Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Precious 9-year-old South Dakota girl vanishes, 911 call DELAYED? Where is Serenity?

Episode Date: June 5, 2019

9-year-old, Serenity Dennard, runs from a children's home and vanishes. As the search continues, questions remain about the day she went missing. How did she leave so easily, and why did it take so long to call 911?Nancy talks with South Dakota State Senator, Lynne DiSanto, who is a leader in the search for Serenity.Nancy's Expert Panel Also Weighs in:Marc Klass: Founder, The KlassKids FoundationJeff Cortese:  Former FBI supervisory special agentRandall Kessler: Defense attorneyDr. Ryan Fuller  Clinical PsychologistLeigh Egan  Crime online investigative Reporter Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Authorities in Rockerville are searching for a nine-year-old girl who went missing earlier today. Nine-year-old Serenity Dennard was last spotted leaving the Children's Home Society on South Rockerville Road around 11.20 this morning. Dennard is 4'7", 90 pounds, with blue eyes and shoulder-length dirty blonde hair. She was last seen wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt

with flowers, blue jeans, and snow boots. Temperatures are expected to drop below zero tonight. If anyone has any information regarding her whereabouts, please contact the Payneton County Sheriff's Office at 605-394-6115. Our friends at KOTATV, that was Nick Regan with the breaking news. So many dinner missing. The gorgeous little girl in South Dakota. And we are now learning that the original reports regarding the disappearance of nine-year-old Serenity Dennard are not exactly

correct. What, if anything, does it mean? This as the search for the nine-year-old girl goes on. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Straight out to Mark Klass, the founder of Klass Kids Foundation. Mark, so many aspects of this story don't fit together with me. This little girl was in a children's home in South Dakota,

and I'm now learning that the staff there called 911 much later than they initially reported after Serenity goes missing. Now, does it mean anything? I'm not sure. But whenever I find an inconsistency in the timeline and there is a missing nine-year-old girl, I don't like it, Mark Glass. I don't like it at all. Well, what it means, Nancy, is that the home was ill-prepared to deal with the emergency that they found themselves in. They waited over an hour and 40 minutes before they notified law enforcement. And this is a little girl who has practiced at running away. One of the reasons she was in the home was because she is a problematic child and has various emotional and personality issues. able to finesse her escape and the response was totally and completely inadequate and the result

is three months later law enforcement is scouring the area with multiple search teams and multiple law enforcement agencies. I understood that people on at the facility saw her running away and if they saw her why could they not retrieve her? Also, a couple on the road, as I recall the facts, saw a young girl going in the opposite direction. She was spotted. And I mean, and I'm ignoring the elephant in the room is why she keep trying to run away to start with. What is causing this girl, this little tiny girl, to take out in horrible weather conditions to leave this facility? That's my number two question. My number one question is, where is she? To Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation, give me your understanding

of how her departure went down. Well, it's exactly as you said, she was in the gym with, as I understand it, three other children and two supervisors. One of the children ran. So the supervisor went after that little girl. When I say run, I believe she left the, left the gym facility and was outside in the exposed air. And that's when Serenity decided, or that's when Serenity took the opportunity to do exactly the same thing, to bolt and run away from the facility. The remaining supervisor made the decision, as I understand it, to stay with the other two children who were in the gym and did not follow after Serenity. And as you said, two people saw Serenity heading north, I believe, on the road, and she was never seen again. Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation, you're absolutely right.

The search now goes into day two. Take a listen to KOTA. A desperate search continues in Pennington County. Search and rescue teams continue looking for nine-year-old Serenity Denard, who ran from the Black Hills Children's Home on Sunday. Now, in case you're not familiar with the Children's Home, it's on South Rockerville Road between Rockerville and Keystone in a fairly remote, mostly wooded area. She was last seen late Sunday morning at the home near Rockerville. The search and rescue teams took three dogs and used handheld thermal imaging devices to search for any evidence of the girl. The search went until 10 o'clock Sunday night and started back

up this morning around six. They say more than 65 people, four dogs and a civil air patrol plane were searching the Rockerville area today. Alexis Tavila explains how the weather affected the search and how Dennard ran away from the home. We just learned deputies are now looking for a couple who may have seen Dennard last. The couple was cutting wood near Foster Gulch and South Rockerville Road. They spoke with Children's Home Society staff Sunday morning just before Dennard was reported missing to police. The couple is described to be in their late 20s or early 30s and driving a pickup truck. About 65 search and rescue members, some with dogs,

are scanning the Rockerville area, but the cold weather is still affecting the search. Wow. So she was spotted by passersby and this couple. She could be anywhere. Joining me right now is a special guest, South Dakota State Senator Lynn DeSanto. Lynn, thank you so much for being with us. Senator, we received your plea on Facebook. Tell me how you became focused on Serenity Denard. Thank you, Nancy. I originally became involved when Serenity Dennard. Thank you, Nancy.

