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Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Authorities in Rockerville are searching

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Speaker 1: for a nine year old girl who went missing earlier today.

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Speaker 1: Nine year old Serenity Dinner was last spotted leaving the

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Speaker 1: Children's Home Society on South Rockerville Road around eleven twenty

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Speaker 1: this morning. Dinner. It is seven, is four to seven,

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Speaker 1: ninety pounds with blue eyes and shoulder length a dirty

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Speaker 1: blonde hair. She was last seen wearing a long sleeved

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Speaker 1: gray shirt with flowers, blue jeans and snow boots. Temperatures

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Speaker 1: are expected to drop below zero to night. If anyone

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Speaker 1: has any information regarding her whereabouts, please contact the Pinton

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Speaker 1: County Sheriff's Office at six oh five three nine four

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Speaker 1: six one one five. Friends at KOTATVS. That was Nick

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Speaker 1: Reagan with the breaking knees seven Nity Dinner missing the

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Speaker 1: gorgeous little girl in South Dakota. And we are now

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Speaker 1: learning that the original reports regarding the disappearance of nine

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Speaker 1: year old Serenity Dinner are not exactly correct. What, if anything,

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Speaker 1: does it mean? This as a search for the nine

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Speaker 1: year old girl goes on I Nancy Grays, this is

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Speaker 1: Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Straight out

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Speaker 1: to Mark Class, the founder of Class Kids Foundation. Mark.

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Speaker 1: So many aspects of this story don't fit together with me.

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Speaker 1: This little girl was in a children's home in South Dakota,

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Speaker 1: and I'm now learning that the staff there called nine

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Speaker 1: one one much later than they initially reported after Serenity

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Speaker 1: goes missing. Now does it mean anything, I'm not sure.

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Speaker 1: But whenever I find an inconsistency in the timeline and

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Speaker 1: there is a missing nine year old girl, I don't

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Speaker 1: like it, Mark Class, I don't like it at all. Well,

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Speaker 1: what it means, Dancy, is that the home was ill

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Speaker 1: prepared to deal with the emergency that they found themselves in.

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Speaker 1: They waited an out over an hour and forty minutes

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Speaker 1: before they notified law enforcement. And this is a little

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Speaker 1: girl who was practiced at running away. One of the

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Speaker 1: reasons she was in the home was because she is

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Speaker 1: a problematic child and has various emotional and personality issues,

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Speaker 1: and she was able to they're saying, she was almost

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Speaker 1: able to finesse her escape, and the response was totally,

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Speaker 1: incompletely inadequate. And the result is three months later, law

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Speaker 1: enforcement is scouring the area with multiple search teams and

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Speaker 1: multiple law enforcement agencies. I understood that people are at

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Speaker 1: the facility saw her running away, and if they saw her,

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Speaker 1: why could not retrieve her. Also, a couple on the road,

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Speaker 1: as I recall the facts, saw a young girl going

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Speaker 1: in the opposite direction. She was spotted. And I mean,

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Speaker 1: and I'm ignoring the elephant in the room, is why

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Speaker 1: she keep trying to run away? To start with? What

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Speaker 1: is causing this girl, this little tiny girl, to take

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Speaker 1: out in horrible weather conditions, to leave this facility. That's

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Speaker 1: my number two question. My number one question is where

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Speaker 1: is she to Mark Class, founder of Class Kids Foundation,

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Speaker 1: give me your understanding of how her departure went down. Well,

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Speaker 1: it's exactly as you said. She was in the gym with,

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Speaker 1: as I understand it, three other children and two supervisors.

