What about the dogs? Did they ever follow a trail? Or brought in too late and weather too difficult for good scent? I wish there had been a massive outside search with helicopters and dogs within the first few hours (maybe there was?).
What about the thought that she did hide in the woods originally and when it started getting dark and very cold she came down and then was picked up on the road? An even better crime of opportunity in the dark.
FEB 3: Pennington County Deputies, Pennington County Search and Rescue, Custer County Search and Rescue, Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City Fire Department and at least three dogs searched the area into the night. It was 4 degrees and snowing.
FEB 4: More than 65 people and four dogs continued to search including Pennington County Deputies, Pennington County Search and Rescue, Custer County Search and Rescue, Rapid City Police Department, Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City Fire Department and the Civil Air Patrol.
Additional resources were brought in and the search continued into the night using K9 units, ground crews, and all terrain vehicles.
ACTIVE SEARCH - SD - Serenity Dennard, 9, Children’s Home Society, Pennington County, 3 Feb 2019
Press Conference:
UPDATE: Sheriff's Office looking for couple who last saw missing girl
Dogs alerted to "areas of interest," said Tammy Stadel, team leader for Pennington County Search and Rescue. "Unfortunately, none of those leads have turned anything up for us."
Searchers turned to the air in efforts to find Serenity Dennard
Civil Air Patrol Col. Mike Beason woke up at midnight on Sunday with a call asking for his help. Beason found a pilot in Rapid City to fly Monday at 7:30 in the morning.
FEB 5 (AM): More than 100 people including dogs searched for
Serenity and deputies went door to door speaking with neighbors and looking in outbuildings, log piles, hay bales, anywhere a child might hide or take refuge. They searched a one-mile radius; Pennington County Deputies, Pennington County Search and Rescue, Custer County Search and Rescue, Rapid City Police Department, Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City Fire Department and Civil Air Patrol.
Search Enters Third Day For Missing 9-Year-Old In Pennington County
LE asks anyone with a game camera set up in the area to review the footage and advise authorites accordingly. They also asked that anyone living in the Rockerville, Foster Gulch and Highway 16 area to search their property and outbuildings.
FEB 5 (PM): The search transitioned into a recovery effort. At this point, more than 200 personnel and six canines were assigned to the search. The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Pennington County Search and Rescue, Pennington County Fire, South Dakota Highway Patrol, South Dakota Wildland Fire, Mount Rushmore National Park, North Haines Volunteer Fire Department, Ellsworth Air Force Base Fire Department, Silver City Volunteer Fire Department, New Underwood Volunteer Fire Department, Box Elder Police Department, Box Elder Volunteer Fire Department, Black Hawk Volunteer Fire Department, Johnson Siding Volunteer Fire Department, Rochford Volunteer Fire Department, Fairburn Volunteer Fire Department, Custer County Search and Rescue, Rapid City Police Department, Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department, Whispering Pines Volunteer Fire Department, Bear Paw Dog Team, Battle Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City Fire Department, Rapid Valley Volunteer Fire Department, Doty Volunteer Fire Department, Summerset Police Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Meade County Sheriff, Hill City Volunteer Fire Department, and Civil Air Patrol have scoured the area. Searchers have used hand-held thermal imaging devices, distributed flyers, canvassed all neighbors and interviewed more than 60 people to try to find Serenity.
More information in Thread 1:
ACTIVE SEARCH - SD - Serenity Dennard, 9, Children’s Home Society, Pennington County, 3 Feb 2019
For example:
Reported timelines on Serenity Dennard's disappearance are confusing
Sheriff has requested special dog teams from Iowa, Wyoming and Colorado. The dogs are trained to located deceased persons although
it is very difficult for the dogs to find a scent in frigid conditions.
Pennington County Search And Rescue Explain Conditions In Search For Serenity Dennard
"This is really hilly terrain, right now it's really slick, there was freezing rain the day we got there so everything was immediately slick and hard to navigate," Pennington County Search and Rescue, Rick Lehmann said.
Not only did they use technology and GPS to search,
but also trained dogs.
"We have a tracking, trailing dog, we also have an air scenting dog and then some of the neighboring search and rescue have dogs we put out," Lehmann said.
Day 9: Search for missing girl temporarily halted - KNBN NewsCenter1
(Article with good detail on the search efforts - originally published 2/5.)