I originally became involved when Serenity's biological family reached out to me and said, we need help. Our loved one, our relative is missing, and we're not sure that enough is being done. And so they brought my attention to it, and I started to make some phone calls, and I realized that we had a very serious problem and someone needed to take a closer look. Senator DeSanto, could you tell me why you believe Serenity kept running away from the children's home that she would brave sleet and snow and horrific weather conditions to get away? Serenity had had a very tumultuous childhood. She had been in multiple foster homes growing up. Biological mother is incarcerated in prison.

Biological father had been in and out of prison as well. And so this is a child that came from a very difficult background, who then was adopted by some people who ended up getting divorced. And this little girl really got caught up in a lot of different problems of adults in her life that were supposed to be taking care of her and keeping an eye on her. And so I think when you take that into consideration, you have a child that has some emotional and behavioral issues and running away and these types of behaviors are included in that. I just can't help but wonder if she was not threatened or deeply unhappy in some way, why would she, if she wasn't, why would she have run away? And hearing her background, Senator, makes me feel so much worse for her.

She just has never had a chance in life. And if somebody picked her up in a car, God in heaven only knows what is happening to this little child right now. Listen to our friend Alexis Davila, a.k.a. T.A.T.V. Pennington County Search and Rescue Team leader Tammy Stradle says between the steep terrain and the ice buildup, the team was struggling to move around and find evidence. The snow made it difficult for the crew to find tracks and for dogs to pick up a scent. Children's Home Society Executive Director Bill Coulson says Dennard was last seen playing with three other children in the gym when she

ran out of the school and headed toward the hills across the street. He says two staffers were watching the children but neither could catch her in time. One child went one direction and one of our staff members that was with those children followed her, and then Serenity went the other way, and another staff member couldn't pursue her because she had two other children to be responsible, and she was the only staff remaining. Learning everything we can about this circumstance, and, you know, if this were to go on unresolved

and she's not located, the investigation will remain a priority until she is located. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The search continues for missing 9-year-old Serenity Dennard in Rockerville, who was last seen at the Children's Home Society. Let's head to our Alexis Davila live near the ongoing search efforts. So, Alexis, do we have any new information about Serenity? Pennington County Sheriff's Office is thanking the public for being able to find the couple who was cutting wood. They believe they were the last people to see Serenity Denard.

Now they know, the investigators have talked to them and found out a little bit more details to understand a little bit more the timeline of what happened. Serenity was last seen on Sunday morning at 10 45 and they saw her when she ran out of the facility across Rockerville Road and up into the hills. Now they've even added more people to the search and rescue team today. Yesterday it was 65, today it's more than 100. Now over here I'm actually right beside the Gaslight Restaurant where they're taking a little break to have their lunch, get warmed up a little bit and try to face the cold once again. I've talked to a few of the newbies who have come. Some are coming from Box Elder telling me that they're not even really prepared for this cold. They said they had the wrong shoes. They didn't have enough layers. So this cold is really something putting them behind and it's still a big problem with this surge. They've also

talked about that today. They're focusing on about a one mile radius around in Rockerville area, still close to the Children's Home Society. They are checking all the neighbors. They're going through hay piles. They're going wood piles, asking people if they can look into that to see if maybe serenity might be hiding in there. They are also asking the sheriff's office. It's also asking people who hunt if they can check their game cameras. Maybe there might be any type of footage there that could be helpful to the search.

You're hearing our friends at KOTA, that's Kelly Schmidt and Alexis Davila, describing the search. Third day for nine-year-old Serenity Denard. I don't understand how a child, just nine years old, on foot, could outpace searchers, hundreds of searchers, unless she ended up in somebody's car, which is a very, very bad thing. To South Dakota State Senator Lynn DeSanto, Senator, I'm trying to understand the thinking behind the search. We hear that the searchers were not prepared for the elements, the weather conditions. And I get it. Really, really tough, cold weather conditions.

