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

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SassynOz said:
I love this idea. My child was with 4 adults a 6 children at her fenced in school ground . They were headed in and noticed she was missing. I’ll never know how / whys the truth that is. But they searched INSIDE first for her. duh. Didn’t alert authority’s etc. found her much later when they finally looked outside after another child reporting seeing a child from another classroom window running towards the busy street. After they put out a alert within the building. My kid was found in a 12 foot drainage ditch with 4 ft of water. How she’s alive today I’ll never know. But this stuff happens to often
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Very happy she's okay! :whew:

Still praying for good news on Serenity. Where are you precious girl?
 
girlhasnoname said:
Just checking and hoping for SD. Glad to see the articles and LE digging in.

ETA: I know I've read some posts by people with experience/knowledge of these types of facilities. Would the parents have to agree that SD be there, and if not, could they have tried to 'get her back'? I ask bc to me 9 yo seems like such a young one still, I don't know if she would have been able to stick to a plan, or how they could have even formulated one? I don't have a young daughter to compare. :(
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As a parent with a child currently in one of these facilities, and as someone connected with a large network of adoptive families, at least one of whom has intimate knowledge of this family, I can pretty much assure you that neither of her adoptive parents picked her up to take her back home. When your child enters the program you sign paperwork stating that you may remove them anytime you want. There is generally a plan, and a list of goals to be met, and most parents in their right minds (and these parents from what I understand are definitely in their right minds) are not going to voluntarily remove their child unless they suspect abuse or neglect. In those cases, they can simply tell the facility they are taking their child, and go pick them up. These are typically voluntary placements, not court ordered. In fact, as an adoptive parent who has had to do this three times now, I have never heard of a case where the child was court ordered to be there except when their behavior was so dangerous that the family begged the courts to place them. Even that is a real challenge, and not what I understand happened in this case.
 
MsFacetious said:
As far as planning at this age, Serenity is very smart. However, I don't know how well she would plan things. She would definitely have had to enlisted someone else's help. Sadly I don't believe there was a plan here. I think she just took off and was unable to return.
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I wouldn't assume she was intellectually able to pull something like this off. My daughter appears to be pretty smart, and can even get fairly good grades in school when she is in her residential setting, but her immaturity prevents her from getting far on the outside. Her therapist was just explaining to us yesterday that these kids think with the back of their brains (where fight or flight is) and not with the front. They have to be healed to start using the front of their brain, which is more logical and stable. For now, Serenity is likely a child who acts on impulse instead of thinking things through well. My daughter, who is even older than Serenity, would have a hard time coming up with, much less following, a plan to escape from where she's at, which is also out in the middle of nowhere. She could follow others in their escape as a group, but never by herself.
 
LE encouraged folks in the area to search their properties... has LE done this themselves? If she headed on S Rockerville, there are some properties not too far down that road (from what I can tell via google map). I’m praying she’s found soon, and hopefully alive. If she were hiding anywhere nearby I’m thinking she’d definitely be found by now. She’d be hungry and thirsty and would probably give up hiding to find food or drink. I’d be interested in hearing the other children's testimonies about what happened the day she fled. If maybe there WAS a plan or what exactly happened... if she said anything to the other children etc.
 
mrbeansmom said:
As a parent with a child currently in one of these facilities, and as someone connected with a large network of adoptive families, at least one of whom has intimate knowledge of this family, I can pretty much assure you that neither of her adoptive parents picked her up to take her back home. When your child enters the program you sign paperwork stating that you may remove them anytime you want. There is generally a plan, and a list of goals to be met, and most parents in their right minds (and these parents from what I understand are definitely in their right minds) are not going to voluntarily remove their child unless they suspect abuse or neglect. In those cases, they can simply tell the facility they are taking their child, and go pick them up. These are typically voluntary placements, not court ordered. In fact, as an adoptive parent who has had to do this three times now, I have never heard of a case where the child was court ordered to be there except when their behavior was so dangerous that the family begged the courts to place them. Even that is a real challenge, and not what I understand happened in this case.
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Is it a sliding fee scale?
 
shorty42404 said:
I wonder if there are any empty properties nearby? Houses for sale? For rent? I feel so sad for this little girl. And if there truly wasn’t any wrongdoing on the staff’s part, I imagine they feel awful too. Praying
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From what I can tell on Google Maps...
It she traveled up S. Rockerville Rd, she would have to go a mile before getting to another structure. However, the latest said she headed westward up into the hills. Going that way would be slower going, rougher terrain, and the nearest structure looks to be over a mile and a half away, in a straight line as the crow flies, but would be longer on foot, even if taking the most direct route. Even then, there are only a couple structures that I can see, unless she pointed southwest and headed to Keystone. But that also is problematic, as they have said the terrain toward the south is pretty much impassible.
None of that is good news, and not what one would hope. There is the possibility that something isn't showing up on Google Maps or that I just don't see it, but it doesn't look likely.
One can only hope that she somehow found the stamina in that cold to go longer. Or that she doubled back to the road.
Any searches today? I haven't heard. I did see where it was supposed to be snowy today and tomorrow, but after that clearer. But no real spring warm-up in sight.
 
