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

[Steelslady]

I have only been reading a few news reports on this and have not kept up with her thread...
Question-- did they close off the Children's Home at any point and search it thoroughly? I'm wondering if there is a chance she could have sneaked back inside and is hiding in the building? It's the only way I see a miracle happening here.

There is no MSM stating so, @Gardener1850. I can only tell you that from previous training, if the child is not found by staff, LE does their own search, and staff re-checks again, until the child is found. Even if she made it back to the house safely, she would need to eat- food, beverages, utensils, etc are locked up, so I would imagine after all this time the poor darling would have to come out of hiding to eat. We can hope, though!

 

[Steelslady]

A around 1:20 of this video, you can see where they have already searched for Serenity:
Serenity Dennard Now Missing For Four Days

 

[ksprincess]

Wait -- 4' 9" and 100 pounds???

BMI Calculator for Child and Teen

This calculator reports seriously obese -- above the 99th percentile.

Worrisome....

Having worked in children's mental health before her weight doesn't surprise me. Psych meds can cause drastic weight gain in short amounts of time and I'm sure she is on some meds. She does not look overweight in her pictures so I'm assuming her weight gain was recent but there is a picture of her on her Dad's Facebook from Christmas that she doesn't look overweight.

 

[Steelslady]

Having worked in children's mental health before her weight doesn't surprise me. Psych meds can cause drastic weight gain in short amounts of time and I'm sure she is on some meds. She does not look overweight in her pictures so I'm assuming her weight gain was recent but there is a picture of her on her Dad's Facebook from Christmas that she doesn't look overweight.

I think someone goofed with her stats. She doesn't look 100 pounds even soaking wet. She looked perfect to me in all of her photos in terms of weight.

 

[ksprincess]

I think someone goofed with her stats. She doesn't look 100 pounds even soaking wet. She looked perfect to me in all of her photos in terms of weight.

Of course that could be true too, that wrong weight probably makes the most sense unless she gained a massive amount of weight in a short time, from pictures I would say more like 65lbs.

 

[ilovepierre]

I’m only 3 inches taller than Serenity (if her height is actually correct) and weigh less than 100 pounds. I’m nowhere near obese. I’m underweight (or normal weight according to the adult BMI calculator).
It’s also quite possible Serenity’s height/weight is incorrect and she is less than the reported weight of 100 pounds....which would make more sense.

IMO

 

[ilovepierre]

...

 

[MsFacetious]

I’m only 3 inches taller than Serenity (if her height is actually correct) and weigh less than 100 pounds. I’m nowhere near obese. I’m underweight.
It’s also quite possible Serenity’s height/weight is incorrect and she is less than the reported weight of 100 pounds....which would make more sense.

IMO

My daughter is 4"8 and 80 pounds. Muscle weighs more than fat. I'm guessing Serenity is 70 or so unless she is all muscle like my daughter.

I wish they would release clothing sizes because that's easier to relate for most.

 

[ilovepierre]

.

 

[*~Aimee~*]

Dennard is white, 4 feet, 7 inches tall, 90 pounds
stats from this MSM

UPDATE: Sheriff's Office looking for couple who last saw missing girl

 

[MsFacetious]

Dennard is white, 4 feet, 7 inches tall, 90 pounds
stats from this MSM

UPDATE: Sheriff's Office looking for couple who last saw missing girl

Yes that would mean she gained almost a pound a day since Christmas. Certainly possible but I think that would have limited how quickly she could move as well. I think this is a total estimate and simply wrong. We see it all the time and every time it annoys me.

 

[TwoDogNight]

Yes that would mean she gained almost a pound a day since Christmas. Certainly possible but I think that would have limited how quickly she could move as well. I think this is a total estimate and simply wrong. We see it all the time and every time it annoys me.

And grew two inches.

 

[Laughing]

My daughter is 4"8 and 80 pounds. Muscle weighs more than fat. I'm guessing Serenity is 70 or so unless she is all muscle like my daughter.

I wish they would release clothing sizes because that's easier to relate for most.

BBM

Hearty agreement here.

Been decades since I earned that degree in Human Development! My current thought is Typo -- 4'9" and 70 pounds is a better match to the images on the Missing poster.

Didn't occur to me when I read the 100 pounds on that poster.

Absolutely medications can cause weight gain (or loss) and may be a factor for this young lady.

 

[Mauig’ma]

Any mention of the dogs picking up a scent anywhere?

 

[cybervampira]

Pennington County Fire Service

2-8-2019 PM Update from the Pennington County Sheriff's office

Expanded weekend search for Serenity Dennard

Pennington County, SD – The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office is gathering resources from around the region to look for Serenity Dennard, last seen Sunday, February 3, 2019, near the Black Hills Children’s Home in Rockerville. Over the weekend, seven specialized scent and cadaver dogs and their K-9 handlers from South Dakota, Iowa, Wyoming and Colorado will be looking for the missing nine year old.