So how could this child get away and they can't find her under these conditions unless she's in somebody's car. What is the thinking now regarding how Serenity managed to outpace the searchers? That's an excellent question. And I think that is exactly what the problem is, is when you look at the facts of the case, you have a little girl, no jacket, no boots, not dressed at all for the cold, a storm coming in in an area that is very mountainous, filled with pine trees and difficult terrain. You could be in the best hiking boots and have excellent gear and have a difficult time walking through this terrain. And yet somehow the story has been that she somehow got away and was not found totally ill-equipped. That doesn't make sense. And so in my opinion, as well as many others, there is a good possibility that Serenity

is not in the woods and we need to be looking somewhere else. You know, State Senator DeSanto, I want to just take a moment and tell you something. People often ask me about why I don't talk about politics. And I say, well, because it makes me sick. And I don't like politicians. I don't think they care about us. I think they're all lying. You know what? Hearing you be involved and care and know the facts. You're not just BSing. You know the facts. You know what happened. You're involved. You care. It's really meaning a lot to us in the crime fighting community,

because very often we feel like we're the only ones that care. And to hear, I hate to even say politician, let me just say state senator, be this involved in a case really gives us renewed strength to keep going. And I'm telling you, Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation, Mark has lived through it. He has walked the walk. He's just not talking the talk. His daughter, Polly, was abducted. And what he did to try to bring Polly home is incredible. And what he has lived through since her death is overwhelming. Mark Klass, I've been faulting the supervisor who just stayed there

with the two kids that were safe and sound instead of running after the one that was getting out of the facility something's not working for me with this story that all of these rescuers all of these searchers by air by land by foot with dogs they can't find a nine-year-old little girl the only thing that makes me think it's somewhat true is that couple who spotted her. I don't know that she's in the Woodsmark class. First of all, Nancy, I'd like to agree with everything that you said about the senator. You know, I've done a million photo ops with politicians, and I can count the ones that I really believe and trust on one hand. I think what we have to do in this case is really look back, like they always say

in a missing child case, look back at the last person that saw that child. And I don't necessarily mean the people that were chopping wood, but the people in the facility themselves. She was a difficult little girl. There's no question about that. And she might have just run somebody to the ground. Another thing they need to do, and I'm not quite sure how populated South Dakota is with surveillance cameras, but they need to check and probably have at this point any surveillance cameras that will give them a glimmer as to who might have been driving on that road during this time frame, within an hour or two of when this little girl disappeared, because everything you're saying is correct. The idea that she somehow has been able to evade detection for this amount of time, given the fact that multiple agencies have been looking for her, defies credibility. With me, former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jeff Cortese. Jeff, I mean, I hardly know where

to start, but I know something's not fitting together with me with this story. Number one, why would a supervisor leave two children safe inside and not go after the one that's leaving the facility to me that defies common sense yes the two may break out in a fight yes they may get into mischief while you're gone of course they will okay that's just to be expected but this is a life-threatening situation so that's a very interesting decision. Then you've got a delay over which they, let me just say euphemistically, gave the wrong time. They called 911. And it's really hard for me to accept a nine-year-old girl can outsmart dogs and 100 volunteers and airplanes and the works. It's very difficult for me to make sense. I agree with South Dakota State Senator Linda Santo.

No, I totally agree, Nancy. And you can't help but see the glaring issues right out of the gates. I think if you had any one of those issues, it's less problematic. In other words, if they chased her right away and that's why it took her, took them an hour and 45 minutes to call the police because they were running through the woods. Okay. I can, I can, I can understand that, but to, to not chase and not call and allow that time to lapse is certainly a, an area that area that would stand out to investigators. You know, time is of the essence in missing persons cases, and losing that first hour and 45 minutes is no small thing. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

A gorgeous little girl in South Dakota, soon to be dinner many dinner missing. To Randy Kessler, renowned defense attorney, family law specialist, the author of Divorce, Protect Yourself, Your Kids, and Your Future. You can find them at divorceprotect.com. Randy Kessler, we heard South Dakota State Senator Linda Santo say this little girl had been through so much. Bounced from home to home. Taken in, actually adopted. Then the couple divorces.

