Photo: Pennington County Sheriff’s Office
Three months after 9-year-old Serenity Dennard disappeared, South Dakota investigators believe they may have a new lead.
Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom has revealed that K-9 units have picked up a cadaver scent within a mile of where Serenity was last seen alive in Rapid City, theArgus Leader,Rapid City JournalandNewscenter1report.
“Those two witnesses drove back out onto South Rockerville road and didn’t see Serenity,” Thom said, Newscenter1 reports. “In that three-to-five minute window, she was no longer on the road. Where she went from there is what we’re trying to ascertain.”
The search for Serenityturned into a recovery effortdays after she disappeared due to severe cold weather, theJournalreported at the time. Thom said while it is unclear if the cadaver scent belongs to Serenity, he trusts the K-9’s skills.
“We wouldn’t know if that’s a scent from Serenity or from some unknown cadaver,” Thom said. “There’s no guarantee on any of this”
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Speaking to theJournalin March, Serenity’s adoptive parentsdescribed the girl as intelligent and loving,buttroubled.
“She likes to be the center of attention, she likes all eyes on her,” her mother, Kasandra Dennard said. “She’s charming. She can win your heart but at the same time she’s going to tear it apart at some time, too.”
Over the course of two years, Serenity was placed in in 12 or 13 foster homes. Her parents eventually decided to enroll Serenity at the Children’s Home in 2018 for schooling and intensive inpatient therapy.
Prior to that, they had tried two years of outpatient therapy, but Serenity’s “behaviors were getting worse,” Kasandra recalled.
“She is the strongest person I know in the world,” Kasandra told theJournal. “She overcomes so much.”
Anyone with information is urged to call the Pennington Sheriff’s Office at (605) 394-6115.
source: people.com
