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

[flute4peace]

Just featured on LivePD!

 

[PommyMommy]

https://www.kotatv.com/content/news/Search-continues-for-Serenity-Dennard-511023391.html

The search is on for Serenity Dennard.
[...]

"What we call kind of grid search, wing span to wing span searching. Basically eliminating areas, we have 5 key areas we're targeting this morning," says Kevin Thom the Sheriff of Pennington County.

The Sheriff's Office wanted all hands on deck to try and cover the most ground possible so they put in a request to the Ellsworth Air Force Base for volunteers, with nearly 80 airmen and women, they too want to help find more answers to where the missing child could be.

[...]

Sheriff's deputies and Ellsworth airmen weren't the only ones in attendance but also some members from the Box Elder police department.

For one officer, he works night and normally would be sleeping at 6 a.m. but he put his needs second to lend a hand.

[...]

 

[Rocco]

https://www.kotatv.com/content/news/Search-continues-for-Serenity-Dennard-511023391.html

The search is on for Serenity Dennard.
[...]

"What we call kind of grid search, wing span to wing span searching. Basically eliminating areas, we have 5 key areas we're targeting this morning," says Kevin Thom the Sheriff of Pennington County.

The Sheriff's Office wanted all hands on deck to try and cover the most ground possible so they put in a request to the Ellsworth Air Force Base for volunteers, with nearly 80 airmen and women, they too want to help find more answers to where the missing child could be.

[...]

Sheriff's deputies and Ellsworth airmen weren't the only ones in attendance but also some members from the Box Elder police department.

For one officer, he works night and normally would be sleeping at 6 a.m. but he put his needs second to lend a hand.

[...]

https://www.kotatv.com/content/news/Search-continues-for-Serenity-Dennard-511023391.html

The search is on for Serenity Dennard.
[...]

"What we call kind of grid search, wing span to wing span searching. Basically eliminating areas, we have 5 key areas we're targeting this morning," says Kevin Thom the Sheriff of Pennington County.

The Sheriff's Office wanted all hands on deck to try and cover the most ground possible so they put in a request to the Ellsworth Air Force Base for volunteers, with nearly 80 airmen and women, they too want to help find more answers to where the missing child could be.

[...]

Sheriff's deputies and Ellsworth airmen weren't the only ones in attendance but also some members from the Box Elder police department.

For one officer, he works night and normally would be sleeping at 6 a.m. but he put his needs second to lend a hand.

[...]

With foliage getting thicker by the day (my dandylions grew 3'' overnight---thanks for asking), it's going to become increasingly more difficult to find her---if she's out there. I'm starting to think she's not in the woods. Do they have dumpsters on the property? If she got in one and crawled inside a box to get out of the cold and wind and it got dumped because no one saw her when they checked them, she's never going to be found.

We've all heard stories of kids who have gone missing because they wandered off from camping trips or from their homes in the country, but I don't remember any cases where the child was never found. Granted she didn't wander off, she ran away, but she still would have sought shelter just like any other child when she got cold.

 

[human]

Interesting. Maybe climbed into a car trunk? Is that possible with new cars? I doubt if anyone locks theircars out there.

Who looks in their car trunk? I have not had a car with a trunk for years but I don’t know how often I looked in there.

Could she decompose over the winter with little odor? Could she climb into a back seat and not be noticed?

 

[misgrn]

Interesting. Maybe climbed into a car trunk? Is that possible with new cars? I doubt if anyone locks theircars out there.

Who looks in their car trunk? I have not had a car with a trunk for years but I don’t know how often I looked in there.

Could she decompose over the winter with little odor? Could she climb into a back seat and not be noticed?

I can't speak for BHCH but both treatment facilities I worked at stressed the importance and need for staff locking their cars. Even in the one I worked at in a smaller town in SD, many years ago expected staff to lock their cars just in case. Even if they had such a policy, it does not mean staff followed it of course.

I admit there are a lot of people all across SD that probably don't lock their cars, or houses for that matter, though. We are very rural here of course and only two major cities. Every car I have had in 20+ years had a button to open the trunk from inside (often in the glove compartment or button somewhere by the dash) so yes, she probably could have figured it out.

