ACTIVE SEARCH SD - Serenity Dennard, 9, Children’s Home Society, Pennington County, 3 Feb 2019 #2

[Bugurl747]

Hmmmm. Until such time that young SD is found, would it not behoove LE to cover all lines of inquiry?

The deputy specifically stated that they didn't plan on investigating the Home while the search was on-going.

I still don't understand why the search and investigation couldn't have happened simultaneously?

I feel like that move was potentially strategic in that it allowed the Home to potentially cover some tracks?

ETA Colson said investigators have interviewed the center's staff and students

I wonder what the findings were?

Children's home focused on supporting children and staff


(((Thank you Pommy for always being there with the links)))

 

[jewelsmac]

FEB 7, 2019
Children's home focused on supporting children and staff
Colson explained that doors are locked from the outside to prevent unauthorized entry, but they're unlocked from the inside.

"We are not a lockdown facility," he said, explaining that similar facilities also have unlocked exits.

Facilities that are locked from the inside include some jails, prisons, mental health hospitals and care centers for people with dementia. They often include elaborate systems, such as video cameras and human monitors, to make sure people can escape in case of a fire, riot or other emergency.

"The children we serve are closely supervised by staff 24-7," Colson said.

A staff member can supervise up to six children at a time, but the Children's Home tries to have a lower ratio, Colson said. When Dennard ran away, it was a lower ratio of one staffer per two children.

"Once this crisis has passed, we will review our practices to be certain they are what they need to be, and that is our typical approach," Colson said.

Colson said investigators have interviewed the center's staff and students, and that he's incredibly thankful for the work of the Pennington County Sheriff's Office and all other agencies involved in searching for Dennard. They're "incredible folks," he said.

That makes more sense. Thank you as always @PommyMommy

 

[sloane7777]

i’m just throwing out guesses here, I have no idea why she’s in that home, how many family members she has, if any of them perhaps wanted to take her in but possibly could not.
I have no problem with how long it took for them to call the police because they did try searching for her and that’s protocol. But as you stated about the train a difficulty of search, now I do think it was a bad decision.
I think you’re mistaking my intent.
Those are things I’m hoping for because those give a possibility that she’s out there alive. I said I “hoped“ for those things. Not that they were viable theories, of course they’re far-fetched, but I’m hoping for those because it would mean that Serenity Could be alive.
My trouble with the timeframe is she was seen leaving almost immediately, but yet no one could catch up with her. I just find that odd.
Like you said they have always found runners before. Why not her? Why was this time different? That’s what I’m trying to examine. Nothing nefarious, just thinking out loud and hoping that a scenario exists where she’s alive.
And I agree, I think their protocol from now on will be to call the police right away. Because they didn’t find her. And they know their terrain is difficult to search. And they know the weathers bad out there. And their protocol failed. Both in her being able to run away, and the failure to fight her.
And she’s out there somewhere.

BBM this is exactly what I don't get !!!!

 

[human]

BBM this is exactly what I don't get !!!!

Do you mean when she was outside and they had to get to where she was?

I imagine when someone ( was it the visitors? ) announced she was outside, staff had to be found that was free enough to leave their situation. Then the staff member would have to be one who had clothes and boots to wear outside. Not everyone dresses very warmly in a cold climate.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Do you mean when she was outside and they had to get to where she was?

I imagine when someone ( was it the visitors? ) announced she was outside, staff had to be found that was free enough to leave their situation. Then the staff member would have to be one who had clothes and boots to wear outside. Not everyone dresses very warmly in a cold climate.

I would agree. The building sits a fair way off the road, so the staffer had to grab their coat or whatever, then get outside and go up to the road where she was last seen. By then she had disappeared.
It's not like she was seen just a few feet away.

 

[windrower]

I can easily see this being the case and if it was I struggle with the lack of proactive measures in bringing in immediate help in locating a potentially distressed child who ran from a secluded facility in freezing temperatures. MOO

When she ran, it was already in the low 20s with a high wind making the wind chills already near or below 0. The air temperature was quickly dropping, and only a few hours later would be in the single digits and snowing.

By the time LE was called to search, if SD was outside, she was dead. She could not live 11/2 hours outside in that weather wearing what she had.

rsbm

I live in the Black Hills fairly close to where this took place, and it was not freezing temperatures in the morning of the day Serenity went missing. In some places in the Hills, even some of the higher elevations, it was sunny and nice, in the low 40s.

So she would not have been in danger from the weather for a few hours.