I don't know how you somehow lose your children in a divorce. I mean, what, you just leave them at the house with the dog and the dog house and the furniture you don't want? Anyway, somehow she ends up in a children's home post-divorce. That's your specialty. Divorce. How the heck did that happen? You know, it's not like you bought a coffee maker at Target and then just returned it because you didn't like it. Human beings are the strangest creatures on earth. I mean, we, we see people that have the reverse custody fight. No, you take the kids. No, you take them. I want freedom. My, the kids are what ruined my life it's crazy what people do

but that hurts me wait how can that just roll off your tongue it's terrible when i think about the twins oh my i i'd fight the devil himself try to take the twins away from me davy wouldn't even suggest it uh-uh no way he wants to Well, you're normal and not everybody's normal. And there are all sorts of look, we're in an industry age of mental health is so prevalent everywhere. Mental health issues, mental dilemmas, mental instability. It is crazy the things that I hear. And usually I may be the first line of defense. I actually hear people that sit in my office and tell me, you know what? I know this sounds terrible, but I don't want custody. And I, I take a gulp and I can either fire them and not, not let them hire me, or I can try to fix it and try to get some help and get a psychologist involved. But you know, some people are beyond

help and I don't understand how anybody would not say I gave birth to this child. I'm responsible for the rest of my life. That just, it blows me away, but I do hear it and I do see it. Man. I don't feel that way at all. I don't feel like I'm responsible for the twins. They're a blessing. I feel like I can't wait to pick them up. I can't wait to see them. I can't wait for them to wake up.

I feel like I'm the lucky one. Dr. Ryan Fuller, we need a shrink. With me, Dr. Ryan Fuller, clinical psychologist, executive director, New York Behavioral Health and lecturer at NYU, my old alma mater. Dr. Fuller, when when state Senator Linda Santo was describing what this little girl has been through, why would that make her run away? I mean, in my mind, it would make her want to cleave to the home even more because she's never had a home and now she's got one according to what i what i've read the diagnoses that were mentioned were reactive attachment disorder which is associated now wait wait wait wait wait wait dr ryan fuller you are

a shrink now you remember you're talking to where kessler and I are just trial lawyers, okay? Then you've got an FBI guy, you've got a state senator, and you've got Mark Klass and Lee Egan. We're not shrinks. What did you just say? A reactive what? So it's reactive attachment disorder was one of the diagnoses. And what is that? It actually, in fact, touches on what you're raising, which is that the child might have difficulty attaching and feeling close to adults, custodial figures, parents, and things like that.

And it's oftentimes related to the kinds of tough situations that children oftentimes put through foster care and having issues know, having issues with, you know, biological parents early on might have experienced. And so they don't form those stable attachments that you might see in healthy families where a child has a sense of security and warmth and predictability is what they're getting from their parents, where they feel that they're safe, they're going to be cared for, they know what to expect and things like that. And so, you know, I can't speak to this particular child, but, you know, I can speak to the nature of that kind of a diagnosis, which would mean, you know, she may not have felt attached to any one particular adult person at the home. Right. And the other, I think the other diagnosis that was listed was disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. And so that's going to be associated with issues around emotion regulation, meaning that she's going to have intense negative emotions

like anger and other negative emotions. So, you know, that might mean that basically that she's really unhappy and so wouldn't be happy in that home and might think, you know, if I go elsewhere, maybe I can find something better. I just still find it impossible for a child to run out without a coat, without anything on her really, except for her, you know, regular clothes, into the cold, into the snow, and then she out boxes all the searchers. I want to go back to where you start every case, the timeline, and how it got screwed up at the get-go. Take a listen to KEVN-TV's Stuart Huntington. The first hours had a lot of moving parts and there were some conflicting early reports. Here's what we know today. At 10 45 a.m. Sunday, Serenity was in the gym at the Black Hills Children's Home with two staffers and three other kids. One kid caused

a disturbance and a staffer attended to that child. Serenity then ran out of the building. The other staffer stayed with the two other children. At 11 a.m., Serenity is last seen walking near the home. At 12 26 p.m., a 911 call goes out and Pennington County Sheriff's deputy arrives at 1246. By 116, several deputies are on scene and the decision is made to bring in search and rescue. We reached out repeatedly to the children's home today to ask about the hour and a half between when they say she disappeared and the call went out to 911. No one would speak to us, but they did offer this statement. Our hearts hold out hope for the safe return of a wonderful little girl. We are grateful for the efforts of the Pennington County Sheriff's Office and all those who continue to search for serenity