We have had hot enough days though that if she was in a trunk the owner would notice. Maybe not in the first few days after she went missing but definitely as it got warmer.

As for the backseat, I suppose that depends on how thoroughly the owner looks in their car as they get in it. It is possible she hid and got out later especially if the owner didn't lock it or of the car doesn't have an alarm.

I would hope vehicles were checked that day though both by staff and LE.

 

[LVatty10]

We've all heard stories of kids who have gone missing because they wandered off from camping trips or from their homes in the country, but I don't remember any cases where the child was never found.

Snipped and BBM
I don’t think DeOrr Kunz and Dennis Martin have ever been found. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. They were a couple years younger than Serenity. Both allegedly went missing outdoors on camping trip (DeOrr) and on a hike (Dennis). So it does happen. In those cases and this one, it’s almost like the children just disappeared into another dimension

 

[kay74]

We were at McD's this morning for breakfast and I heard a man yell, "Serenity come here!" and then again loudly "Serenity". I whipped around and saw a smiling little 4 to 5 year old girl. What a coincidence! It was her father yelling. An unusual name to boot.

 

[janewall]

I've heard of kids going missing and never found, particularly if they've wandered off in remote boglands/muskeg. I'm thinking of a particular case in northwestern Ontario from a couple of decades back – a child wandered off from his family's campsite and was never found despite specialized military searches.

I'm nowhere near SD and don't really know the terrain, nor what effect winter weather has on the ground by early February. Is there any bogland/muskeg within walking distance of the children's home?

The fact that the local ecosystem is dominated by pine makes me suspect the answer is yes. And the fact that the weather had been unseasonably warm in the days before Serenity vanished troubles me, because if the ground was not fully frozen she easily could have been sucked in if she wandered away from roadway or cleared and worked land.

MOO

 

[Mr Obvious]

Mountain Lions are all over out there. They have a hunting season now to keep the populations down.

 

[Rocco]

Mountain Lions are all over out there. They have a hunting season now to keep the populations down.

When is hunting season for Mountain Lions?

ETA: I thought there might be a possibility that a hunter may come across her but after doing a search, found that the season doesn't start until the end of Dec.: South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks says 21 mountain lions were killed this season, which starts Dec. 26 and ends March 31.

I'm guessing hunting in that particular area isn't allowed anyway because of the close proximity to the Children's Home.

 

[TwoDogNight]

Loggers found the remains of a missing male hiker in this general geographic area...five years after he went missing. They found his car, and there were searches. His remains were found within a two mile radius of his car. He went missing in the summer, but I am uncertain if they used cadaver dogs.

 

[proctorelites]

Idk if it is because I haven't followed enough cases but the search efforts seem to go on and on for Serenity. That's not usually the case IMOO. I just wonder at what point local government has to end LE searches until further evidence is brought forward. This has got to be a strain on the budget for the local department? I dont want them to stop, dont get me wrong.
Have they received a substantial amount of $ fund raising? I hear this gets incredibly expensive.

 

[misgrn]

Idk if it is because I haven't followed enough cases but the search efforts seem to go on and on for Serenity. That's not usually the case IMOO. I just wonder at what point local government has to end LE searches until further evidence is brought forward. This has got to be a strain on the budget for the local department? I dont want them to stop, dont get me wrong.
Have they received a substantial amount of $ fund raising? I hear this gets incredibly expensive.

Here is an article from May that may give some insight with regards to the budget and expenses.

"
Search and Rescue has a fixed budget every year. The combination of city and county dollars gives the department 44 thousand dollars which covers most situations they may have to respond to in a given year. For a large scale search such as the one for Serenity, many resources are not in the budget.

"So far on the Serenity search specifically, non-budgeted items, if you will, related to the search we're in that 40 to 50 thousand dollar range," says Pennington County Sheriff, Kevin Thom.
...

"To help offset costs incurred by non-budgeted searches there is a possibility for reimbursement from other departments. A few weeks ago the Pennington County Board of Commissioners approved a hearing for a $73,000 supplement requested by search and rescue.

It'll help us through the rest of the year. I mean if we spend all the supplement or just a portion of the supplement on the Serenity search the balance can be used for other searches, responses to other incidents throughout the rest of the year," Thom says."

