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

Pennington County Search And Rescue Explain Conditions In Search For Serenity Dennard

Idk if this was posted earlier.

 

I don't know exactly the entire situation. But the timeline is unusual. It would be interesting to see if clinical staff was notified by one of the staff members immediately by cell phone.

Hopefully, there was clinical staff making the decisions for care.

 

I cannot for the life of me understand why this couple did not approach Serenity and ask if she was alright. Here we have a nine year old girl, on her own, in an isolated area, without a coat, on a freezing cold day - and they didn't think anything was suspicious about it? What did they think she was doing, going for a morning stroll?

Somehow this just doesn't sit right with me. Hoping and praying that Serenity is alive and well somewhere.

 

The entire story sits wrong with me.

 

The wood cutting couple and the SO that lives 8 minutes away and would drive right past the children's home to get anywhere both concern me.

Where do the wood cutters live? If nearby, surely they are aware of Black Hills? There is not much else around. Yes - they say they saw her when approached, but did they call the home to ask if anyone was missing? They just let her walk on by? Which I guess is fine, except if the child seems to vanish into thin air and then it becomes suspicious.

 

It does not sound right to me either. The timeline makes no sense to me, or the fact that they were in a gym, (?), and she left the building? Or they were outside, and she ran away? When a kid runs, you run after them, keep them in sight, and call supervisor on cell. I am not in the world's greatest shape, but if I followed a child, I could keep her in sight.

There are gaps in this case, based on the information presented.

 

Yea bc how many would simply let a child dressed inappropriately for the weather & alone run past?
IMO, it’s not that hard for an adult to catch a child.
And waiting to call 911? No excuse, imo.
I don’t think S had engaged in a pre planned escape, unless it was done over a ph call that morning. Kids her age don’t pay attention to dates/days/time, IMO. If on Monday you tell a 9 yo they get to go to McDs on Friday, they’ll ask “is it Friday yet”, repeatedly. IMO plus, I think if she had a secret, her teachers would have picked up on something.

 

Search for missing 9-year-old to resume Friday

After two days off because of inclement weather, search and rescue workers will head back out Friday in search of a 9-year-old girl who ran off Sunday from the Black Hills Children's Home near Rockerville.

Pennington County Search and Rescue teams will be resume their efforts to find Serenity Dennard who fled the residential treatment facility for children who may have suffered trauma or have behavioral needs.
Search and Rescue Team Leader Tammy Stadel said that seven dogs teams -- typically one dog and one handler -- are coming in from out of the area to join the search on Saturday.

All of the out-of-area dog teams are trained to detect people who are deceased. We asked Stadel if the searches will focus on new areas and said that was not necessarily the case. She said that some of the teams will go over territory already searched based on studying the territory and using experience and research to determine the places Serenity most likely might be.

[...]

 

None of this feels right to me ether. I am questioning everything from her leaving on her own to anyone at all seeing her on the road. Who was this couple? How reputable are they? I don't necessarily think that she's dead, but I don't think she's out there in the elements either. One of my daughters is currently in a similar residential program in a similar climate. I would have the same questions if she or any of the other clients "left" the facility. Something just feels very wrong about all this...

 

What about the parent bringing a child to the place that saw Serenity? That parent certainly should have been alarmed before the couple!

Also, there were 2 staff with 4 kids. Two kids took off and Serenity was the second. So one staff followed the first but the second staff had to stay with the remaining 2 kids.

 

I have a horrible gut sinking fear that this was this child's reaction to her circumstances. New "Mama" figure who now has a new baby at home. Dad is enchanted by the new baby, and busy with the kids and new wife. Serenity was sent to this facility and may well have suspected she was not going home, whether true or not. I so hope she did not knowingly seek to end her life or was not set up to be a victim. And nothing about this situation feels right.

 

The gym is located inside the building. They were not outside. Also there is not cell service in the area. Serenity ran out a door that led to a hallway. Yes a lot of unanswered questions.

 

Wonder how long it actually was before anyone looked for her? And, was time wasted searching on the grounds, as S traveled as fast as her little legs would go? So sad.
Also, are the photos we have current? I’ve only seen the one with her in the pink hat, she looks quite petite. Reportedly she’s 4’9”/100 lbs., so the pic I’ve seen must be old. Jmo

 

Dear Mickey2942,

Thank you for sharing your insights in this thread. You are greatly appreciated!

I agree - there are gaps - and then some of it doesn't make sense, at least not to me.

The news reported that Serenity was wearing "snow boots". Why would a child wear snowboots in a gym?

Search continues for a missing South Dakota girl

"She was last seen wearing a long-sleeved shirt, jeans and snow boots."

 

I haven't seen anywhere that she is/was in state custody, but "normal" families do sometimes have kids in alternative settings. Sometimes it may be something innate in the child, it could be because of some trauma brought on by someone outside the family, or it could be for many other reasons. This isn't a detention center, it's a treatment center. Some are there because they were neglected or abused, some are likely to have behavior problems that the parents can't deal with, some are likely suffering from depression, anxiety or other emotional problems. Without more information, I wouldn't rush to villianize (is that a word?) the family. MOO

 

Not villianizing a family. Things happen. Things change. But a normal child in a normal family isn't in a residential treatment facility.

 

How long was Serenity at this place?

 

Thank you for this response. I was trying to frame a similar response without coming across wrong but couldn’t get there so eloquently.

While my curiosity on her family situation is certainly peaked, it really has little to do with her disappearance as far as we currently know. We have little information to go off of at this point.

My son attends a center based school for children with special needs. So many of the families are “normal”. Parents are doctors, truck drivers, lawyers, small business owners, fast food workers, teachers, etc. To me, the kids are all “normal”. If one of the children ran off it would be no different than if a 9 year old who attended a mainstream school ran off. The worry comes from the same place.

 

I’m not understanding your point? Nowadays, what qualifies as “normal”?

 

If this place is for kids with behavioral problems why the heck isn’t it set up where children can’t escape, just walking out the door to leave? You’d think it would be more secure than that for legal reasons.

Another thing that seems off - She’s only 9. It’s not like she’s a sly teenager with a tricky plan of escape. She seems too young for that imo. This all seems a little shady to me. I agree things aren’t adding up.