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

[BethAnn777]

Some of those families ,others however are pushed into these positions by welfare workers .People who have no skills faith or common sence being told what to do by protocal because they are educated and do what they are told because they need the job and paid good money to be trained in the career . They get a check and go home.
Some familes do need help and want it ,the system sends us all to the same machine .

Just want to point out, “welfare workers” or social workers do not make good money. Some of them are on assistance themselves because they barely make above the poverty line. I know many people aren’t going into that career for the money, but it’s a sad situation that a masters degree is typically required, a degree in which the student usually has to finance. Talking out masssive student loans to make 30 or 40k per year is not a good idea. Their hearts and interventions might be good, but social work is not a good career choice if you ever want to have a dime to your name, not be overworked, and crippled by compassion fatigue.

I also lean towards Serenity hiding somewhere and passing away.

 

[Soulmagent]

Just want to point out, “welfare workers” or social workers do not make good money. Some of them are on assistance themselves because they barely make above the poverty line. I know many people aren’t going into that career for the money, but it’s a sad situation that a masters degree is typically required, a degree in which the student usually has to finance. Talking out masssive student loans to make 30 or 40k per year is not a good idea. Their hearts and interventions might be good, but social work is not a good career choice if you ever want to have a dime to your name, not be overworked, and crippled by compassion fatigue.

I also lean towards Serenity hiding somewhere and passing away.

You do not have to point out they dont make good money.

I am aware of the income bracket they fall in.
This convesation could become vastly different ,very fast. It ends with different perceptions on life from various vantage points -all off topic .

I do not think she is hiding or ever was . I think she was taken and inadvertanly aided in her own abduction.

 

[Seattle1]

All I know for certain about Serenity is that she was a 9-year-old child who was afraid of the dark and that she enticed other kids at the children's home to leave the door ajar during 'playtime' and she slipped out that door without being detected. It took several minutes to notice she was gone.

I don't think Serenity intended to be outside long -- no coat, no gloves.

And I'd still like to know what was said during her last visit with Dad and his new wife.

I also think there are a lot of misconceptions about this child beginning with not knowing she'd actually been living with her adoptive Dad and his wife(s) ever since age 3 to 9--(adopted at age 4). In other words, the majority of her life!

Thinking about this case for so many years, I now need to ask if Serenity wasn't a good fit for the adults or if the adults were not a good fit for the child. MOO

Serenity was born May 13, 2010, and removed as a toddler from her home when her mother violated the terms of her parole and was returned to jail to serve the remainder of her sentence. Her grandparents were convicted felons (fencing stolen goods) and were not eligible to foster Serenity, and she became a ward of the state.

Reportedly, Serenity had been in 10-12 different foster homes in two years before 2013 when she was placed with the family that would later become her adoptive parents.

Serenity was adopted by Chad Dennard and his ex-wife in 2014 but the couple divorced in 2015. Chad and his now-wife Kassandra had been raising Serenity together since 2015-- until they placed her in the children's home society where she disappeared from in 2019.

Since following the missing O & O West toddlers from California City, I can't help but wonder why Serenity, then a toddler, would be transferred to so many foster homes between the ages 2 and 3. It seems a toddler would be easier to place, and keep in place, right?

To be clear, Serenity spent the majority of her life (from age 3 to 9 when she went missing) with Chad Dennard and his wives, and she was not in the foster system when she vanished.

Reportedly, Serenity was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), according to her step-mom Kassandra.

RAD occurs when an infant or young child doesn't establish healthy attachments with their parents or their basic needs aren't being met, according to the Mayo Clinic, while DDMD results in children having "extreme irritability, anger and frequent, intense temper outbursts," according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

If true that CPS was responsible for relocating Serenity to a dozen homes as a toddler, I hope that legislation can be written to prevent this or anything known to contribute to RAD from happening to another child.

MOO

'She's Serenity:' Missing girl's parents share daughter's story

 

[LouLou74]

Authorities investigating discovery of skeletal remains in Lawrence County - Go Watertown

December 13, 2023 SPEARFISH, S.D.–The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to skeletal remains found outside Spearfish...

www.gowatertown.net

Authorities investigating discovery of skeletal remains in Lawrence County​

 

[JMapes]

Authorities investigating discovery of skeletal remains in Lawrence County - Go Watertown

December 13, 2023 SPEARFISH, S.D.–The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to skeletal remains found outside Spearfish...

www.gowatertown.net

Authorities investigating discovery of skeletal remains in Lawrence County​

This discovery piqued my interest, though they don't give any hints about the demographics of the remains (age of decedent? age of bones?).

