennington County Deputies, Pennington County Search and Rescue, Custer County Search and Rescue, Rapid City Police Department, Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City Fire Department and the Civil Air Patrol.
[SBM]” (BBM)

[Also posted on Feb. 4]
“Search update: Because of the bitter cold, we only have six minutes of the news conference on the search for 9 year old Serenity Dennard. The equipment stopped recording.”

“10:30am, 2/5/19--More than 100 people including dogs are looking for nine year old Serenity Dennard on this third day of the search in dangerously cold weather in and around the Black Hills Children’s Home in Rockerville. Deputies having been going door to door speaking with neighbors and looking in outbuildings, log piles, hay bales, anywhere a child might hide or take refuge. Serenity left the home Sunday, February 3, 2019, before noon.
[SBM]” (BBM)
Pennington County Sheriff's Office

From Feb. 9:
“By the end of the weekend, 14 dogs with five different kinds of specialties will have searched for the girl who ran away from a residential youth home in rural Pennington County last Sunday.
[SBM]
Seven dogs specializing in tracking, trailing, air scent, and/or urban and wilderness search looked for 9-year-old Serenity Dennard last Sunday, Monday Tuesday and Friday, Stadel said. The weather was too cold and dangerous on Wednesday and Thursday, and Dennard was already presumed dead by Tuesday night if she spent her time in the woods.
[SBM]
The first seven dogs came from PCSR, Custer County Search and Rescue, the Rapid City Fire Department, and an independent dog handler, Stadel said. Four different kinds of search and rescue dogs were represented within that group: tracking, trailing, air scent, and urban and wilderness search dogs.
[SBM]
She said said rain can wash scent away while snow can blanket the smell. ‘Bitter cold’ weather creates smaller scent molecules, which means the smell doesn't travel as far or smell as strong.
[SBM]” (BBM)
14 dogs with five specialties have helped look for missing girl

 

[SkipperKey3]

Thanks for pointing out the actual facts. I'm with you---the video is interesting but that's about it. Accuracy doesn't seem to be at the top of the Senator's list when putting out information. It's more about sensationalism and bizarre polls now days for her IMO.

I know some people think this, but I actually think that the Senator's heart is in the right place, and she really wants Serenity found. In the past, when she had gotten facts wrong or mixed up, like the boots (which she had at one time said were just sneakers), she has owned up to it. I really don't think she is in this just for the sensationalism.

 

[SkipperKey3]

RSBM for focus

All from Pennington County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page:
Feb. 3:
“[SBM]
Pennington County Deputies, Pennington County Search and Rescue, Custer County Search and Rescue, Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City Fire Department and at least three dogs are searching the area around Highway 16 and Rockerville.” (BBM)
[Not sure what time this was posted ... sorry ... but according to the article linked below:

“1:16 p.m.:
Several deputies on scene. Lt. Sheriff Kraig Wood calls authorizes mobilization of Pennington County Search and Rescue teams that builds through the afternoon into a 35 person search effort.” (BBM)
Reported timelines on Serenity Dennard's disappearance are confusing

[back to the PCSO FB page]
“6:44pm—We have NOT yet found Serenity. We have no leads. It’s cold, 4 degrees and snowing. We do not need additional searchers. Many professionals are looking for this child.”

“9pm—We still have NOT found Serenity. Unfortunately no updates since she was seen before noon. No leads. The search continues.”

“5pm 2/4/19:
[SBM]
More than 65 people and four dogs continue searching the area around the Children’s Home including Pennington County Deputies, Pennington County Search and Rescue, Custer County Search and Rescue, Rapid City Police Department, Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City Fire Department and the Civil Air Patrol.
[SBM]” (BBM)

[Also posted on Feb. 4]
“Search update: Because of the bitter cold, we only have six minutes of the news conference on the search for 9 year old Serenity Dennard. The equipment stopped recording.”

“10:30am, 2/5/19--More than 100 people including dogs are looking for nine year old Serenity Dennard on this third day of the search in dangerously cold weather in and around the Black Hills Children’s Home in Rockerville. Deputies having been going door to door speaking with neighbors and looking in outbuildings, log piles, hay bales, anywhere a child might hide or take refuge. Serenity left the home Sunday, February 3, 2019, before noon.
[SBM]” (BBM)
Pennington County Sheriff's Office

