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

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Trocroc9 said:
I know she did not have a backpack . In school protocol she would not have been allowed that. She probably was not allowed a jacket either. In programs such as ours they are not allowed because of chance of weapons. This may be why she did not have a jacket on. My kids are not allowed jackets because of weaponry.
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This brings back to me the oddity, I thought, of her having winter boots on but no coat, etc...
 
Trocroc9 said:
We don’t allow kids to have jackets because of weapons issues .
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When they are transported outside walking between buildings though? I guess what I mean is would she have had a jacket and boots on to the building and then the jacket was taken? I find boots odd in a gym as well.
 
I work in a school so can’t attest to this but my kids transport between buildings and they just wear sweat shirts no jackets. They also are older so sneakers are more the norm. Boots are not the norm even in central New York .
 
flashy09 said:
The mother unnerved me with her cheer. The Frozen box was the wrong choice for a girl presumably lost in sub zero temperatures. I think it's clear she had washed her hands of Serenity a long time ago and has a happy new life and man. I understand the point of the home and it's hopefully helpful intensive therapy and routine living environment, but as a mother how could she not stay involved in the least? Even if she lived with the adoptive Dad! How can you just not even check on a child you adopted? For at least 8 months? Not a card for her birthday or Christmas? I still check on the dogs I fostered! So many people have let this little girl down.

I also still strongly think this is a kidnapping off the road case and her face should have been all over the news earlier.
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Agree with everything you said. Also, I blame the system. Removing a child from their home on Christmas day is about as cruel as it gets!!
 
The details of Serenity being removed on Christmas Day are in RR, bio mom's, interview with Lynne DiSanto. She discusses that bio dad was in jail, she was in prison and her parents were caring for Serenity. She says that her parents dropped Serenity off for a Christmas Eve visit with the other grandma, bio dad's mom who has schizophrenia. Grandma went into a "schizophrenic state" and called the police saying the neighbors were coming in and rubbing lotion on them to sedate and sexually assaulting them. The next day the responding officer's supervisor called DSS/CPS for a welfare check on Serenity and found her in a diaper with marker all over her so DSS/CPS took Serenity into custody. RR says her parents were not approved to keep Serenity because they had felonies. Then RR's time got extended. She goes on with more info after that but that is the main part of how Serenity ended up in state custody. More at:

 
Is it possible someone felt Serenity was perfectly fine and just needed to get away from the adults around her; out of the children's psych facility & they chose to give her a way out & drove her right out of the facility to start a new life. Maybe with a blessing or two? ALL SPECULATION Did someone perceive her to be coping w/ too much external pressur, felt she needed a way out, deserved a way out? Some ppl have a strong reaction to the plight of a child. I could truly see that scenario happening. Whether its fair or not many ppl assume the parents/adults have caused a child's state of mind or behavior problems. Many of us here probably considered that. I think LE should examine ppl more closely. Especially staffers or ANYONE in contact with Serenity the last few months- year.
 
Trocroc9 said:
I work in a school so can’t attest to this but my kids transport between buildings and they just wear sweat shirts no jackets. They also are older so sneakers are more the norm. Boots are not the norm even in central New York .
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I know at a certain age many like to not wear jackets, boots, mittens, etc. and go coatless. That is somewhat what I mean, boots are not the norm. They are not the norm for a gym for sure generally. Come to think of it, with no video footage, someone gave a pretty good description of what she was wearing. I could spend a day with a child I love and not necessarily tell you what they were wearing later down to details on the footwear or flowers on the shirt. One time maybe I could, the next maybe not. Maybe there is footage of some type...

What she was wearing actually sounds like what would have possibly been worn the day before when allegedly, if I recall correctly, they had the children outside and it was unusually warm, boots in a gym not so much so. Yet wasn't the day before visiting day? Maybe I have that mixed up, both probably would not have occurred on the same day, visitors and going outside...

I will have to look back. Frustrating.

Anyhow.... Just talking "out loud"/speculating...
 
