Interview with Chad and Kasandra...lots of information in here:
'She's Serenity:' Missing girl's parents share daughter's story
"It sucks to look in there" and is difficult to walk by each day, said Chad Dennard as he stood last week inside his daughter's room at the family's home in Sturgis.
Serenity's room is a constant reminder for Chad, 37, and his wife Kasandra, 25, that Serenity has been missing for nearly two months after running away Feb. 3 from the Children's Home near Rockerville.
While the couple hasn't seen the 9-year-old in a long time, they can still lovingly recall her personality.
"I know, she's her own person," Kasandra chimed in as the couple sat at their kitchen table, surrounded by artwork made by their four children.
"She's a sweet girl, she's very smart, she just struggles," Kasandra said.
Those struggles involve challenging emotions and behaviors that stem from several diagnoses, including reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), she said.
Serenity's symptoms include refusing to do school work, ripping things up and breaking toys, threatening self harm and yelling at people, Kasandra said. "She has no fear of introducing herself, asking others to play or talking to others," but later becomes controlling toward people.
Another one of her symptoms is running away, whether it's from her parents, grandmother, or school. She runs away because she doesn't know how to process her emotions, or because she begins to feel too comfortable in a place, Chad and Kasandra said.
Chad said he's "100 percent" positive that Serenity similarly planned an escape from the Children's Home by having another child first run away. "That's just her M.O." he said. "She's going to wait until everything is calmed down," said Chad. "It's unexpected," Kasandra added.
The couple took Serenity to outpatient therapy for at least two-and-a-half years before deciding in July 2018 to enroll her at the Children's Home, which provides schooling and intensive inpatient therapy.