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Speaker 1: One of the children ran, so the supervisor went after

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Speaker 1: that little girl. When I say run, I believe she

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Speaker 1: left the gym facility and was outside in the exposed

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Speaker 1: there and that when Serenity decided, or that's when Serenity

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Speaker 1: took the opportunity to do exactly the same thing, to

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Speaker 1: bolt and run away from the facility. The remaining supervisor

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Speaker 1: made the decision, as I understand it, to stay with

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Speaker 1: the other two children, who were in the gym and

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Speaker 1: did not follow after Serenity. And as you said, two

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Speaker 1: people saw Serenity heading north. I believe on the road

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Speaker 1: that she was never seen again. Mark Class Founder, Class

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Speaker 1: Kids Foundation, You're absolutely right to search. Now goes into

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Speaker 1: day two. Take a listen to Kota. A desperate search

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Speaker 1: continues in Pennington County. Search and rescue teams continue looking

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Speaker 1: for nine year old Serenity Denard, who ran from the

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Speaker 1: Black Hills Children's Home on Sunday. Now, in case you're

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Speaker 1: not familiar with the children's home, it's on South Rockerville Road,

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Speaker 1: between Rockerville and Keystone, in a fairly remote, mostly wooded area.

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Speaker 1: She was last seen late Sunday morning at the home

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Speaker 1: near Rockerville. The search and rescue teams took three dogs

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Speaker 1: and used handheld thermal imaging device to search for any

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Speaker 1: evidence of the girl. The search went until ten o'clock

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Speaker 1: Sunday night and started back up this morning around six.

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Speaker 1: They say more than sixty five people, four dogs, and

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Speaker 1: a Civil Air Patrol plane were searching the Rockerville area today.

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Speaker 1: Alexis de Ville explains how the weather affected the search

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Speaker 1: and how Dennard ran away from the hall. We just

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Speaker 1: learned deputies are now looking for a couple who may

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Speaker 1: have seen Dennard last A couple was cutting wood near

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Speaker 1: Foster Gulch and South Rockerville Road. They spoke with Children's

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Speaker 1: Home Society staff Sunday morning, just before Dennard was reported

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Speaker 1: missing to police. The couples described to be in the

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Speaker 1: late twenties or early thirties and driving a pickup truck.

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Speaker 1: About sixty five search and rescue members, some with dogs,

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Speaker 1: are scanning the Rockerville area, but the cold weather is

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Speaker 1: still affecting the search. Wow, so she was spotted by

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Speaker 1: passers by and this couple, she could be anywhere. Joining

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Speaker 1: me right now is a special guest South Dakota State

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Speaker 1: Senator Lynn DeSanto. Lynn, thank you so much for being

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Speaker 1: with us. Senator, we received your plea on Facebook. Tell

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Speaker 1: me how you became focused on Serenity Dinard. Thank you, Mancy.

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Speaker 1: I originally became involved when Serenity's biological family reached out

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Speaker 1: to me and said, we need help. Our loved one,

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Speaker 1: our relative is missing, and we're not sure that enough

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Speaker 1: is being done. And so they brought my attention to it,

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Speaker 1: and I started to make some phone calls, and I

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Speaker 1: realized that we had a very serious problem and someone

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Speaker 1: needed to take a closer look. Senator de Santo, could

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Speaker 1: you tell me why you believe Serenity kept running away

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Speaker 1: from the children's time, that she would brave sleet and

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Speaker 1: snow and horrific weather conditions to get away. Serenity had

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Speaker 1: had a very tumultuous childhood. She had been in multiple

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Speaker 1: foster homes, throwing up. Biological mother is incarcerated in prison,

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Speaker 1: biological father had been in and out of prison as well.

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Speaker 1: And so this is a child that came from a

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Speaker 1: very difficult background who then was adopted by some people

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Speaker 1: who ended up getting divorced. And this little girl really

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Speaker 1: got caught up in a lot of different problems of

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Speaker 1: adults in her life that were supposed to be taking

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Speaker 1: care of her and keeping an eye on her. And

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Speaker 1: so I think when you take that into consideration, you

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Speaker 1: have a child that has some emotional and behavioral issues

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Speaker 1: and running away and these types of behaviors are included

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Speaker 1: in that. I just can't help but wonder if she

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Speaker 1: was not threatened or deeply unhappy in some way, why

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Speaker 1: would she If she wasn't, why would she have run away?