The Spearfish area is about 65 miles north of the Children's Home where Serenity disappeared, but due to the Home's nature of being right along the highway, it's not unimaginable that she could have been picked up, taken away and harmed elsewhere with easy highway access.

Spearfish to Children's Home Society

www.google.com

 

[Catmommy]

If it is even remotely possible that the skeletal remains are those of a child Serenity's size, I don't think that could or would be kept secret. I, too, would like an answer to where Serenity is but I doubt this is her.

 

[BlkWidow]

From South Dakota:
Hello all! This case is very heartbreaking! I have thought about Serenity through the years... someone knows something!
I know someone that was personally close to the family and it has been expressed that there is something negative there with the mother (something not right). I wish the police would press the family and the Rockerville Children's Home more... something doesn't seem right. Why was Serenity in the children's home? Why was Serenity permitted to leave the children's home? For one why in the H#$L was she outside during the snowy months without a coat on? Why aren't there any cameras at the children's home? Do they care about the safety of the children at this place??? I used to date someone that had once worked at that Children's home as well and lets just say he wasn't someone I would've hired to work with the children... the police need to look more into the backgrounds of the employee's.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 26, 2019

South Dakota parents share missing daughter's story

STURGIS, S.D. - A stuffed pink unicorn with lilac hoofs sits on Serenity Dennard's neatly made bed with its arms open wide, waiting for the missing girl to return home.

www.grandforksherald.com

"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.

RAD occurs when an infant or young child doesn't establish healthy attachments with their parents or their basic needs aren't being met, according to the Mayo Clinic , while DDMD results in children having "extreme irritability, anger and frequent, intense temper outbursts," according to the National Institute of Mental Health .

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.

 

[PommyMommy]

FEB 3, 2021

2 years later: Serenity still missing, search suspended, South Dakotans wonder

Feb. 3, 2021, marks two years since Serenity Dennard went missing from the children’s home in Rockerville. Her whereabouts remain a heartbreaking mystery for many.

www.kotatv.com

Serenity frequently ran away from her family home in Sturgis before being placed in the Black Hills Children’s Home in Rockerville. Runaway prevention was part of her treatment plan at the children’s home.

A week before her ultimate disappearance, Serenity ran away from the children’s home. Caretakers put her under “arm’s length only” monitoring, but this monitoring ended right before Feb. 3. At the time of her disappearance, two people watched over Serenity. The children’s home also waited 80 minutes before calling 911 about her disappearance.

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 11, 2023

Serenity Dennard disappearance: 2019 mystery still causing misery

Some people monitoring the case feel disappointed that Serenity was able to escape from the locked Children’s Home Society facility on Feb. 3, 2019.

www.argusleader.com

While no individual has been conclusively cleared in the case, investigators said they do not believe a stranger or neighbor abducted her or that any member of her family or the children’s home had a hand in her disappearance.

Their doubts about a possible abduction arise largely from the fact that a woman and girl were in a car at the children’s home and saw Serenity run away, then drove up and down Rockerville Road after her a few minutes later without seeing her or anyone else.

“I can’t even begin to calculate the odds that someone who would be willing to violently abduct a child happened by on a rural western South Dakota road within the few minutes they had to do that and successfully abducted her,” then-sheriff’s detective Jamin Hartland said in 2020.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 18, 2023

She'd be 14: Authorities release new age-progressed images of Serenity Dennard

Pennington County Sheriff Brian Mueller called the photo "another investigative tool" in the open and active investigation.

www.argusleader.com

Dennard, then nine-years-old, ran away from the Children's Home in Rockerville around 10:45 a.m. Sunday, February 3, while playing inside the facility's gym. Dennard and three other children were being supervised by two staff members when one of the other children ran off inside the building. As a staffer ran after that child, Dennard ran outside. The remaining staff member called for help but decided to remain with the two other children rather than go after Dennard.

BHCH staff called 911 at 12:26 p.m. after searching the grounds. The delay prompted separate investigations by the Department of Social Services and Department of Health. Both reports said law enforcement should've been called as soon as staff lost sight of Dennard, with one report citing interviews with staffers who said the initial search was "disorganized."

Dennard was last seen by a woman dropping off a relative at the Children's Home, according to the sheriff's office at the time.

Chad and Kasandra Dennard, Serenity's primary parents at the time of the disappearance, previously told the Journal she had behavioral health problems stemming from the trauma of being removed from her biological parents and living with multiple foster families. They said they enrolled Serenity with the inpatient program at the Children's Home because years of outpatient therapy wasn't working well enough, and felt she was a risk to herself and others.