in these difficult winter conditions. The staff, the Sheriff's Office had this to say. They got things going on there. They got protocols and stuff that they do, so I can't answer all that. But what I can tell you is we responded as quickly as we could once we got the information. Okay, right there to you, Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation. I've got so many problems with what I just heard. Well, Nancy, you know, it turns out that the home was working off of a 20-year-old plan that didn't take into account the contingency of a little girl running away. And they completely and totally failed in their response. That hour and a half, that hour and a half of lag time.

Joining me right now, South Dakota State Senator Lynn DeSanto. What does the home have to say, Senator? Well, there's been a number of interesting things that have come to light through this particular situation. The executive director has announced recently that he is going to be leaving Children's Home Society. It has also come to light that, in fact, the staff had radios that were supposed to be used if there were this type of a situation. Unfortunately, they were on different channels, and so they could not hear each other. And so there was really no solid plan or protocol in place. And I think that the home is really going to have to make some changes.

They lost a child. They have a very important job keeping children safe, and they have failed at that. And it is just a tragedy all the way around. You know, the other thing, South Dakota State Senator with me, Lynn DeSanto, who is raising the alarm to all of us regarding Serenity Dinner, a nine-year-old little girl. These homes are for children, many of them having been bounced around from home to home. I mean, that's how you end up in an orphanage. There's no, nothing good leaves you to an orphanage. Okay. You're not coming from a happy home where your parents can't wait to pick you up in the afternoon. It's not like that. And my point is Senator, that they need to be equipped for eventualities like this, like this, to protect the child, states Senator DeSanto.

Absolutely. And I think it's pretty clear that that did not happen in this situation. And, you know, when you look at Serenity, this is a little girl. You see a little girl's face looking at you. This could be anyone's daughter and she deserved better than this. And she is important. And that's why I appreciate so many people like you getting involved in this case and caring because it would be easy because of her past and because of where she is to not care. It would be easy for people to disregard her as a troubled child. But this is a little girl that is a troubled child, but for very good reasons that are not her fault. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Moving ahead from that point then, tell me, you know, day to day, were you able to work? I mean, what were you doing? This has got to be a terrible time emotionally. I mean, you don't just go home and go on with your life. Absolutely. So tell me what those following days, just how were you coping? What were you doing? They were hell.

They were hell. You know, like I said, we wanted to stay out of their way because we wanted them to be doing everything that they could possibly be doing and not get in their way. At the same time, our hearts just sank. You know, it was a constant up and down. We weren't working. Brian does a lot of work from home and tried to work, but he wasn't able to work. I just, I wasn't working at all. You were hearing State Senator Linda Santo speaking with Serenity's adoptive parents,

saying that in the days after her disappearance, their lives have been hell. They can't work. They also go on to state that they thought Serenity was living with her biological dad. Now, this doesn't make any sense to me. Joining me is special guest, South Dakota State Senator Lynn DeSanto. She had been in the home. How could they not know where she was? So, Nancy, the way that it worked out is that there was two people that adopted Serenity

and ended up getting divorced a year later and both then remarried other people. And at that time, the agreement was that the adoptive father would have physical custody of Serenity and the adoptive mother would have visitation and, you know, do an every other weekend or some type of an arrangement like that. At some point, the communication broke down between these two people. And he actually placed her at Children's Home without the knowledge of the adoptive mother. This woman was at work one day and sees there's a missing child on the news and looks up and it's her daughter and that's how she became aware that her ex-husband had placed serenity at children's homes okay whoa whoa wait right there state

senator de santo i believe everything that you just told me in that i think that's what the adoptive mother told you. Mark Glass, what happened to every other weekend? You know, Nancy, two little girls somehow outsmarted the entire staff of this children's home. And the end result is one of those little girls' lives is very much in danger now. And I want to salute law enforcement because they continue to go out into the wild and look for this little girl she's getting the attention now that she deserved and did not receive for her entire life well as usual i have to agree with everything you just said you're right um and you know cops and law enforcement always get the bad rap when a cop or a sheriff does something wrong.