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Speaker 1: And hearing her background down Senator makes me feel so

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Speaker 1: much worse for her. She has never had a chance

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Speaker 1: in life and if somebody picked her up in a car,

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Speaker 1: God in Heaven only knows what is happening to this

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Speaker 1: little child right now. Listen to our friend Alexis de Villa,

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Speaker 1: a KOTATV. Pennington County Search and Rescue Team leader Tammy

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Speaker 1: Stradel says, between the steep terrain and the ice build up,

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Speaker 1: the team was struggling to move around and find evidence.

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Speaker 1: The snow made it difficult for the crew to find

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Speaker 1: tracks and four dogs to pick up a cent Children's

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Speaker 1: Home Society Executive director Bill Colson says Dennard was the

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Speaker 1: last scene playing with three other children in the gym

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Speaker 1: when she ran out of the school and headed towards

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Speaker 1: the hills across the street. He says two staffers were

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Speaker 1: watching the children, but neither could catch her in time.

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Speaker 1: One child in one direction, and one of our staff

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Speaker 1: members that was with those children followed her, and then

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Speaker 1: Trinity went the other way, and another staff member could

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Speaker 1: pursue her because she had two other children to be responsible,

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Speaker 1: and she was the only staff remaining. Learning everything we

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Speaker 1: can about this circumstance, and you know if this were

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Speaker 1: to go on unresolved and she's not located, the investigation

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Speaker 1: will remain a priority until she is located. Crime Stories

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Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace. The search continues for missing nine year

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Speaker 1: old Serenity Dennard and Rockerville, who was lasting at the

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Speaker 1: Children's Home Society. Let's head to our Alexus to deal

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Speaker 1: alive near the ongoing search efforts. So alexis, do we

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Speaker 1: have any new information about Serenity. Pennington County Shares Office

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Speaker 1: is thanking the public for being able to find the

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Speaker 1: couple who was cutting wood. They believe they were the

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Speaker 1: last people to see Serenity Lenard. Now they know they've

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Speaker 1: the investagers have talked to them and found out a

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Speaker 1: little bit more details to understand a little bit more

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Speaker 1: of the timeline of what happened. Serenity was last seen

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Speaker 1: on Sunday morning at ten forty five, and they saw

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Speaker 1: her when she ran out of the facility across Rockerville

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Speaker 1: Road and up into the hills. Now they've even added

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Speaker 1: more people to the search and rescue team today. Yesterday

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Speaker 1: was sixty five. Today it's more than one hundred. Now.

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Speaker 1: Over here, I'm actually right beside the gaslight restaurant where

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Speaker 1: they're taking a little break to have their lunch, get

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Speaker 1: warmed up a little bit, and try to face the

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Speaker 1: cold once again. I've talked to a few of the

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Speaker 1: newbies who have come from are coming from box El.

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Speaker 1: They're telling me that they're not even really prepared for

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Speaker 1: this cold. Where they'd said they had the wrong shoes,

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Speaker 1: they didn't have enough layers, So this cold is really

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Speaker 1: something putting them behind. And it's still a big problem

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Speaker 1: with this search. They've also talked about that today they're

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Speaker 1: focusing about a one mile radius around in Rockerville. Are

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Speaker 1: so close to the Children's Home Society. They are checking

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Speaker 1: all the neighbors, are going through the hay piles, are

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Speaker 1: going woodpiles, asking people if they can look into that

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Speaker 1: to see if maybe Serenity might be hiding in there.

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Speaker 1: They are also asking the Sheriff's office because also asking

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Speaker 1: people of who hunt if they can check their game

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Speaker 1: cameras maybe there might be any type of footage there

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Speaker 1: that could be helpful to the search. Hearing our friends

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Speaker 1: at Kota, that's Kelly Schmidt and Alexis de Villa describing

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Speaker 1: the search third day for nine year old Serenity Denard

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Speaker 1: I don't understand how a child just nine years old

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Speaker 1: on foot could outpace searchers, hundreds of searchers, unless she

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Speaker 1: ended up in somebody's car, which is a very, very

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Speaker 1: bad thing to South Dakota State Senator Lynn De Santo Senator,

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Speaker 1: I'm trying to understand the thinking behind the search. We

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Speaker 1: hear that the searchers were not prepared for the elements,

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Speaker 1: the weather conditions, and I get it, really really tough

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Speaker 1: cold weather conditions. So how could this child get away

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Speaker 1: and they can't find her under these conditions unless she's

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Speaker 1: in somebody's car. What is the thinking now regarding how

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Speaker 1: Serenity managed to outpace the searchers. That's an excellent question,

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Speaker 1: and I think that is exactly what the problem is.