Trocroc9 said:
This may have been why she ran with only boots and regular clothing .. schools and residential centers regulate backpacks and jackets for these cases in particular.
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ilovechili said:
When they are transported outside walking between buildings though? I guess what I mean is would she have had a jacket and boots on to the building and then the jacket was taken? I find boots odd in a gym as well.
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I think it is likely Serenity refused to put on gym shoes once they got to the gym and the staff just didn't raise a huge issue. At the PRTF where I worked, staff wouldn't have escalated a resident over shoes. In a gym situation, we would just have had the resident sit on the sidelines until they complied or they would sit out the whole gym time and that would all be documented by staff. If it was a mandatory physical activity group, it might impact them getting their level for the week. We had kids do it all the time but in our case, it was flip flops, not boots. We only had one girl that refused to stop wearing her snow boots everywhere. Most kids didn't wear snow boots at the center I worked at because most were teens and they preferred shoes.

Our facility was one big building so they didn't go outside to get to the school or gym.

The center I worked at did not allow backpacks or school bags due to contraband issues. It also helps with run always a little because some kids won't run if they can't take things. The exception was kids that attended public school but their bags and the kids were searched before we took them to school and when they returned from school.

We not only allowed coats but enforced residents wearing them when necessary due to weather. No coat meant they didn't go outside when it was cold. Hoodies were acceptable when it was a bit warmer. I worked with a bit older kids and most preferred hoodies too. We were told we could not restrict coats anymore. Previously, we would take a resident's coats and all but 1 sweatshirt if they were on run risk and then the resident had to check them in and put with staff. It was determined since residents would still run without coats, it was just putting them more at risk to not allow them coats and such.

All of our residents were searched if they had been at thr center school (day students would give them contraband) or if they had been off campus.

I think it is likely they wore coats because of the distance between BHCH buildings and how cold it gets here in South Dakota plus our windchills can be brutal. I just think Serenity's coat probably wasn't where she could grab it, either in a cubbie or closet, or by the staff. Serenity also may have just been focused on getting away, if she did indeed run, and never gave her coat a thought.

The other thing is maybe she didn't realize how cold it was. We had been having some dangerously cold weather in the weeks up to when Serenity ran but if I remember correctly, the day before had been much warmer.

MOO
 
Today's beautiful weather led to good conditions to continue our search for Serenity. While we did not find her, we are very optimistic for future searches.

We used about 65 people, eight K9 teams and 1 air asset to search the area around Rockerville.

Sheriff Kevin Thom is committed to finding Serenity and plans will be made this week for the next stages of the investigation.

We appreciate the support and a huge “thank you” to all of today’s help.

The Gaslight fed us again today and we can’t thank them enough for all they have done
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Pennington County Sheriff's Office

I am interested to see what the next stages of the investigation are.

Today, PCSO, some SAR, and likely other ER personnel that were searching were called away due to a 6 year old falling from a cliff at Falling Rock, a popular hiking location about 30 to 40 miles from where they were searching for Serenity. The 6 year old girl passed away due to injuries sustained in that fall. :(

My understanding is that the above emergency and travel time for out-of-state SAR teams were why they stopped the search today when they did.

Not sure why there is nothing on PCSO FB page about it but here is an article mentioning PCSO and SAR were onsite.
6-year-old dies after falling from cliff in Falling Rock Rd area - KNBN NewsCenter1
 
Poor Serenity! Sounds like she had been passed around since age 2.5 and had no continuous Mother care.

My feelings are still strong that the family visit with the new baby sister, the day before she ran, really upset her. With the miserable life she had been through, then Daddy comes to show off his new daughter, what nine year old wouldn’t be jealous, envious, filled with anger, thinking of the mistreatment she received which landed her in a children’s home. Now Daddy has a new baby to give everything she wants and Serenity will see even less of her dad because he will be busy with new baby!