However, it got very nasty, very quick, in the afternoon, and by evening was a drastic change from that morning. If Serenity did go into the woods, and quickly tried to distance herself from the home and anyone looking for her, she could have gotten lost quite easily, and not been able to find her way out. And when the weather came, she would really be in trouble.

Maybe she found a sheltered place, but even then, I'm not sure she could have survived that first night. She almost surely did not survive the next day or night if she was outside and on her own. The weather was just too wicked.

 

[sloane7777]

Do you mean when she was outside and they had to get to where she was?

I imagine when someone ( was it the visitors? ) announced she was outside, staff had to be found that was free enough to leave their situation. Then the staff member would have to be one who had clothes and boots to wear outside. Not everyone dresses very warmly in a cold climat

Do you mean when she was outside and they had to get to where she was?

I imagine when someone ( was it the visitors? ) announced she was outside, staff had to be found that was free enough to leave their situation. Then the staff member would have to be one who had clothes and boots to wear outside. Not everyone dresses very warmly in a cold climate.

it seems like such an open area that at least one person could have kept "eyes" on her even if they didn't reach her something just seems off! you have high risk kids that are prone to running ?, and if they have autistic kids (I have one myself a 12 year old) who could wander off easily ? being in the middle of nowhere ? just standing back looking , I would never send my child somewhere that if she wandered off the terrain, bobcats , bears, or the elements would kill her if she bolted ....okay I have to be honest , a treatment facility has to be prepared for runners period. there is something off I just don't know what

 

[sloane7777]

It seems like such an open area that at least one person could have kept "eyes" on her even if they didn't reach her something just seems off! you have high risk kids that are prone to running ?, and if they have autistic kids (I have one myself a 12 year old) who could wander off easily ? being in the middle of nowhere ? just standing back looking , I would never send my child somewhere that if she wandered off the terrain, bobcats , bears, or the elements would kill her if she bolted ....okay I have to be honest , a treatment facility has to be prepared for runners period. there is something off I just don't know what

 

[SkipperKey3]

rsbm

I live in the Black Hills fairly close to where this took place, and it was not freezing temperatures in the morning of the day Serenity went missing. In some places in the Hills, even some of the higher elevations, it was sunny and nice, in the low 40s.

So she would not have been in danger from the weather for a few hours.

However, it got very nasty, very quick, in the afternoon, and by evening was a drastic change from that morning. If Serenity did go into the woods, and quickly tried to distance herself from the home and anyone looking for her, she could have gotten lost quite easily, and not been able to find her way out. And when the weather came, she would really be in trouble.

Maybe she found a sheltered place, but even then, I'm not sure she could have survived that first night. She almost surely did not survive the next day or night if she was outside and on her own. The weather was just too wicked.

Where the Home is, it was not so nice, according to this report (and other reports, which also mention the high wind causing low wind chills):

Weather, terrain make search for Serenity tough

The situation deteriorated the seemingly the moment Serenity walked off at 10:45 a.m. on Feb. 3.

"At 11 o'clock, temperatures were in the 20s, but by 12 o'clock they'd already dropped into the teens," said meteorologist Mike Modrick. "And by the time the sun went down the temperatures were in the single digits so they dropped all through the day."​

 

[Bugurl747]

SBM

rsbm

In some places in the Hills, even some of the higher elevations, it was sunny and nice, in the low 40s.
So she would not have been in danger from the weather for a few hours.

I appreciate your personal knowledge of the area and weather. Respectfully, one can experience hypothermia in cool temps above 40 degrees F ( indoors or outdoors) and children specifically are more susceptible. There are additional factors that put her at risk such as lack of proper attire and the fact that she may have been sweating if she was running.

IMO, she was at high risk of hypothermia the minute she stepped foot in the elements.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/hypothermia-can-happen-indoors-surprising-facts/

Hypothermia | Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Library

 

[PommyMommy]

By the time LE was called to search, if SD was outside, she was dead. She could not live 11/2 hours outside in that weather wearing what she had.

As far as her wearing boots, we don’t know what kind of boots they are. Not all boots are outdoor boots.

And it could be that she insisted on wearing boots and it was not worth it to get into a power struggle.

If another child ran first, she may have decided to run then as well. There can be no great meaning for it. It can simply be impulsive

One thing the media has been consistent about is describing her footwear as
snow boots. I think we can assume that they were for outdoors.
MOO

 

[human]

One thing the media has been consistent about is describing her footwear as
snow boots. I think we can assume that they were for outdoors.
MOO

I have only read black boots. They have said “snow boots”?

