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

[Monkey boy]

There are fire codes.... The doors can not be locked

 

[Yellow Rose]

I honestly thought with the new squad of dogs we’d have found this angel by now-so sad. The expanded search this weekend, weather permitting prayerfully recovers her

 

[IceIce9]

There are fire codes.... The doors can not be locked

How can doors be locked in buildings like memory care facilities? I never really thought about fire codes but I’ve been in facilities where the doors are always locked and only staff can open with their swipe card.

 

[Rachel1]

Ita. I was being optimistic.
I also don’t believe she could have kept a secret, so any prearranged plan would need to involve an adult & I dont believe that happened, nor am I implying or suggesting, to be clear. Moo

I hadn't read your comment yet when I posted so I definitely didn't write that to try to be cheeky or dispute your theory. I do believe we all should be allowed to voice our own theories and wouldn't intentionally poo poo on someone's just because it doesn't fit with mine .I think it's actually a good thing that we all have different ideas to toss around. It gives us all something to think about. I just didn't want you to think I was directing my post at you
It's great to hold out hope . You must have a caring heart.

 

[Trudie]

S

How can doors be locked in buildings like memory care facilities? I never really thought about fire codes but I’ve been in facilities where the doors are always locked and only staff can open with their swipe card.

Some doors will unlock if a fire pull station is activated, afaik. Wherever we are with “fire exit”, the door will open from the inside, IMO.

 

[Trudie]

I hadn't read your comment yet when I posted so I definitely didn't write that to try to be cheeky or dispute your theory. I do believe we all should be allowed to voice our own theories and wouldn't intentionally poo poo on someone's just because it doesn't fit with mine .I think it's actually a good thing that we all have different ideas to toss around. It gives us all something to think about. I just didn't want you to think I was directing my post at you
It's great to hold out hope . You must have a caring heart.

Lol, np.
If the weekend searches turn up nothing, then what? I don’t have small kids, my neighbor kids are 9 & 12, they are very active & appear physically fit. I know I could out run them. I understand the attendant couldn’t leave but I think I would have taken the chance the kids inside would be safe. Honestly, I have no idea wth happened here & no reason to think it’s other than reported. I tend to think a lot, until I have facts.

 

[Curiousobserver]

How can doors be locked in buildings like memory care facilities? I never really thought about fire codes but I’ve been in facilities where the doors are always locked and only staff can open with their swipe card.

I don't know if that is always the case. There is one in my backyard and we hear the alarm go off a couple times a month when a resident decides to check themselves out.

 

[Curiousobserver]

I am actually hoping she was picked up by someone because it is the only chance she has of being alive. Its odd that not a single trace of her has turned up. If she were walking then she most likely didn't make it more than a couple of miles away from the facility before she would have been too cold to go on. The area doesn't look like it is thickly wooded with dense undergrowth to hide in(from the Google views).

 

[Forpsy]

Serenity Dennard: Children’s home staff WAITED to call cops after 9-year-old ran into woods

Staff at a South Dakota children’s home where a missing 9-year-girl vanished from late last week allegedly waited to call 911 after she ran away.

According to the Rapid City Journal, the Children’s Home Society waited for more than an hour-and-a-half after Serenity Dennard vanished before calling police. The facility’s executive director has since stepped back on prior comments that staff immediately contacted law enforcement after Dennard ran out of the gym and into some nearby woods.

“We have been reviewing the events of Sunday and have confirmed that the 911 call was placed at 12:26,” Bill Colson, executive director of the Children’s Home Society, wrote in an email to the news outlet on Thursday, revising his earlier statement that staff called 911 “right away.”

“When Serenity left staff sight on Sunday, we immediately conducted a thorough search of our grounds and buildings. When we were unable to find Serenity we called law enforcement,” Colson wrote in the email.

KELO reported that Dennard left the home at 10:45 a.m. and was last seen in the vicinity at around 11:20 a.m. Investigators have since determined that the 9-year-old was last spotted near the cattle guard in front of the home and that she was heading north on South Rockerville Road, according to the Rapid City Journal.

The question to me, is why did they wait? What was to be gained vs what was to be lost? JMO

 

[Trudie]

I am actually hoping she was picked up by someone because it is the only chance she has of being alive. Its odd that not a single trace of her has turned up. If she were walking then she most likely didn't make it more than a couple of miles away from the facility before she would have been too cold to go on. The area doesn't look like it is thickly wooded with dense undergrowth to hide in(from the Google views).

It’d be great if someone pu Jed her up...I think. But why haven’t they turned her over to LE?
MOO, every staff member is under a microscope until she’s found. A nine yr old doesn’t have the stamina of LeBron James, imo. Nor would she have survival skills, not that she could do much after her little fingers suffered frostbite.
Moo

 

[SkipperKey3]

I am actually hoping she was picked up by someone because it is the only chance she has of being alive. Its odd that not a single trace of her has turned up. If she were walking then she most likely didn't make it more than a couple of miles away from the facility before she would have been too cold to go on. The area doesn't look like it is thickly wooded with dense undergrowth to hide in(from the Google views).