Sounds like she felt the same as her mother said she had,
“Serenity just gave up”. MOO.
 
misgrn said:
I think it is likely Serenity refused to put on gym shoes once they got to the gym and the staff just didn't raise a huge issue. At the PRTF where I worked, staff wouldn't have escalated a resident over shoes. In a gym situation, we would just have had the resident sit on the sidelines until they complied or they would sit out the whole gym time and that would all be documented by staff. If it was a mandatory physical activity group, it might impact them getting their level for the week. We had kids do it all the time but in our case, it was flip flops, not boots. We only had one girl that refused to stop wearing her snow boots everywhere. Most kids didn't wear snow boots at the center I worked at because most were teens and they preferred shoes.

Our facility was one big building so they didn't go outside to get to the school or gym.

The center I worked at did not allow backpacks or school bags due to contraband issues. It also helps with run always a little because some kids won't run if they can't take things. The exception was kids that attended public school but their bags and the kids were searched before we took them to school and when they returned from school.

We not only allowed coats but enforced residents wearing them when necessary due to weather. No coat meant they didn't go outside when it was cold. Hoodies were acceptable when it was a bit warmer. I worked with a bit older kids and most preferred hoodies too. We were told we could not restrict coats anymore. Previously, we would take a resident's coats and all but 1 sweatshirt if they were on run risk and then the resident had to check them in and put with staff. It was determined since residents would still run without coats, it was just putting them more at risk to not allow them coats and such.

All of our residents were searched if they had been at thr center school (day students would give them contraband) or if they had been off campus.

I think it is likely they wore coats because of the distance between BHCH buildings and how cold it gets here in South Dakota plus our windchills can be brutal. I just think Serenity's coat probably wasn't where she could grab it, either in a cubbie or closet, or by the staff. Serenity also may have just been focused on getting away, if she did indeed run, and never gave her coat a thought.

The other thing is maybe she didn't realize how cold it was. We had been having some dangerously cold weather in the weeks up to when Serenity ran but if I remember correctly, the day before had been much warmer.

MOO
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So she could have already been in trouble for refusing to take off the boots? I had wondered that.

Students will still run without a coat as you said and I have felt that as well, if she was known to run, she was 9, it was winter and in the middle of nowhere with vast stretches of woods and hills, etc., one would think she would have had a coat, and they walked, as you said, quite a distance between buildings.

If there is one thing I have realized though, different people who work at different facilities have had different rules that are followed so they may not be the same, correct?

This place should either have children that have access to their coats or door alarms just due to its location, terrain, weather and the fact there are outbuildings and distance between them. In my opinion anyway.

Thank you for the information. I wish we had more details, it would help to understand the things that make no sense.
 
misgrn said:
The details of Serenity being removed on Christmas Day are in RR, bio mom's, interview with Lynne DiSanto. She discusses that bio dad was in jail, she was in prison and her parents were caring for Serenity. She says that her parents dropped Serenity off for a Christmas Eve visit with the other grandma, bio dad's mom who has schizophrenia. Grandma went into a "schizophrenic state" and called the police saying the neighbors were coming in and rubbing lotion on them to sedate and sexually assaulting them. The next day the responding officer's supervisor called DSS/CPS for a welfare check on Serenity and found her in a diaper with marker all over her so DSS/CPS took Serenity into custody. RR says her parents were not approved to keep Serenity because they had felonies. Then RR's time got extended. She goes on with more info after that but that is the main part of how Serenity ended up in state custody. More at:

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This is the one interview I have not watched and will be doing so shortly. The one question it results in is if her parents were not approved to have Serenity because of felonies, then why did they have her or why were they allowed to up to the point of her being with the other grandma for a visit (which sounds like after that she would be going back with them?)...
 
Poor Serenity. There seems to me such a night and day difference between biomom and adoptive mom. One clearly cares and one was just pretending to care in an interview.

Such a screwed up back ground. Her mom says she was arrested and lost her because she was shoplifting for diapers and formula. She talks about her parents bringing "chew" to her in prison to keep people off her back so she lost her parole and her parents were in jail for a year for it. She acknowledges she totally failed her kids and gave up on life and eventually started using because of it.

