SD SD - Serenity Dennard, 9, Children’s Home Society, Pennington County, 3 Feb 2019 #4

[AnnaGrace]

It's always stayed in my mind that the dogs lost her sent after the cattle guard at the road. I've read that when the scent ends abruptly, the most common reason is they entered a vehicle. So it still makes me wonder if that's what happened. I was so hoping she'd be found before another winter.

 

[Ragnarok]

It's always stayed in my mind that the dogs lost her sent after the cattle guard at the road. I've read that when the scent ends abruptly, the most common reason is they entered a vehicle. So it still makes me wonder if that's what happened. I was so hoping she'd be found before another winter.

What I believe happened to Serenity till evidence proves otherwise.

 

[SkipperKey3]

I've wondered this for months. We only have verbal accounts of what happened, with reported non-staff sightings at the gate (parent dropping off another client) and on Rockerville Road (the woodcutters).

I have no reason to believe there is a coverup, but I'd still be far more convinced that the sequence of events we have is truthful and complete as far as anyone at the home knows if there were camera evidence that she had a) run outside the building and/or b) left the property of the children's home. Or some sign of her found somewhere between the door she ran out and the vastness of the Black Hills. If only the cadaver dog had found an object, any personal object, and not merely the scent of someone who expired sometime in the past.

MOO as always.

I agree. As far as we have been told, the cadaver dogs continue to get a scent, but they have yet to zero in on the source of that scent.

As for the "verbal accounts", the woodcutters did NOT see Serenity. They were some distance away, but did at one point see searchers. They were later talked to and verified that they never saw Serenity.

There doesn't seem to be any doubt that she left the building.

 

[SkipperKey3]

It's always stayed in my mind that the dogs lost her sent after the cattle guard at the road. I've read that when the scent ends abruptly, the most common reason is they entered a vehicle. So it still makes me wonder if that's what happened. I was so hoping she'd be found before another winter.

There can be other reasons for this. There was some time before the dogs were brought in, and the road itself had accumulated quite a number of other, stronger scents in the meantime. Added to that is that the temperatures dropped drastically, and with temperatures hovering around zero by the time the dogs were there, this greatly detracts from the ability of the dogs to detect scents.

I had hoped that while they couldn't directly detect her scent on Rockerville Road because of all the traffic between the time she left and the time the dogs got there, not to mention the searchers that were out there, I had still hoped that they could detect where she left the road, but apparently they didn't.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Which is exactly why the investigation needs to go back to square one, and start from there. Something is missing...

At my job, often, a person can get so wrapped up in seeing something from one perspective, that often when you get "stuck" the file goes to someone else, who sees things with a fresh perspective. I would suggest something like this be considered by LEO.

LE has been considering all options from day one. They haven't dismissed other possibilities.

 

[SkipperKey3]

I can't believe this child has not been found yet .

It is very rugged terrain and very difficult to search, with many little nooks and crannies - exactly the type of places that it has been reported that Serenity liked to hide in.
Unfortunately, I can believe she hasn't been found yet. There was mention early on in this case, in an earlier thread, about somebody who went missing in this area, and wasn't found despite extensive searches. Several years later his remains were stumbled on.
LE knows this, which is why they continue to search.
I'd much rather that she surfaced safe somewhere...

 

[AnnaGrace]

There can be other reasons for this. There was some time before the dogs were brought in, and the road itself had accumulated quite a number of other, stronger scents in the meantime. Added to that is that the temperatures dropped drastically, and with temperatures hovering around zero by the time the dogs were there, this greatly detracts from the ability of the dogs to detect scents.

I had hoped that while they couldn't directly detect her scent on Rockerville Road because of all the traffic between the time she left and the time the dogs got there, not to mention the searchers that were out there, I had still hoped that they could detect where she left the road, but apparently they didn't.

Yes I agree and hoped those things too. As I said, that lingers in my thoughts and I'm aware there's other reasons why scent dogs lose the scent. I'm still open to both options. I'm not 100 percent convinced she ran out, got lost and succumbed to the elements and I'm also not convinced she wasn't picked up by someone at the road. What I wish more than anything is that she is found. If she did succumb, I know sometimes it takes years and sometimes never and that's just heartbreaking. I hate that winter is upon us again and still no Serenity.

 

[Dragonfly wings]

Ugh this case really bothers me. I wish it would get picked up by HLN or have a special done....leaving a Children's Home never to be seen again at 9 yrs old is just so wrong.

I follow the Savannah Spurlock case and the scent of her body became overwhelming when the weather warmed up. I know the cadaver dogs hit on something here and there, but if Serenity was in the search area would the scent be quite strong to the searchers as well? How long do bodies smell for and how far does the scent travel (to a regular human nose)?

I have read the articles and know search warrants have been served and leads followed, but the focus seems so heavy on finding her body by the home. But she was last seen on a pubic, yet remote road and the last live scent was by the road! From the beginning I thought what a perfect setup for an opportunist driving by.

In the Salem Sabatka case, it was a hotel clerk that first alerted authorities about a suspicious man and young girl. I don't know what the local media coverage was like, but I truly hope Serenity was presented as a MISSING child, not a runaway lost cause frozen in the woods. Every hotel clerk, gas station attendant, bank teller, in the area should have been on the lookout.

 

[Dragonfly wings]

Not on any forensic team but just from seeing deer die on rural property of natural causes during warmer months, the intense smell can be for 3 weeks or more and traveling pretty far. Cadaver dogs would pick up scents much longer than our noses. I've seen dogs rolling on skins that were there much longer and track to go seek them out. I like to hold onto the belief that she is alive and well.