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Speaker 1: Is when you look at the facts of the case,

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Speaker 1: you have a little girl, no jacket, no boots, not

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Speaker 1: dressed at all for the cold, a storm coming in

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Speaker 1: in an area that is very mountainous, filled with pine

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Speaker 1: trees and difficult to train. You could be in the

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Speaker 1: best hiking boots and have excellent gear and have a

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Speaker 1: difficult time walking through this rain, and yet somehow the

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Speaker 1: story has been that she somehow got away and was

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Speaker 1: not found totally ill equipped. That doesn't make sense. And

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Speaker 1: so in my opinion, as well as many others, there's

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Speaker 1: a good possibility that serenity is not in the woods

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Speaker 1: and we need to be looking somewhere else, you know,

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Speaker 1: State Senator DeSanto. I want to just take a moment

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Speaker 1: and tell you something. People often ask me about why

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Speaker 1: I don't talk about politics, and I say, well, because

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Speaker 1: it makes me sick, and I don't like politicians. I

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Speaker 1: don't think they care about us. I think they're all lying.

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Speaker 1: You know what hearing? You be involved and care and

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Speaker 1: know the facts. You're not just b essing. You know

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Speaker 1: the facts, you know what happened, You're involved, you care.

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Speaker 1: It's really meaning a lot to us in the crime

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Speaker 1: fighting community because very often we feel like we're the

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Speaker 1: only ones that care. And to hear I hate to

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Speaker 1: even say politician, let me just a state senator be

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Speaker 1: this involved in a case really gives us renewed, renewed

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Speaker 1: strength to keep going. And I'm telling you Mark Class,

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Speaker 1: founder of Class Kids Foundation. Mark has lived through it.

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Speaker 1: He has walked the walk. He's just not talking to talk.

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Speaker 1: His daughter Polly was abducted and what he did to

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Speaker 1: try to bring Polly home is incredible, and what he

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Speaker 1: has lived through since her death is overwhelming. Mark Class,

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Speaker 1: I was I've been faulting the supervisor who just stayed

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Speaker 1: there with the two kids that were safe and sound

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Speaker 1: instead of running after the one that was getting out

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Speaker 1: of the facility. Something's not working for me with this

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Speaker 1: story that all of these rescuers, all of these searchers

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Speaker 1: by air, by land, by foot with dogs, they can't

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Speaker 1: find a nine year old little girl. The only thing

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Speaker 1: that makes me think it's somewhat true is that couple

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Speaker 1: who spotted her. I don't know that she's in the wood.

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Speaker 1: Smart class. First of all, Matthew, I'd like to agree

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Speaker 1: with everything that you said about the senator. You know,

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Speaker 1: I've done a million photo ops with politicians, and I

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Speaker 1: can count the ones that I really believe and trust.

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Speaker 1: On one hand, I think what we have to do

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Speaker 1: in this case is really look back, like they always

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Speaker 1: say in a missing child case, look back at the

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Speaker 1: last person that saw that child. And I don't necessarily

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Speaker 1: mean the people that were chopping wood, but the people

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Speaker 1: in the facility themselves. She was a difficult little girl,

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Speaker 1: there's no question about that, and she might have just

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Speaker 1: run somebody to the ground. Another thing they need to do.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not quite sure how populated South Dakota is

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Speaker 1: with surveillance cameras, but they need to check and probably

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Speaker 1: have at this point any surveillance cameras that will give

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Speaker 1: them a glimmer as to who might have been driving

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Speaker 1: on that road during this time frame, within an hour