From Feb. 9:
“By the end of the weekend, 14 dogs with five different kinds of specialties will have searched for the girl who ran away from a residential youth home in rural Pennington County last Sunday.
[SBM]
Seven dogs specializing in tracking, trailing, air scent, and/or urban and wilderness search looked for 9-year-old Serenity Dennard last Sunday, Monday Tuesday and Friday, Stadel said. The weather was too cold and dangerous on Wednesday and Thursday, and Dennard was already presumed dead by Tuesday night if she spent her time in the woods.
[SBM]
The first seven dogs came from PCSR, Custer County Search and Rescue, the Rapid City Fire Department, and an independent dog handler, Stadel said. Four different kinds of search and rescue dogs were represented within that group: tracking, trailing, air scent, and urban and wilderness search dogs.
[SBM]
She said said rain can wash scent away while snow can blanket the smell. ‘Bitter cold’ weather creates smaller scent molecules, which means the smell doesn't travel as far or smell as strong.
[SBM]” (BBM)
14 dogs with five specialties have helped look for missing girl

Thanks. that doesn't answer all the questions, but it does place the dogs on the scene with S&R pretty early on. I think it was 3 hours or more before S&R teams were even assembled, however.
I can understand them losing the scent at the road. The video says they tracked her scent to the road, but these reports don't actually say that. We do know the weather was very detrimental to the efforts, though.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

I can understand them losing the scent at the road. The video says they tracked her scent to the road, but these reports don't actually say that. We do know the weather was very detrimental to the efforts, though.

RSBM for focus

I still haven’t been able to find anything that corroborates the senator’s statement that the dogs lost her scent at the road. Hopefully, there will be a clarification.

And you are absolutely right about the weather and its effects on search activities:

Feb 9, 2019
“[SBM]

When search and rescue personnel arrived in the early afternoon last Sunday to search for 9-year-old Serenity Dennard near the Black Hills Children's Home near Rockerville, there was little snow on the ground, said Willie Whelchel, chief deputy of the Pennington County Sheriff's Office.

‘There would have been no footprints in the snow because we didn't have any,’ he said. The snow began falling mid-afternoon, and would have covered up evidence of Dennard's trail, such as overturned leaves.

‘Quite frankly, the snow didn't help us with this,’ Whelchel said of the fresh snow that fell after Dennard went missing and throughout the week. ‘It makes it harder for the dogs, it makes it harder for ground folks to be searching obviously because it would be very easy to go right by something.’

Rain can wash scent away while snow can blanket the smell, said Tammy Stadel, a dog handler and the team leader for Pennington County Search and Rescue. Cold weather creates smaller scent molecules, which means the smell doesn't travel as far or smell as strong.

[SBM]

Whelchel said the sheriff's office ‘made every attempt’ to get helicopters or planes with heat imaging devices, but the weather — low clouds and snow — didn't allow any aircraft to take off.

‘From a law enforcement perspective, we're always looking to get involved as soon as possible,’ Whelchel said when asked if staff at the Children's Home should have called 911 sooner.

[SBM]

Despite snow and below-freezing temperatures, more than 200 people and dogs searched for Dennard Sunday through Tuesday, and a plane from the Civil Air Patrol was able to fly Monday. Whelchel said people with hand-held heat imaging devices first looked in areas where Dennard would have been familiar with from going on hikes with staff from the Children's Home.

[SBM]

He [Whelchel] also said the search has turned up no evidence from her, such as clothing or items she may have been carrying.

[SBM]

However, a woman dropping a family member off at the facility did see Dennard at a nearby cattle gate around 11 a.m.

He said the woman saw Dennard after dropping the relative off and was backing up her car, which had another passenger inside. The woman got out of her car and went inside to tell the staff that there was a girl outside. Meanwhile, the other person inside the car saw Dennard walk north up the road. By the time the woman returned to her car, Dennard was gone, and she couldn't find her as she drove up and down the road.

[SBM]”
Weather on day girl went missing significantly hurt search efforts

 

[SkipperKey3]

RSBM for focus

I still haven’t been able to find anything that corroborates the senator’s statement that dogs lost her scent at the road. Hopefully, there will be a clarification.

And you are absolutely right about the weather and its effects on search activities:

<Snipped>
He said the woman saw Dennard after dropping the relative off and was backing up her car, which had another passenger inside. The woman got out of her car and went inside to tell the staff that there was a girl outside. Meanwhile, the other person inside the car saw Dennard walk north up the road. By the time the woman returned to her car, Dennard was gone, and she couldn't find her as she drove up and down the road.