And they do things wrong. I get it. But for the most part, this is who they are. They're out there in the snow, in the wild, up and down the side of mountains trying to find this little girl. And they never get the credit. State Senator DeSanto, explain to me how the mom, was she not doing her visitation? Or had Serenity just been in the home a day or two? I mean, how did she not, did she not see her on the weekends like she was supposed to?

Well, there has just recently been a lawsuit filed between these two parties, and she is claiming parental alienation in her lawsuit, that he was not responsive to calls, and that he was, in fact, breaking a court order saying that she was to get visitation and he was not allowing it. So that is going to be hashed out in court here over the next couple weeks. Okay, so then we really don't know. She may have been trying to see the daughter and was prevented from seeing the daughter or somehow blocked from seeing the daughter or somehow blocked from seeing the daughter. So before I come down too hard on her, I don't know those facts yet. And they are not clear to me. You're absolutely right. I don't know why the adopted dad put her in this home.

Somebody put her in the home. I know that much. And now she's gone. Nancy, go ahead. A little bit, a little bit of insight that has been brought to light is the adopted father had recently remarried a woman and there's reports that there was some very difficult and strained relationships that were occurring between Serenity and the new mother, the new wife. And there actually had been reports made by Serenity of some mistreatment to her by the new wife. And so that certainly seems to be a factor in the mix on why that adoptive father made the decision to take her to children's home and place her there. I think I would have placed a new wife out on the street before I would place a child in a home. But I don't know what he was thinking. Maybe he thought he was doing the best thing for the child. I don't know why the mother wasn't

seeing her. All that aside, I know that she's gone and I know the search is on. Take a listen to this. Tuesday night, authorities moved the search from a rescue to a recovery effort. The Pennington County Sheriff's Office says if Serenity has been outside this entire time, it's unlikely she survived. However, they have not ruled out the possibility that she could still be alive in a warm shelter or was picked up by someone. More than 100 people helped in the search for Serenity Dennard on Tuesday, but now only people from the Pennington County Sheriff's Office remain in the area. We still have deputies up there. We still are manning our command post, but as far as ground search people that are back in the woods, we don't have them folks right now doing that. We suspended that at

approximately four or five o'clock yesterday. The sheriff's office says it's still trying to figure out all the details of what happened the morning Serenity disappeared. We have five investigators that are assigned to this, that this is all they're doing is working every lead, every possibility. Again, they continue to interview staff and other children in the home and family and neighbors, anybody that might have possibly been on that road. You are hearing our friend KOTA's Alexia DeVille. The search is on for this little girl. To Jeff Cortese, former FBI supervisory special agent, what should the search be now? Because I've never been convinced she was still in those woods.

You know, I think in terms of what the investigators are going to be focusing on now, it's going to be, you know, a lot of what you're doing, keeping the story in the news, tickle the complaint line, so to speak, putting her photo out there, covering multiple avenues, one obviously searching the woods and continuing to search, while at the same time chasing down other leads, you know, identifying sex offenders in the area that may have a propensity towards young children, interviewing all of them, exhausting those leads, answering any unanswered questions to date related to the parents, the children's center, local and regional sex offenders, locking down and identifying any CCTV in the area. I think one of the biggest takeaways from this story is that emergency preparedness has to be more than words on a page. Policies, procedures, they need to be updated, reviewed. Staff need to train. They need to rehearse. This stuff has to stay up to date so that situations like this don't

happen in the future. Man, you're telling it, and I guarantee you, South Dakota State Senator Linda Santo is all over that. Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation. What now? What should they be doing? This is your specialty. Nancy, I can add absolutely nothing to what the special agent just said. He completely covered the next steps, the steps that have been taken

and the next steps. And let's just hope law enforcement is able to somehow find this little girl and that maybe the public can stay vigilant. Somebody must know something. Somebody must know something. Somebody might know something. And hopefully they'll come forward and this case can be resolved. Nancy, go ahead. If you know Warren Jeffs, he is the polygamous sect that, you know, was arrested for marrying off 12 and 13 year old little girls. You know, this little girl is

missing within the vicinity of that place. And I would like to see that looked at further as an angle. And so far, I've been told they've been blocked. So this is a very unusual situation. We stand by as justice unfolds and the search for nine-year-old Serenity goes on. If you have information on Serenity, please dial 605-394-6115. Repeat, 605-394-6115. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.