Serenity June Dennard was 9 years old when she was last seen on February 3, 2019, in the Rapid City, South Dakota area. NamUs lists her missing-person case as MP55257 and NCMEC lists her case number as 1349395. She was described as a white female child with dark blond hair and blue eyes, about 4 feet 7 inches tall and approximately 95 to 100 pounds. She was reportedly wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt with flowers, blue jeans, and black snow boots when she disappeared.
At the time, Serenity was staying at Black Hills Children’s Home, a residential behavioral treatment facility located on South Rockerville Road outside Rapid City. According to accounts summarized by NCMEC and The Charley Project, she had been playing in the gym that morning with other children when she suddenly ran outside into extremely cold winter weather. Staff members were supervising multiple children, and when another child also left the gym area, the situation became chaotic. Serenity was last known to have been seen near the facility and then along South Rockerville Road.
The last reported sighting placed Serenity around 11:00 a.m. near the cattle guard in front of the Black Hills Children’s Home, walking or running northbound on South Rockerville Road. She was not dressed for the weather and was believed to be without a coat. The area around the home is rural, wooded, and rugged, with terrain that made searching especially difficult. Cold temperatures, snow, and harsh conditions added urgency and concern in the days immediately after she vanished.
An extensive search followed and became one of the largest missing-child search efforts South Dakota had seen. NCMEC reported that numerous law-enforcement agencies and community members took part, searching for miles through wooded and difficult terrain. South Dakota News Watch reported that the investigation included hundreds of leads, interviews, and repeated searches, including efforts on foot, from the air, and with search dogs. Authorities later halted the large-scale physical search in the wooded area, but the investigation has continued as an open missing-person case.
Investigators have publicly acknowledged how difficult the case has been because Serenity appeared to vanish within a very small window of time. South Dakota News Watch reported that investigators did not believe a stranger or neighbor abduction was likely, and they also did not believe Serenity’s family or the facility had a hand in her disappearance. Still, authorities have continued to follow leads, and the case remains a painful uncertainty for those who love Serenity and for the wider community that searched for her.
In later years, NCMEC released age-progressed images of Serenity to help generate new tips. A 2024 NCMEC post marked what would have been her 15th birthday and emphasized that her case remained unresolved five years after she disappeared. The NCMEC missing-child poster continues to list Serenity as missing from Rapid City, South Dakota, and asks anyone with information to contact authorities or submit a tip.
Serenity’s disappearance remains an open and deeply heartbreaking missing-child case. She was a young child who vanished in dangerous winter conditions, and despite extensive searches and years of investigation, no confirmed public resolution has been reported by NamUs or NCMEC. Her case continues to matter because every lead may still help answer what happened to her and bring long-awaited clarity to those who have never stopped hoping for answers.Last Seen: Feb 3, 2019