I'm so disgusted with the adopted parents. You don't suddenly get divorced months after an adoption. They knew that was coming and could have done something else for that poor girl. Just disgusted. There was no effort to provide love and stability to a child they should have been thoroughly educated needed it badly. These people are supposed to provide something better than the screwed up parents she was taken from.

And I'd agree that taking a new baby sibling to see her would be heartbreaking for a child who has had nothing her entire life and was in a children's home I'm just sick over how many kids have been neglected and not provided the basic love and care every child deserves.

Mom is convinced Serenity was picked up by some older kids. She can't accept that Serenity is gone and was very upset when the one time an investigator came to see her he said she'd been gone so long to prepare for the worst.

I just do not believe they are going to find her in those woods. I hope she's somewhere safe. But at the same time I don't believe anyone who would pick her up even with her consent is a good person. No good person hides a missing child for months either. No safe environment hides a child like that. Mom mentioned when she was 9 she was hanging with kids drastically older than her so that's what she's hoping for. But it just strikes me that sounds like part of mom's problem. She never graduated high school nor did Serenity's father. Hanging with kids drastically older than you in elementary school, kids old enough to pick you up and hide you is not a good thing.
 
What kids would these be that have the ability and resources to hide a child?

Stress with child issues can lead to divorce.

Think of parents who have kidnapped children that divorce.
 
beatrixpotter said:
Poor Serenity. There seems to me such a night and day difference between biomom and adoptive mom. One clearly cares and one was just pretending to care in an interview.

Such a screwed up back ground. Her mom says she was arrested and lost her because she was shoplifting for diapers and formula. She talks about her parents bringing "chew" to her in prison to keep people off her back so she lost her parole and her parents were in jail for a year for it. She acknowledges she totally failed her kids and gave up on life and eventually started using because of it.

I'm so disgusted with the adopted parents. You don't suddenly get divorced months after an adoption. They knew that was coming and could have done something else for that poor girl. Just disgusted. There was no effort to provide love and stability to a child they should have been thoroughly educated needed it badly. These people are supposed to provide something better than the screwed up parents she was taken from.

And I'd agree that taking a new baby sibling to see her would be heartbreaking for a child who has had nothing her entire life and was in a children's home I'm just sick over how many kids have been neglected and not provided the basic love and care every child deserves.

Mom is convinced Serenity was picked up by some older kids. She can't accept that Serenity is gone and was very upset when the one time an investigator came to see her he said she'd been gone so long to prepare for the worst.

I just do not believe they are going to find her in those woods. I hope she's somewhere safe. But at the same time I don't believe anyone who would pick her up even with her consent is a good person. No good person hides a missing child for months either. No safe environment hides a child like that. Mom mentioned when she was 9 she was hanging with kids drastically older than her so that's what she's hoping for. But it just strikes me that sounds like part of mom's problem. She never graduated high school nor did Serenity's father. Hanging with kids drastically older than you in elementary school, kids old enough to pick you up and hide you is not a good thing.
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I will say that both the bio mom and dad admit their screw ups and one can hear their regret. It does not change anything but I am just saying...

With the adopted parents and other wife of dad, all I get from it is trying to sound good and taking no blame. jmo though.

I try but have little hope either, just slim hope. I will say though that there was a case where a child went missing I believe after his father was murdered and was found to be living with friends of his mother a year later. See link: Ohio boy found alive one year later after he disappeared

I tend to think most people would not risk arrest or hide a child being seriously looked for by LE but this is one case where it happened...

So I guess it is possible...
 
MAR 31, Updated APR 1, 2019
After nearly two months there's still no sign of Serenity
"The Sheriff of Pennington County is 100 percent committed to bringing Serenity home no matter how that is. We're working every angle of every possibility and we are going to work until we find her and that is our 100 percent commitment," says Capt. Tony Harrison, Pennington County Sheriff's Office.
 
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