 

[PommyMommy]

From thread one:

Specially-Trained Dogs Being Brought In To Search For Serenity Dennard
KELOLAND's Sarah McDonald interviewed Pennington County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Willie Whelchel about the search and recovery of Serenity Dennard.

Whelchel said the winter weather in the Black Hills is slowing down the search efforts on Wednesday.

(See video in the article for the interview with the Chief Deputy)
MOO

Chief Deputy Whelchel said there were five investigators working every lead and every possibility and that they are going to follow up on everything.

(Scroll down to the video with KELO's Sara McDonald)

 

[PommyMommy]

I have only read black boots. They have said “snow boots”?

They've called them snow boots since the beginning but I think the color was added just recently.

Thread 1, post 1 FEB 3:
ACTIVE SEARCH - SD - Serenity Dennard, 9, Children’s Home Society, Pennington County, 3 Feb 2019
She was last seen wearing only a long sleeved grey shirt with flowers, blue jeans and snow boots.

Article dated FEB 22:
New picture and flier for Serenity Dennard
She was wearing only a long sleeved grey shirt with flowers, blue jeans and black snow boots--no coat.

 

[ilovechili]

I have only read black boots. They have said “snow boots”?

That is all I had ever heard too, was snow boots over and over. Recently they provided a color of the boots which I do not think we originally had. Black. iirc.

ETA: Never mind, Pommy already had it and has links But I can say I always understood them to be winter boots as well, it was a detail that bothered me with the no coat, etc.

 

[PommyMommy]

I would agree. The building sits a fair way off the road, so the staffer had to grab their coat or whatever, then get outside and go up to the road where she was last seen. By then she had disappeared.
It's not like she was seen just a few feet away.

Yep.

UPDATE: Sheriff's Office looking for couple who last saw missing girl
"By the time we could get on her trail she was out of sight," Colson said.

 

[Caylee Advocate]

This might sound rather shallow and I am in no way suggesting this is what happened as I probably have just as few clues as anyone on here, but I would almost pray that this was a familial kidnapping.

Sound strange and off the wall? Well nothing is making any sense at this point so rather than me dwelling on the thought that sweet Serenity is lying in those woods somewhere all alone and frozen to death... I will give another scenario.

What IF someone in the bio family knew a worker at the facility and it was an arranged "escape?" MOO and JMO

Hope for Serenity

 

[Eleanor Rigby]

SBM

I appreciate your personal knowledge of the area and weather. Respectfully, one can experience hypothermia in cool temps above 40 degrees F ( indoors or outdoors) and children specifically are more susceptible. There are additional factors that put her at risk such as lack of proper attire and the fact that she may have been sweating if she was running.

IMO, she was at high risk of hypothermia the minute she stepped foot in the elements.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/hypothermia-can-happen-indoors-surprising-facts/

Hypothermia | Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Library

I may be way off, but if I had been in my car in the parking lot and spotted a child, obviously from the facility, walking on the road unaccompanied, my instinct would have been to get her immediately. I wouldn't have wasted time going back inside to get a staff member. Any parent knows how quickly a child can disappear on you. I would have driven up to where she was and gotten her while phoning the facility to alert them. Once, I spotted a toddler, obviously unaccompanied, walking along a busy road, and I immediately stopped (leaving my own son strapped in his car seat), got out and ran back to him. This was before I had a cell phone, so I was relieved when LE stopped and took over. I just don't understand how an adult's instinct is not to act immediately when seeing a child in danger. I made a similar comment on Hania Aguilar's thread about why an adult didn't jump in a car and follow when she was abducted. I don't understand the apparent reluctance on the part of adults. In both Hania and Serenity's cases it could have made the difference between life and death. MOO.

 

[The Night Watchman]

This might sound rather shallow and I am in no way suggesting this is what happened as I probably have just as few clues as anyone on here, but I would almost pray that this was a familial kidnapping.

Sound strange and off the wall? Well nothing is making any sense at this point so rather than me dwelling on the thought that sweet Serenity is lying in those woods somewhere all alone and frozen to death... I will give another scenario.

What IF someone in the bio family knew a worker at the facility and it was an arranged "escape?" MOO and JMO

Hope for Serenity

If you list the possibilities that may have occurred based on what we know, your scenario is a reasonable one. And a very positive one.

And I think most likely.

 

[Catmommy]

Serenity, Serenity, where on earth did you go?
Serenity, Serenity, when on earth will we know?