Has anyone found out how far the couple cutting wood in the Foster Gulch/ South Rookerville Rd. area is from the children's home? Not much was released as to what they allegedly witnessed pertaining to Serenity.

It would be helpful to know more as to whether they spoke to her, where she actually was *in the woods? on the road?* and what direction she was headed. :confused:
 
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human said:
Is it a sliding fee scale?
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Not that I've heard of. In most cases like ours (adoption of a traumatized child in the county), the county pays the fee. They typically cover just room and board. If there is a private school on the campus that the child is required to attend, the family has to pay that fee. Sometimes it's negotiable. Therapy is paid for out of the child's Medicaid or MediCal if the state accepts it. Otherwise, your private health insurance has to cover it. Many of the places will work with families to make it feasible. Most parents are on their last legs when they contact them.
 
I wonder how quickly did those who live nearby know Serenity was missing? I mean, haven't some of you mentioned SO's nearby? I just wonder if someone who knew she was missing swooped in and grabbed her without notice upon hearing a little girl was lost in the neighborhood. When people are missing around us, and we live out in the country, there are typically helicopters flying low with loud speakers telling everyone who is missing, what they're wearing and how old they are. Does anyone know if they did that there, or was it too cold to use helicopters?
 
Caylee Advocate said:
Has anyone found out how far the couple cutting wood in the Foster Gulch/ South Rookerville Rd. area is from the children's home? Not much was released as to what they allegedly witnessed pertaining to Serenity.

It would be helpful to know more as to whether they spoke to her, where she actually was *in the woods? on the road?* and what direction she was headed. :confused:
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The couple never saw her. They talked to the staff. I posted a map of Foster Gulch and the Children's Home back 20 or so pages and I'll see if I can find it. Foster Gulch is south of the Children's Home.

ETA Map: Google Maps
 
@Caylee Advocate
MsFacetious said:
The couple that the sheriff's office was initially looking for hadn't seen Dennard, but a staff member who was looking for her, Whelchel said. However, a woman dropping a family member off at the facility did see Dennard at a nearby cattle gate around 11 a.m.

He said the woman saw Dennard after dropping the relative off and was backing up her car, which had another passenger inside. The woman got out of her car and went inside to tell the staff that there was a girl outside. Meanwhile, the other person inside the car saw Dennard walk north up the road. By the time the woman returned to her car, Dennard was gone, and she couldn't find her as she drove up and down the road.

Whelchel said the sheriff's office is in "regular contact" with Dennard's parents. "They're devastated," he said.

Weather on day girl went missing significantly hurt search efforts
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ACTIVE SEARCH - SD - Serenity Dennard, 9, Children’s Home Society, Pennington County, 3 Feb 2019
 
PommyMommy said:
The couple never saw her. They talked to the staff. I posted a map of Foster Gulch and the Children's Home back 20 or so pages and I'll see if I can find it. Foster Gulch is south of the Children's Home.

ETA Map: Google Maps
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Thanks PM, I must have missed that map. I would "assume" the workers saw them and asked if they had seen her, but I wonder why the sheriff wanted to talk to them to try to get a better timeline? :confused:o_O
 
Caylee Advocate said:
Thanks PM, I must have missed that map. I would "assume" the workers saw them and asked if they had seen her, but I wonder why the sheriff wanted to talk to them to try to get a better timeline? :confused:o_O
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You're welcome. Yeah, based on the initial reports I think we all assumed the couple saw her and were surprised to hear they didn't. In addition to what Jane Eyre said, LE probably wanted to know what vehicles, people, etc. they saw in the area.
MOO
 
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Comparison between search map (February 11) and the search map prior to that weekend search:

(Same legend as I posted for the earlier map)

The yellow lines represent people, the hot pink lines represent dogs, and the blue lines represent an airplane. "

SDRAP102-211_2019_201443.jpg


Search for missing 9-year-old girl in South Dakota on hold | The Star


5c5e2a9182585.image.jpg


This is the close-up image of where search and rescue personal have searched for 9-year-old Serenity Dennard. The yellow lines represent people, the hot pink lines represent dogs, and the blue lines represent an airplane.

Link:
Arielle Zionts Journal staff
 
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