Have you seen her? 10-year-old Serenity Dennard vanished in 2019. Here's how she might look now, at age 14

a 10-year-old girl is shown looking into the camera, and a second image of her shows what authorities think she might look like now at age 14 — Serenity Dennard is shown at age 10 when she went missing, and on right, an age-enhanced image of what she might look like now at age 14.

By Trisha Taurinskas

May 24, 2023 at 7:39 AM

Serenity Dennard鈥檚 2019 disappearance from a rural Black Hills children鈥檚 facility still stuns South Dakota residents.

Dennard was just 10 years old when she escaped from Children鈥檚 Home Society in Rockerville, a locked facility for children with behavioral struggles.

She walked into the cold February day without appropriate winter clothing necessary for survival. With no coat or boots, Dennard simply left 鈥� and was never seen again.

More Missing Persons from The Vault

By the time local authorities were called, more than an hour had passed. A large-scale search effort was conducted, but failed to provide investigators with any clues as to where the young girl had gone.

Now, more than four years later, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Pennington County Sheriff鈥檚 Office in Rapid City are urging the public to take note of an age-enhanced photo of Dennard. She would be 14 years old.

Serenity Dennard鈥檚 2019 disappearance from a secured children鈥檚 facility nestled in South Dakota鈥檚 Black Hills still stuns the community.

"We鈥檙e all watching Serenity grow up before our eyes through these images and it鈥檚 surreal,鈥� NCMEC鈥檚 Communication Director Angeline Hartmann said in a statement. 鈥淎t NCMEC, we know that our age progression images can be a catalyst in a missing child investigation and we're hoping this will somehow generate fresh leads."

A mystery, unsolved

For two years, investigators didn鈥檛 stop searching for Dennard.

Large-scale search efforts scoured the areas surrounding the children鈥檚 home 鈥� from the air and on the ground. More than 60 agencies joined in the efforts, using aircraft, thermal technology and specialized cadaver dogs to locate Dennard.

Serenity Updated Photo.jpg — Serenity Dennard was 10 years old when she walked out of Children鈥檚 Home Society in South Dakota on Feb. 3, 2019. She has not been seen since.

No clues related to Dennard's whereabouts were ever uncovered.

From the start, investigators theorized that Dennard had run off into the Black Hills, where she could have possibly succumbed to the harsh South Dakota winter. Yet, even after two years of searches, no evidence was discovered to support that theory.

The facility where she disappeared from is located within a remote, rural area. Following Dennard鈥檚 disappearance, the Pennington County Sheriff鈥檚 Office indicated they did not suspect any one individual as being responsible for her disappearance.

Now, Pennington County Sheriff Brian Mueller is hoping that the age-enhanced photo will lead to answers for this puzzling and heartbreaking mystery.

鈥淭his is another investigative tool in an open and active investigation,鈥� Mueller said in a statement sent to Forum News Service. 鈥淎lthough the physical search has been exhausted, we follow up on all leads as we look for answers in this painful and difficult missing person case.鈥�

If you have information regarding Serenity Dennard鈥檚 whereabouts, contact the Pennington County Sheriff鈥檚 Office at 605-394-6115 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.