Weather on day girl went missing significantly hurt search efforts

Snipped this and bolded by me. It is interesting. I thought MSM had said that only one person, the passenger in the car, actually saw Serenity, but this indicates that they both saw her.
What is also curious, and has been all along, is the fact that Serenity disappeared so quickly. She was there walking north along the road, but when they drove up there, she was gone. It would have taken a few minutes for the woman to go inside, inform staff, and return to her car, but not that long. If Serenity was walking along the road, she should have been spotted when they drove up and down the road. Moreover, Serenity wasn't running along the road, she was walking. The window of time between when she was seen and when they drove up and down the road looking for her was pretty small.
Most of us would think "it's cold out here, I'd better go back inside", but there is no guarantee that Serenity thought that. Did she head back toward the buildings, or continue north along the road off the property? Was her goal at that point to find someplace warm, to keep walking in an effort to get home, or to hide? (By some accounts, she was good at hiding. Too good?) I wish we knew what happened in the few minutes after she was spotted!

 

[Seattle1]

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.

Actually, there were many msn news clips citing 11:20 a.m., and they are still out there.

An Endangered Missing Advisory has now been issued for a 9-year-old Pennington County girl.

Serenity June Dennard was last seen Sunday around 11:20 a.m. at the Black Hills Children’s Home. Authorities say she walked away while not appropriately dressed for the cold weather.
UPDATE: Investigators speak to couple who saw missing 9-year-old

By the end of April, investigators acknowledged that there was much confusion in the information about Serenity's disappearance, and attempted to clear up the misunderstandings in the link below.
New details emerge in search for Serenity Dennard - KNBN NewsCenter1

Personally, I thought there more confusion on reporting about the dog searches -- such as where "human scent" ended, and when "cadaver scent" followed.

I also believe the weather immediately following Feb 3 only hindered both the human and dog searches.

Everyday I hope it will be the day I will read that Serenity is located.

MOO

 

[SkipperKey3]

Actually, there were many msn news clips citing 11:20 a.m., and they are still out there.

An Endangered Missing Advisory has now been issued for a 9-year-old Pennington County girl.

Serenity June Dennard was last seen Sunday around 11:20 a.m. at the Black Hills Children’s Home. Authorities say she walked away while not appropriately dressed for the cold weather.
UPDATE: Investigators speak to couple who saw missing 9-year-old

By the end of April, investigators acknowledged that there was much confusion in the information about Serenity's disappearance, and attempted to clear up the misunderstandings in the link below.
New details emerge in search for Serenity Dennard - KNBN NewsCenter1

Personally, I thought there more confusion on reporting about the dog searches -- such as where "human scent" ended, and when "cadaver scent" followed.

I also believe the weather immediately following Feb 3 only hindered both the human and dog searches.

Everyday I hope it will be the day I will read that Serenity is located.

MOO

When I went looking after I wrote that, I did find some early on that quote her last being seen at 11:20. But the later articles all say 11:00. Even so, what you quoted has her "last being seen" at 11:20, but the video says "she walked out these doors at 11:20". That's different. That indicates that she ran at 11:20, not that she was last seen at 11:20. Nonetheless, I think most of the later stories have her last seen at 11:00, not as late as 11:20.

The second article which you gave doesn't actually give a time. But it did give this, which is interesting:

Sheriff Thom says two people who don’t work for the Children’s Home saw Serenity while they were in the parking lot. As far as investigators know, they are the last people to have seen her. The people in the parking lot tell investigators that Serenity crossed the cattle guard and headed north on South Rockerville Road.

After telling staff she was missing, they left the facility.

“Those two witnesses drove back out onto South Rockerville road, and didn’t see Serenity,” Thom said. “In that three to five minute window, she was no longer on the road. Where she went from there is what we’re trying to ascertain.”
​

I bolded the part that says what I said earlier - the window between when she was seen walking north and when they drove out to find her was very short.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Replying to SkipperKey.
This is true, and is why I said if this is correct. I would need to hear it from LE or a team handler/lead on the search. We haven't heard anything like that from them to my knowledge. Still, it makes one question if that could have happened. I would love for the search teams to find something, anything of Serenity. I want her found.

As do we all.

 

[Rocco]

When I went looking after I wrote that, I did find some early on that quote her last being seen at 11:20. But the later articles all say 11:00. Even so, what you quoted has her "last being seen" at 11:20, but the video says "she walked out these doors at 11:20". That's different. That indicates that she ran at 11:20, not that she was last seen at 11:20. Nonetheless, I think most of the later stories have her last seen at 11:00, not as late as 11:20.

The second article which you gave doesn't actually give a time. But it did give this, which is interesting:

Sheriff Thom says two people who don’t work for the Children’s Home saw Serenity while they were in the parking lot. As far as investigators know, they are the last people to have seen her. The people in the parking lot tell investigators that Serenity crossed the cattle guard and headed north on South Rockerville Road.

After telling staff she was missing, they left the facility.

