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

[flashy09]

I think knowing her story would be helpful. If she was involuntarily placed maybe family members are outraged and upset and planned this and will take the burden of hiding her just to be reunited. Anybody else that picked her up and hasn't reported it probably just took the opportunity that landed in their lap of a young girl alone in the middle of nowhere and it's not a good situation.

I hope they are searching and talking to all her immediate family members and anyone she was close to. This would also be something a male family "friend" might scheme up.

 

[UnicornDragon]

So they didn't already have dogs on the scene? Apparently not.

Cadaver dogs are most likely what they are waiting for. Different dogs have different search abilities/training.

 

[PommyMommy]

Still no word? I thought back in the beginning that they’d have dogs from the getgo but it turns out they did not until imo too much time had passed. I still pray with all my heart that Casey’s bear is protecting this child too. Praying they find this gorgeous child today!

Please see the video in post #2, page 1. A reporter gives a live update from near the children's home on Sunday (the day she went missing) evening and says that multiple agencies were still searching with UT's, ATV's, ground crews and dogs. They were unable to use aerial resources because of the snow and winds.

The article in post #3, page 1 says that search efforts continued throughout the night using dogs and hand-held thermal devices. The Civil Air Patrol joined in the rescue effort on Monday.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Cadaver dogs are most likely what they are waiting for. Different dogs have different search abilities/training.

I admit that I haven't read everything on this missing girl, so bear with me.
So she was last seen walking north along the road, 5 miles or so from the nearest town, in a pretty remote area. She wasn't wearing a coat, just a light shirt. I wonder if the rescue dogs found her scent along the road, and if so, where the scent disappeared. I would have hoped that the dogs would have been able to tell if she left the road, although I don't know why she would have, other than seeking warmth from a house or something. But recovery dogs aren't foolproof methods of tracking. Just wondering, because if they did pick up her initial scent, going along the road, but then the scent simply stopped, that would be indicative of her having been picked up. It just seems that if she stayed walking along the road, she would have been discovered by the rescue crews.

 

[moonriverfarm]

I missed something. What did the wood cutting couple say to her? Why did they allow a little girl to continue walking in frigid temps when clearly she should not have been there?

 

[SkipperKey3]

I missed something. What did the wood cutting couple say to her? Why did they allow a little girl to continue walking in frigid temps when clearly she should not have been there?

Did they actually talk to her or just see her walking along the road?

 

[UnicornDragon]

I admit that I haven't read everything on this missing girl, so bear with me.
So she was last seen walking north along the road, 5 miles or so from the nearest town, in a pretty remote area. She wasn't wearing a coat, just a light shirt. I wonder if the rescue dogs found her scent along the road, and if so, where the scent disappeared. I would have hoped that the dogs would have been able to tell if she left the road, although I don't know why she would have, other than seeking warmth from a house or something. But recovery dogs aren't foolproof methods of tracking. Just wondering, because if they did pick up her initial scent, going along the road, but then the scent simply stopped, that would be indicative of her having been picked up. It just seems that if she stayed walking along the road, she would have been discovered by the rescue crews.

I don't believe it's been confirmed that she was spotted by anyone at any point. I know fresh snow and falling snow can disrupt a scent trail in dogs. Also don't know if they were trailing her scent or doing an area search.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Did they actually talk to her or just see her walking along the road?

Either way it seems odd that you wouldn't be alarmed and interact somehow. I know things always look different from hindsight and we never have all the details but this deserves some explaining. From the looks of the area and the weather that day it would have been extraordinarily odd to see a little girl outside, alone, with no jacket. Why didn't it prompt them to act? There may be some reasonable explanation but I haven't heard it yet.

 

[Steelslady]

It's hard to just let go of this.

It is hard to let go. I can't rest until she is found. I am praying with all of my heart that she is somehow alive and ok. This poor child needs to be found.