 

[Catmommy]

I wonder if Serenity thought herself clever when she escaped and then hid so well that she wasn't found. I think she is hiding still but not intentionally anymore.

 

[Steelslady]

It's always stayed in my mind that the dogs lost her sent after the cattle guard at the road. I've read that when the scent ends abruptly, the most common reason is they entered a vehicle. So it still makes me wonder if that's what happened. I was so hoping she'd be found before another winter.

I know, and I agree with you on this 100%, @AnnaGrace but I have been told that the dogs found a scent elsewhere and that I am wrong.

 

[Gardener1850]

I wonder if Serenity thought herself clever when she escaped and then hid so well that she wasn't found. I think she is hiding still but not intentionally anymore.

I think that's most likely what happened too. She had a history of hiding inside the building. Perhaps this time she made the fatal mistake of hiding outside.

We need to think like a 9 year old playing hide and seek and think about where she could have hidden. You're standing here by the road: خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏
Where do you go from there?
I want to know what is under that grate at the driveway. Is there a drainage tunnel there that she could have crawled into?

MOO.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I think that's most likely what happened too. She had a history of hiding inside the building. Perhaps this time she made the fatal mistake of hiding outside.

We need to think like a 9 year old playing hide and seek and think about where she could have hidden. You're standing here by the road: خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏
Where do you go from there?
I want to know what is under that grate at the driveway. Is there a drainage tunnel there that she could have crawled into?

MOO.

Good question about the grate. If that is a drainage pipe covering, would she be strong enough to move it or tiny enough to slip thru it’s openings. Or was the grate already off kilter and had an opening she slid thru. If that were possible then the dogs wouldn’t lose her scent right? She’d either continue deeper into the pipe, or exit the pipe and go in another direction. Interesting to think about.

 

[Gardener1850]

Good question about the grate. If that is a drainage pipe covering, would she be strong enough to move it or tiny enough to slip thru it’s openings. Or was the grate already off kilter and had an opening she slid thru. If that were possible then the dogs wouldn’t lose her scent right? She’d either continue deeper into the pipe, or exit the pipe and go in another direction. Interesting to think about.

Good questions. It looks to me like someone small could slide under the grate on the ends-- under that triangle ladder shaped thing. I'm not sure how it would work with the dogs if she died in a drainage pipe under or near that spot. I believe it was scent dogs that tracked her to the end of the sidewalk. I think I have read that some dogs are dual trained as both scent dogs and cadaver dogs. But if they were tasked with tracking her living scent from a piece of Serenity's clothing would they alert for a cadaver being present or would only alert that the living scent trail ended? I also wonder if dual trained dogs have the same type of alert for the end of the trail and the presence of remains. We need our dog experts here to tell us more.

ETA: Also, I'm thinking if she was in the drainage pipe, then her remains could have been washed farther away from the opening by melting snow or rain storms over the year. Would remains scattered in underground pipes around the area lead to the cadaver dogs detecting the scent of death but not being able to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from? IDK, just pondering it.

MOO.

 

[SkipperKey3]

I think that's most likely what happened too. She had a history of hiding inside the building. Perhaps this time she made the fatal mistake of hiding outside.

We need to think like a 9 year old playing hide and seek and think about where she could have hidden. You're standing here by the road: خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏
Where do you go from there?
I want to know what is under that grate at the driveway. Is there a drainage tunnel there that she could have crawled into?

MOO.

That's hardly the only place. And there are two of those grates, not one. But from the location you pinpointed, if you head up the road to the north, the direction she was last seen heading, to where the road starts to bend slightly to the right, that is where the little creek runs under the road. I thought early on there was a possibility that she crawled in there. But I would have thought that such places as the grate and where the creek runs under the road would have been checked early on.

 

[PommyMommy]

Pennington County SO on Twitter
If you see something, say something in hunting season. @PennCoSheriff reminds hunters to be alert for two missing people.
Larry Genzlinger—in the area of Sawmill Draw, Six Mile and Ditch Creek Roads. Serenity Dennard—near Black Hills Children’s Home in Rockerville. Call 394-2151.

1:09 PM - 2 Nov 2019

Pennington County SO on Twitter
A group spent this day continuing our grid search looking for Serenity Dennard in the Rockerville area. The search and investigation continue.

9:00 PM - 2 Nov 2019

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 2, 2019
Deer hunting season opener, hunters to be on alert for missing persons
This weekend is the opening weekend for Black Hills deer hunting season and the Pennington County Sheriff's Office is advising hunters to be on alert for two missing people.

[...]

Serenity Dennard was last seen Feb. 3 near the Black Hills Children’s Home in Rockerville.

[...]

"There's a number of things you can do, of course, be aware of your physical limitations and hunt accordingly if that's a factor, and be prepared when you go into the woods. Be familiar with an area and if you aren't familiar with an area, be sure you have the proper gear when you go to hunt that area," said Thom.

The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office is also reminding hunters out that if you see something, say something.

[...]

 

[aegarner1]

@PommyMommy ty for posting these I was having trouble doing it

 

[PommyMommy]

@PommyMommy ty for posting these I was having trouble doing it

You're welcome. Sorry you were having trouble. Hope you get it figured out. MOO

 

[JerseyGirl]

Serenity Dennard has not been seen since February when she ran away from the Black Hills Children’s Home in Rockerville.

Hunters Asked to Keep an Eye out for Two Missing People