In trying to see it from Serenity's viewpoint, though, it occurred to me that possibly she started down the road, but when she heard the people coming out and calling her name, she knew they were looking for her. And she didn't want to be there., She didn't want to go back. So she could have ducked out of sight, in the woods, to avoid the searchers. And if they got closer, she went further in and just kept going to get away. Once she was far enough away, she was effectively lost, with no clue which way to go.
That theory would seemingly leave tracks, but the wind was blowing, which could have served to hide her tracks by the time a more organized search was undertaken.
If that theory is true, though, it is not good news. I'm really hoping she stuck to the road and found shelter.

 

[Trudie]

In trying to see it from Serenity's viewpoint, though, it occurred to me that possibly she started down the road, but when she heard the people coming out and calling her name, she knew they were looking for her. And she didn't want to be there., She didn't want to go back. So she could have ducked out of sight, in the woods, to avoid the searchers. And if they got closer, she went further in and just kept going to get away. Once she was far enough away, she was effectively lost, with no clue which way to go.
That theory would seemingly leave tracks, but the wind was blowing, which could have served to hide her tracks by the time a more organized search was undertaken.
If that theory is true, though, it is not good news. I'm really hoping she stuck to the road and found shelter.

I think this is a plausible theory except the shelter part. I don’t think she would know what to do. IMO, kids her age freak out over new situations. I see her sobbing deliriously, colder than we thought possible, staggering along until her little legs could no longer go. Sorry to post this but......

 

[Damarna]

The staff did not watch serenity run away she ran out of the gym door into a hallway in the building. Staff called for help immediately. Some of these kids are known to run and hide in the building. I'm thinking they don't call 911 every time a child runs and hides. I have worked in many childcare settings and kids like to play hide and seek games...it seems that the staff looked for her in the building not knowing she had left the building and went outside. The parent or individual that saw her outside should have known it wasn't normal for a child to be outside by herself. This is such a heartbreaking situation

This IMO makes sense. We had a child run out of a classroom not long ago in a local school. The child actually went out and door and activated an alarm about 15 minutes after leaving the classroom. Had the alarm not gone off a delay in calling for help may have happened here as well? I don't know what to think. My gut tells me (hopes ?) There was nothing nefarious going on.

 

[Curiousobserver]

In trying to see it from Serenity's viewpoint, though, it occurred to me that possibly she started down the road, but when she heard the people coming out and calling her name, she knew they were looking for her. And she didn't want to be there., She didn't want to go back. So she could have ducked out of sight, in the woods, to avoid the searchers. And if they got closer, she went further in and just kept going to get away. Once she was far enough away, she was effectively lost, with no clue which way to go.
That theory would seemingly leave tracks, but the wind was blowing, which could have served to hide her tracks by the time a more organized search was undertaken.
If that theory is true, though, it is not good news. I'm really hoping she stuck to the road and found shelter.

I am just doing some back of the envelope calculations. If she was outside she died a few hours later. An adult takes about 20 minutes to walk 1 mile on flat ground. A 9 year old perhaps 30 minutes (if she is walking in a straight line). She could not have walked more than a couple of miles. Hundreds of people have been over that area. Its just odd that she hasn't been found (to me anyway).

 

[Leomoon80]

We all need to say a prayer tonight for Serenity, whether she is in spirit or still alive. Souls feel the vibrations of prayer or at least I believe they do. Does she know her name if asked? ..Could be afraid to speak if someone strange picked her up.

 

[Steelslady]

We all need to say a prayer tonight for Serenity, whether she is in spirit or still alive. Souls feel the vibrations of prayer or at least I believe they do. Does she know her name if asked? ..Could be afraid to speak if someone strange picked her up.

Many of us have been praying all along, and I will continue to do so.

 

[Rachel1]

Don't get me wrong y'all- I hope she was picked up and is safe and warm right now too ! But i know that probably isn't the case here. Believe me, I honestly wish she was safe and sound somewhere.

 

[TwoDogNight]

So emotional about this child. I go from deeply saddened and sickened to anger. This is a highly regarded facility and this should not have happened, but it did. I feel very frustrated not knowing the variables involved in her placement, but feel so disappointed that her likely well meaning guardians needed to/ or at least did make the decisions that led up to it.
Instead of all the "right rights" happening for this little girl, it feels more like all the "wrong wrongs". MOO, but so darned devastating.

 

[Rachel1]

So emotional about this child. I go from deeply saddened and sickened to anger. This is a highly regarded facility and this should not have happened, but it did. I feel very frustrated not knowing the variables involved in her placement, but feel so disappointed that her likely well meaning guardians needed to/ or at least did make the decisions that led up to it.
Instead of all the "right rights" happening for this little girl, it feels more like all the "wrong wrongs". MOO, but so darned devastating.

Well said.
I've refrained from sleuthing the typical " players" in this one because the emotions are just too raw. My heart aches for this child and her family so I've decided not to " look into" the usual things that I normally would on a MP case .
I'm sure her parents/ family did what they felt was best for her and I'm just so sorry this happened . I'm sure everyone is .
Imo

 

[TwoDogNight]

Well said.
I've refrained from sleuthing the typical " players" in this one because the emotions are just too raw. My heart aches for this child and her family so I've decided not to " look into" the usual things that I normally would on a MP case .
I'm sure her parents/ family did what they felt was best for her and I'm just so sorry this happened . I'm sure everyone is .
Imo

That is the real bottom line...just so sorry this happened, and not wanting the safety net that is in place to have had this hole in it that allowed it to happen.