 

[Steelslady]

I think knowing her story would be helpful. If she was involuntarily placed maybe family members are outraged and upset and planned this and will take the burden of hiding her just to be reunited. Anybody else that picked her up and hasn't reported it probably just took the opportunity that landed in their lap of a young girl alone in the middle of nowhere and it's not a good situation.

I hope they are searching and talking to all her immediate family members and anyone she was close to. This would also be something a male family "friend" might scheme up.

There are so many scenarios that could have lead to Serenity going into this home. It could even be behavior at school that lead to this, for all we know. I just don't see, though, how a 9 year old could have made a planned escape with a family member- she would have had to coerce another girl to make a run for it, like in this case where that other girl took off first, and even then, LE would manage to get that out of her eventually if that had been planned.

I would be very shocked if that happened. However, I do worry about any SO's in the area. That's something we haven't brought up yet.

 

[Yellow Rose]

I think it should almost be mandatory that they have some type of fencing or something at these homes. Considering they admittedly say they've lost residents that run.

 

[SkipperKey3]

I don't believe it's been confirmed that she was spotted by anyone at any point. I know fresh snow and falling snow can disrupt a scent trail in dogs. Also don't know if they were trailing her scent or doing an area search.

By "last seen walking north along the road", I was referring to this:

Search for girl missing since Sunday transitions to 'recovery effort'

"Dennard was last seen at 11 a.m. Sunday walking north on South Rockerville Road after running from the Black Hills Children's Home, a residential youth facility near Rockerville.

 

[flashy09]

I would be very shocked if that happened. However, I do worry about any SO's in the area. That's something we haven't brought up yet.

Just checked and there is one 8 minutes away and one 9 minutes away.

 

[Steelslady]

Just checked and there is one 8 minutes away and one 9 minutes away.

Ugh, that is frightening. I wouldn't put it past one of them to be constantly watching around that home, looking for a runner. I am sure LE has checked them out- at least I hope that they did!

 

[flashy09]

Ugh, that is frightening. I wouldn't put it past one of them to be constantly watching around that home, looking for a runner. I am sure LE has checked them out- at least I hope that they did!

Only one would actually drive by the children's home on S. Rockerville to get to his home if coming or going from Rapid City or Rockville. The other lives north of the Children's home and it looks much more remote heading south so less likely to work that way.

 

[CaseyLPC]

I think it should almost be mandatory that they have some type of fencing or something at these homes. Considering they admittedly say they've lost residents that run.

Patient advocates often discourage such security devices as fences as they create an "institutional" feel rather than a home like feel that helps to reduce the stigma associated with being in such a facility.

 

[tigertales]

MOO not knowing what her emotional condition may be and discounting FB rumors on why she was placed in their care, I wonder if it was a simple act of impulse run, she pulled it off and did not get caught, stayed hidden, then heard people looking and calling her name, stayed hidden or maybe even hid deeper, afraid to come out and get in trouble, succumbed to the second stage of hypothermia - confusion and sleepiness - and then just didn’t wake up. Maybe in her perspective the fear of getting in trouble could have overshadowed her need for warmth. Hypothermia happens fast- faster than we realize. All MOO.

 

[Trudie]

Just heartbreaking. Now, they no longer expect to find her alive, according to an update I just heard.

 

[Trudie]

It is hard to let go. I can't rest until she is found. I am praying with all of my heart that she is somehow alive and ok. This poor child needs to be found.

Simply horrible. I can’t believe she could get so far, so fast, to not be found.
This facility needs to be out of biz, imo.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Simply horrible. I can’t believe she could get so far, so fast, to not be found.
This facility needs to be out of biz, imo.

I know nothing about why she was placed there or her state of mind, and certainly not enough to cast blame on the facility.
I will say this much. I keep seeing her as 5 or 6, and I have to keep reminding myself that she is 9. 9-year-olds can cover a lot of ground in a surprisingly short amount of time. The only thing that would have slowed her down was the weather, but that's a BIG factor, obviously. Under normal circumstances, an athletic 9-year-old can walk quite far. Certainly farther than a mile.