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Speaker 1: or two of when this little girl disappeared. Because everything

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Speaker 1: you're saying is correct, the idea that she somehow has

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Speaker 1: been able to evade detection for this amount of time,

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Speaker 1: given the fact that multiple agencies have been looking for her,

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Speaker 1: defies credibility with me. Former FBI supervisory special Agent Jeff

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Speaker 1: Cortez Jeff, I mean, I hardly know where to start,

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Speaker 1: but I know something's not fitting together with me with

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Speaker 1: this story. Number one, Why would a supervisor leave two

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Speaker 1: children safe inside and not go after the one that's

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Speaker 1: leaving the facility? To me, that defies common sense. Yes,

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Speaker 1: the two may break out in a fight, Yes they

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Speaker 1: may get into mischief while you're gone. Of course they will. Okay,

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Speaker 1: that's just to be expected. But this is a life

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Speaker 1: threatening situation, So that's a very interesting decision. Then you've

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Speaker 1: got a delay over which they let me just say, euphemistically,

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Speaker 1: gave the wrong time. They called nine one one, and

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Speaker 1: it's really hard for me to accept a nine year

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Speaker 1: old girl can outsmart dogs and one hundred volunteers and

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Speaker 1: airplanes and the works. It's very difficult for me to

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Speaker 1: make sense. I agree with South Dakota State Senator Lenda

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Speaker 1: Santo No. I totally agree Nancy, And you can't help

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Speaker 1: but see the glaring issues right out of the gates.

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Speaker 1: I think if you had any one of those issues,

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Speaker 1: it's less problematic. In other words, if they chased her

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Speaker 1: right away, and that's why it took her took them

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Speaker 1: an hour and forty five minutes to call the police,

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Speaker 1: because they were running through the woods. Okay, I can,

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Speaker 1: I can. I can understand that. But to not chase

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Speaker 1: and not call and allow that time to lapse is

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Speaker 1: certainly an area that would would stand out to investigators.

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Speaker 1: You know, the time is of the essence and missing

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Speaker 1: persons cases, and losing that first hour and forty five

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Speaker 1: minutes is no small thing. Crime stories with Nancy Grace,

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Speaker 1: but gorgeous little girl in South Dakota, any dinner missing

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Speaker 1: to Randy Kessler for now, defense attorney, family law specialists,

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Speaker 1: the author of divorce Protect Yourself, your kids in your future.

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Speaker 1: You can find them at divorce protect dot com. Randy Kessler.

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Speaker 1: We heard South Dakota State Senator Lynda Santo say, this

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Speaker 1: little girl had been through so much, bounced from home

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Speaker 1: to home, taken in, actually adopted. Then the couple divorces.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how you somehow lose your children in

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Speaker 1: a divorce. I mean, what you just leave them at

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Speaker 1: the house with the dog and the doghouse and the

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Speaker 1: furniture you don't want. Anyway, somehow she ends up in

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Speaker 1: a children's home post divorce. That's your specialty, divorce. How

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Speaker 1: the heck did that happen? You know, It's not like

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Speaker 1: you bought a coffee maker at Target and then just

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Speaker 1: returned it because you didn't like it. Human beings with

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Speaker 1: the strangest creatures on earth. I mean, we see people

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Speaker 1: that have the reverse custody fight, No you take the kids,

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Speaker 1: No you take them. I want freedom. The kids are

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Speaker 1: ruined my life. It's crazy what people will do, but

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Speaker 1: it's me. How can that just roll off your tongue? Terrible?

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Speaker 1: When I think about the twins, Oh, I'd fight the

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Speaker 1: devil himself try to take the twins away from me.

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Speaker 1: Davy wouldn't even suggest it, No way. He wants to live. Well,

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Speaker 1: you're normal, and not everybody's normal, and there are all

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Speaker 1: sorts of Look, we're in an industry. Age of mental

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Speaker 1: health is so prevalent everywhere, mental health issues, mental dilemmas,

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Speaker 1: mental instability. It is crazy the things that I hear,

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Speaker 1: and usually I may be the first line of defense.