 

[Andreee]

From South Dakota:
Hello all! This case is very heartbreaking! I have thought about Serenity through the years... someone knows something!
I know someone that was personally close to the family and it has been expressed that there is something negative there with the mother (something not right). I wish the police would press the family and the Rockerville Children's Home more... something doesn't seem right. Why was Serenity in the children's home? Why was Serenity permitted to leave the children's home? For one why in the H#$L was she outside during the snowy months without a coat on? Why aren't there any cameras at the children's home? Do they care about the safety of the children at this place??? I used to date someone that had once worked at that Children's home as well and lets just say he wasn't someone I would've hired to work with the children... the police need to look more into the backgrounds of the employee's.

Crazy but I never even have given that a thought that a member of the staff could have
been involved! Also, I've never seen that suggested either. However, witnesses did see Serenity walking away from the facility but she was alone. But still...

 

[K9Enzo]

From South Dakota:
Hello all! This case is very heartbreaking! I have thought about Serenity through the years... someone knows something!
I know someone that was personally close to the family and it has been expressed that there is something negative there with the mother (something not right). I wish the police would press the family and the Rockerville Children's Home more... something doesn't seem right. Why was Serenity in the children's home? Why was Serenity permitted to leave the children's home? For one why in the H#$L was she outside during the snowy months without a coat on? Why aren't there any cameras at the children's home? Do they care about the safety of the children at this place??? I used to date someone that had once worked at that Children's home as well and lets just say he wasn't someone I would've hired to work with the children... the police need to look more into the backgrounds of the employee's.

She wasn’t permitted to leave the home. She created a distraction to run off. Her behavior was the reason her parents/guardians had her there. She needed specialized care. I’m sure protocols look drastically different at that facility today. imo

 

[katydid23]

Wasn't there some talk about one of the former patients, a young girl who befriended Serenity, and who had returned to her home? I remember something about that former patient's mother being close with Serenity---and people had wondered if they had come and picked her up. And the other girl that ran off had been a decoy so Serenity could get away and run off to meet her former friend?

I'd like to believe it was something like that.

 

[SkipperKey3]

Wasn't there some talk about one of the former patients, a young girl who befriended Serenity, and who had returned to her home? I remember something about that former patient's mother being close with Serenity---and people had wondered if they had come and picked her up. And the other girl that ran off had been a decoy so Serenity could get away and run off to meet her former friend?

I'd like to believe it was something like that.

Honestly, even that much isn't certain. They simply don't know if there was a deliberate decoy or if Serenity merely took advantage of the situation. Seeing one child run off may have been sufficient impetus in her mind to also run off.
There are a number of possibilities, but nothing that is certain.
I had really hoped that this would have been quickly solved (or resolved), but such was not the case.
We are coming up on 5 years now.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Honestly, even that much isn't certain. They simply don't know if there was a deliberate decoy or if Serenity merely took advantage of the situation. Seeing one child run off may have been sufficient impetus in her mind to also run off.
There are a number of possibilities, but nothing that is certain.
I had really hoped that this would have been quickly solved (or resolved), but such was not the case.
We are coming up on 5 years now.

Seems like we are back to some of the original discussions; wow, I can't believe its been 5 years on this one.

Given the weather, the only scenario where she is alive is if she was picked up rather quickly by someone. While I wish that were true, my feeling is that she succumbed to the cold and is deceased.

In my experience of about 30 years living with an elementary school teacher, spontaneous runners occur a couple of times a week. Serenity just did it in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[PommyMommy]

FIVE years. Serenity would be 14 years old now.

You are not forgotten, Serenity!

Have you seen this child? Serenity June Dennard

Missing From: Rapid City, SD. Missing Date: February 3, 2019. Serenity's photo is shown age-progressed to 13. She was last seen on February 3, 2019..

www.missingkids.org

The second photo is age-progressed to 13.

 

[borndem]

Beautiful girl. SMH. So many of us "fell in love" with this young lady. Hoping she is up there with the angels.

 

[MorningDove]

Skeletal Remains Identified.

Skeletal remains found near Spearfish Dec. 10, 2023.

 

[Hestia's Fire]

DNA laboratory testing have identified the remains of a Spearfish man discovered in a wooded area near Spearfish Dec. 10, 2023.
Thursday, the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, received a report that DNA laboratory testing identified the remains of Justin Plaggemeyer, 42. He had been missing since around January 2021.

Poor little Serenity is still out there somewhere.