More at:

How does the search for Serenity fit into Search and Rescue's budget?


This amount was approved.

"The Pennington County Commission has approved the use of $73,243.92 in federal funds to help offset the cost of an ongoing search for a missing 9-year-old girl."

Federal funds offset cost of search for missing girl

I am also pretty surprised the search has gone on this long since they have reportedly found nothing but maybe because the cadaver dogs were alerting and helped LE/SAR narrow down areas, so they kept searching within those areas. Plus, there were lots of weather issues that put searches on hold or limited them so maybe that all plays into it.

There have also been private citizens searching on their own time, supposedly Serenity's family members (bio and adoptive) have also been searching, and there was the search that SD State Senator Lynne DiSanto organized that had around 75 volunteers too that have been searching public areas (roads, etc) and in the Black Hills National Forest. LE has not asked for citizen volunteers other than the military members this past weekend and who knows if they ever will. Even if LE stops searching, it seems like there are plenty of locals willing to continue searching the woods for Serenity or some evidence she was there.

 

[misgrn]

Do they have dumpsters on the property? If she got in one and crawled inside a box to get out of the cold and wind and it got dumped because no one saw her when they checked them, she's never going to be found.

RSBM

Yes, there are at least 2 dumpsters on the property. I can't remember where I saw them so I can't give more detail sorry. It could have been on news videos, online photos of BHCH property, or photos from locals.

I know people asked if they were searched but I don't recall seeing an answer.

MOO

 

[SkipperKey3]

RSBM

Yes, there are at least 2 dumpsters on the property. I can't remember where I saw them so I can't give more detail sorry. It could have been on news videos, online photos of BHCH property, or photos from locals.

I know people asked if they were searched but I don't recall seeing an answer.

MOO

The possibility of the dumpsters has been brought up several times here, and the question asked if they were searched, etc. But as far as official word and MSM is concerned, to my knowledge it has never been mentioned. Which means we know nothing on that score.

I don't even know if they consider that a possibility, since Serenity was last seen walking up on the road, not near the buildings, and shortly after that staff was out looking. Of course, if Serenity was at that point of the mindset of hiding, she may have ducked back toward the buildings unseen. I don't think that is a high possibility, but at this point what "high possibilities" remain?

 

[human]

How easy would it be for a child to open the dumpster, climb in and shut the top?

 

[SkipperKey3]

How easy would it be for a child to open the dumpster, climb in and shut the top?

Depends on the dumpster and the size of the child and the climb it would require. It should also be added that some places keep their dumpsters locked.
It is possible, however, that the Home reported to LE that they had specifically checked the dumpsters just to be sure. We don't know. There has not been any publically-acknowledged search of the landfill (or wherever the trash is deposited), to my knowledge.

 

[Rocco]

How easy would it be for a child to open the dumpster, climb in and shut the top?

If the lid was closed, I doubt she would be able to open it---they're really heavy. Plus, since they made of metal, the lid would have been extremely cold on her bare hands. My thought was if one was open and there were some empty boxes inside, could she have climbed in and crawled into an empty box and not been seen when they checked the dumpster.

 

[Jim_M]

If the lid was closed, I doubt she would be able to open it---they're really heavy. Plus, since they made of metal, the lid would have been extremely cold on her bare hands. My thought was if one was open and there were some empty boxes inside, could she have climbed in and crawled into an empty box and not been seen when they checked the dumpster.

Hmmm, you got me thinking of the dumpsters our trash service uses. They are a thick plastic material. Some have lids, some have sliding side panels.

I really really hope that they checked out these possibilities back in the beginning.

And I wonder, if they continue to draw a blank on this little girl, would they even pursue checking into their trash hauler? Like, how soon after she ran, was their trash day? I hope not that very day!

 

[SkipperKey3]

Hmmm, you got me thinking of the dumpsters our trash service uses. They are a thick plastic material. Some have lids, some have sliding side panels.

I really really hope that they checked out these possibilities back in the beginning.

And I wonder, if they continue to draw a blank on this little girl, would they even pursue checking into their trash hauler? Like, how soon after she ran, was their trash day? I hope not that very day!

Not likely the same day, since it was a Sunday.