The dog teams will set up in the Black Hills Children’s Home parking lot at 7 am Saturday and Sunday and hope to be searching the area from 7:30 am until 5 pm each day. Given the snow and cold, the dogs will be shuttled back and forth from the parking lot all day to stay warm and rested.

Rushmore Helicopters owned by Mike Jacobs will by flying with two spotters from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. They will expand the search from the air. The helicopter will start the search at 9 am Saturday and Sunday from a field turned into a landing pad at the Black Hills Children’s home. They hope to fly roughly five hours each day depending on the weather and cloud cover.

About 35-40 people will be involved with the weekend searches on the ground including the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Pennington County Search and Rescue, North Haines Volunteer Fire Department, Box Elder Police Department, Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Game Fish and Parks and US Forest Service law enforcement.
Incident commander Lieutenant Kraig Wood or Chief Deputy Willie Whelchel will be available for the media on Saturday at 10 am and Sunday at 2 pm.

Serenity Dennard is described as a Caucasian female, 4 foot 9 inches, 90-100 pounds, with blue eyes and shoulder length dark blonde hair. She was last seen Sunday at 11 am on South Rockerville Road wearing only a long sleeved grey shirt with flowers, blue jeans and snow boots. She had no coat at the time she left the Black Hills Children’s Home.

Finding Serenity remains a top priority of the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. We have an active investigation with investigators from the Sheriff’s Office and detectives from the Police Department dedicated to following up on all leads. If anyone has seen or had contact with Serenity, do not communicate that information via social media. Please contact the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office at (605) 394-6115.

##

 

[SkipperKey3]

There is no reason for appeals in this case. What would it accomplish? They aren't asking for volunteer searchers and don't appear to believe she was abducted. I can't think of a case where they just came out and talked about the person, just because.

I have seen lots of concern, anguish and prayer requests on social media. I've seen how smart Serenity is. How outgoing she is (so no fear of strangers.) Serenity's favorite color is purple.

I have seen how desperate they are to know that she is safe and not suffering. How thankful they are for thoughts, prayers and searchers. I have seen some defense of the employees, some not commenting, I have not seen anger yet.

This article is being circulated as the most accurate by family. It also clarifies that the wood couple saw staff searching FOR Serenity. They did not actually see Serenity. So that explains why LE wanted to talk to them.

Weather on day girl went missing significantly hurt search efforts

Thank you for this. It is good to know that Serenity is cared for. It's also nice to know that she is smart and what her favorite color is.
Also the link you provided helped me clear up a few misconceptions I had:
(1) There was no snow on the ground at the time she left, which means footing wouldn't have been as bad as I thought. She could have traveled a fair distance. But she would have been feeling the cold pretty quickly. I know that if you are walking fast, you can lessen that somewhat, but as cold as it was, that wouldn't help much or for long.
(2) Also, since there was no snow yet, but the ground was frozen, she wouldn't have left discernible tracks on the road side or if she left the road. And any tracks she did leave would have been covered up later that day when it did snow.
(3) The people dropping a child off that actually saw her heading north, and they did try to find her. They went back up and down the road looking for her, but didn't see her anywhere on the main road by then. This means either she was picked up in that short period of time (which is now less likely but still possible) or she deliberately didn't stay on the main road, but left it. It has been mentioned that in warmer weather, they sometimes take kids for walks, so she may have been familiar with trails or such, or wanted to go on such a hike. She may have traveled up that secondary road as well. Unfortunately, either of those possibilities lessens the possibility that she could have found shelter, as the nearest houses were on the main road.
(4) The wood couple never actually saw Serenity. That would tell me that Serenity didn't go that way. But that doesn't tell us a lot, because we don't know where they actually were. But I think LE does know where they were.

 

[Maiko]

Still praying for a miracle over here as the day turns to night. My day was sunny and warm and I could NOT stop thinking about Serenity as I watered my plants thinking about the picture of the dog sitting the seat with icicles and the sad, sad face on his/her face while taking a break. It's gut wrenching to look at the pictures of the SAR teams in their cold weather gear while I'm here in shorts, just praying that she's found, somehow safe and sound.

Where are you, precious Serenity? We are looking for you!! I may be almost 10,ooo miles away but I want you home!

 

[ilovepierre]

Hope the searchers stay warm today while searching for Serenity!
I don’t know what the weather is like in SD today....

 

[Yellow Rose]

Praying Serenity is found today! Praying for the searchers both human and canine as well. Please God lead them to her path.

 

[TwoDogNight]

Hope the searchers stay warm today while searching for Serenity!
I don’t know what the weather is like in SD today....

Snowing in parts of the state.