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Speaker 1: I actually hear people that sit in my office and

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Speaker 1: tell me, you know what. I know this sounds terrible,

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Speaker 1: but I don't want custody. And I take a gulp,

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Speaker 1: and I can either fire them and not let them

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Speaker 1: hire me, or I can try to fix it and

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Speaker 1: try to get some help and get a psychologist involved.

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Speaker 1: But you know, some people are beyond help. But I

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Speaker 1: don't understand how anybody would not say I gave birth

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Speaker 1: to this child, I'm responsible for the rest of my life.

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Speaker 1: That just it blows me away. But I do hear it,

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Speaker 1: and I do see it. Man, I don't feel that

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Speaker 1: way all. I don't feel like, oh, I'm responsible for

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Speaker 1: the twins your blessing. I feel like I can't wait

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Speaker 1: to pick him up. I can't wait to see him.

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Speaker 1: I can't wait for him to wake up. I feel

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Speaker 1: like I'm the lucky one. Doctor Ryan Fuller, we need

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Speaker 1: a shrink with me, Doctor Ryan Fuller, clinical psychologist, Executive

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Speaker 1: director of New York Behavioral Health and lecturer at NYU,

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Speaker 1: my old alma mater, Doctor Fuller, when State Senator Linda

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Speaker 1: Santo was describing what this little girl has been through,

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Speaker 1: why would that make her run away? I mean, in

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Speaker 1: my mind, it would make her want to cleave to

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Speaker 1: the home even more because she's never had a home

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Speaker 1: and now she's got one. According to what I've read,

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Speaker 1: the diagnosis that were mentioned were a reactive attachment disorder

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Speaker 1: which is associated Now wait wait, wait, wait, wait wait wait,

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Speaker 1: doctor Ryan Fuller, you are a shrink. Now you remember

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Speaker 1: you're talking to Kesther and I are just trial lawyers. Okay,

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Speaker 1: then you've got an FBI guy, you've got a state senator,

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Speaker 1: and you've got Mark Class and Lee Egan. We're not shrinks.

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Speaker 1: What did you just say? A react of what? So

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Speaker 1: it's reactive attachment disorder was one of the diagnosis, But

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Speaker 1: what is that It actually in fact touches on what

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Speaker 1: you're what you're raising, which is that the child might

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Speaker 1: have difficulty attaching and feeling close to um you know, adults,

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Speaker 1: custodial figures, parents, and things like that. And it's oftentimes

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Speaker 1: related to the kinds of tough situations that children oftentimes

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Speaker 1: put through foster care and you know, having issues with

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Speaker 1: you know, biological parents early on might have experienced and

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Speaker 1: so they don't form those stable attachments that you might

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Speaker 1: see and healthy families where a child has a sense

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Speaker 1: of security and warmth and predictability, that is where they're

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Speaker 1: getting from their their parents, where they feel that they're

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Speaker 1: they're safe, they're going to be cared for, they know

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Speaker 1: what to expect and things like that. And you know,

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Speaker 1: I can't speak to this particular child, but you know,

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Speaker 1: I can't speak to the nature of that kind of

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Speaker 1: a diagnosis, which would mean, you know, she may not

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Speaker 1: have felt attached to anyone particular adult person at the

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Speaker 1: home right and the other I think the other diagnosis

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Speaker 1: it was listed to the disruptive mood disregulation disorder, and

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Speaker 1: so that's going to be associated with issues around emotion regulation,

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Speaker 1: meaning that she's going to have intense negative emotions like

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Speaker 1: anger and other negative emotions. So you know that might

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Speaker 1: mean that basically that she's really unhappy, and so it

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be happy in that home and might think, you know,

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Speaker 1: if I go elsewhere, maybe I can find something better.