“Those two witnesses drove back out onto South Rockerville road, and didn’t see Serenity,” Thom said. “In that three to five minute window, she was no longer on the road. Where she went from there is what we’re trying to ascertain.”
​

I bolded the part that says what I said earlier - the window between when she was seen walking north and when they drove out to find her was very short.

delete

 

[Seattle1]

When I went looking after I wrote that, I did find some early on that quote her last being seen at 11:20. But the later articles all say 11:00. Even so, what you quoted has her "last being seen" at 11:20, but the video says "she walked out these doors at 11:20". That's different. That indicates that she ran at 11:20, not that she was last seen at 11:20. Nonetheless, I think most of the later stories have her last seen at 11:00, not as late as 11:20.

The second article which you gave doesn't actually give a time. But it did give this, which is interesting:

Sheriff Thom says two people who don’t work for the Children’s Home saw Serenity while they were in the parking lot. As far as investigators know, they are the last people to have seen her. The people in the parking lot tell investigators that Serenity crossed the cattle guard and headed north on South Rockerville Road.

After telling staff she was missing, they left the facility.

“Those two witnesses drove back out onto South Rockerville road, and didn’t see Serenity,” Thom said. “In that three to five minute window, she was no longer on the road. Where she went from there is what we’re trying to ascertain.”
​

I bolded the part that says what I said earlier - the window between when she was seen walking north and when they drove out to find her was very short.

Respectfully, my msm quote last seen Sunday around 11:20 a.m. at the Black Hills Children’s Home was provided to corroborate imposed text on video "She walked out these doors [Black Hills Children's Home] at 11:20 a.m. ....." after a post cited the video as being inaccurate.

I believe continued awareness will locate Serenity. Perfect syntax, not so much.

Really, the gist of "last seen at the home" and "walked out the doors of the home" is close enough for me.

MOO

 

[Cagle]

A South Dakota state lawmaker has been hit with a no-trespass order after a social media blowup over her activism in a missing girl case.

The Rapid City Journal reports that the dispute began when one of Republican state Sen. Lynne DiSanto's constituents accused her of using Serenity Dennard's disappearance for personal gain.

Social media spat erupts over South Dakota missing girl case | Newser

 

[Steelslady]

A South Dakota state lawmaker has been hit with a no-trespass order after a social media blowup over her activism in a missing girl case.

The Rapid City Journal reports that the dispute began when one of Republican state Sen. Lynne DiSanto's constituents accused her of using Serenity Dennard's disappearance for personal gain.

Social media spat erupts over South Dakota missing girl case | Newser

Now that is just sick. What is wrong with people? Do people really think that her advocating for Serenity being found is going to sway voters one way or the other? I swear to God, people fight over every little thing today. Everything is offensive, everything is motive driver, blah blah blah. Meanwhile, little Serenity is now part of a stupid political battle.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Respectfully, my msm quote last seen Sunday around 11:20 a.m. at the Black Hills Children’s Home was provided to corroborate imposed text on video "She walked out these doors [Black Hills Children's Home] at 11:20 a.m. ....." after a post cited the video as being inaccurate.

I believe continued awareness will locate Serenity. Perfect syntax, not so much.

Really, the gist of "last seen at the home" and "walked out the doors of the home" is close enough for me.

MOO

No problem. That was my post. I have been digging since and I have found plenty of articles that say she ran around 10:45am and was last seen around 11:00am, but I've seen others that say she "left the home" around 10:45 but was "last seen" around 11:20am. So that leads to the confusion. I wonder how it would have taken her 35 minutes to get to the road (without being seen) though. I do still have a bit of a problem with saying that she "walked out the doors" at 11:20, though. There is enough of a difference, when trying to figure out what happened.

Nonetheless, the point is, as you say, continued awareness.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Now that is just sick. What is wrong with people? Do people really think that her advocating for Serenity being found is going to sway voters one way or the other? I swear to God, people fight over every little thing today. Everything is offensive, everything is motive driver, blah blah blah. Meanwhile, little Serenity is now part of a stupid political battle.

I have as much of an issue with the other person. People shouldn't publically accuse other people of such actions or motives unless they have some sort of proof. Yet you see it all the time on social media and forums.
All this serves to detract from the real issue, unfortunately.

 

[Rocco]

Anyone local have any more information on this:

'Searchers find body of missing girl in the Cheyenne River'

It's posted on the Senator's site but the link won't open.

The link is to BlackHillsFox.com and was posted an hour ago

ETA

Disregard---it apparently was a 5 yr old they found

Thanks Senator for posting that headline but not adding a post of your own to clarify that it wasn't Serenity.