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Speaker 1: I just still find it impossible for a child to

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Speaker 1: run out without a coat, without anything on her really

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Speaker 1: except for her you know, regular clothes, into the cold,

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Speaker 1: into the snow, and then she out thoughts as all

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Speaker 1: the searchers, I want to go back to where you

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Speaker 1: start every case, the timeline and how I got s

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Speaker 1: root up at the get go. Take a listen to

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Speaker 1: kV and TV Stuart Huntington. The first hours had a

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Speaker 1: lot of moving parts and there were some conflicting early reports.

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Speaker 1: Here's what we know today. At ten forty five am Sunday,

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Speaker 1: Serenity was in the gym at the Black Hills Children's

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Speaker 1: Home with two staffers and three other kids. One kid

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Speaker 1: caused a disturbance and a staffer attended to that child.

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Speaker 1: Serenity then ran out of the building. The other staffer

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Speaker 1: stayed with the two other children. At eleven am, Serenity

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Speaker 1: is last seen walking near the home At twelve twenty

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Speaker 1: six pm and nine one one call goes out and

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Speaker 1: Pennington County Sheriff's deputy arrives at twelve forty six. By

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Speaker 1: one sixteen, several deputies are on scene and the decision

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Speaker 1: is made to bring in search and rescue. We reached

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Speaker 1: out repeatedly to the children's home today to ask about

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Speaker 1: the hour and a half between when they say she

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Speaker 1: disappeared and the call went out to nine one one.

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Speaker 1: No one would speak to us, but they did offer

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Speaker 1: this statement. Our hearts hold out hope for the safe

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Speaker 1: return of a wonderful little girl. We are grateful for

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Speaker 1: the efforts of the Pennington County Sheriff's Office and all

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Speaker 1: those who continue to search for serenity in these difficult

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Speaker 1: winter conditions. The staff the Sheriff's office had this to say.

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Speaker 1: They got things going on there, They got protocols and

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Speaker 1: stuff that they do. So I can't answer to all that,

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Speaker 1: But what I can tell you is is we responded

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Speaker 1: as quickly as we could once we got the information. Okay,

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Speaker 1: right there too, you Mark, Class Founder, Class Kids Foundation.

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Speaker 1: I've got so many problems with what I just heard. Well,

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Speaker 1: you know, it turns out that the home was working

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Speaker 1: off of a twenty year old plan. It didn't take

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Speaker 1: into account to the contingency of a little girl running away,

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Speaker 1: and they completely and totally failed in their response at

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Speaker 1: that hour and a half. That hour and a half

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Speaker 1: a lag time. Joining me right now, South Dakota State

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Speaker 1: Senator Lynn DeSanto, what does the home have to say, Senator, Well,

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Speaker 1: there's been a number of interesting things that have come

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Speaker 1: to light through this particular situation. The executive director has

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Speaker 1: announced recently that he is going to be leaving Children's

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Speaker 1: Home Society. It has also come to life that in fact,

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Speaker 1: the staff had radios that were supposed to be used

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Speaker 1: if there were this type of a situation. Unfortunately they

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Speaker 1: were on different channels and so they could not hear

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Speaker 1: each other, and so there was really no solid plan

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Speaker 1: or protocol in place. And I think that the home

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Speaker 1: is really going to have to make some changes. They

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Speaker 1: lost a child. They have a very important job keeping

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Speaker 1: children safe and they have failed at that and it

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Speaker 1: is just a tragedy all the way around. Yeah. The

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Speaker 1: other thing, South Dakota State Senator with me, alien to Santo,

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Speaker 1: who is raising the alarm to all of us regarding

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Speaker 1: Serenity Dinner, a nine year old little girl. These homes

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Speaker 1: are four children, many of them having been bounced around

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Speaker 1: from home to home. I mean, that's how you end

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Speaker 1: up in an orphanage. There's no nothing good leaves you

428
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,320
Speaker 1: to an orphanage. Okay, You're not coming from a happy

429
00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:30,240
Speaker 1: home where your parents can't wait to pick you up

430
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:34,760
Speaker 1: in the afternoon. It's not like that. And my point is, Senator,

431
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:40,119
Speaker 1: that they need to be equipped for eventualities like this

432
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:48,760
Speaker 1: like this to protect the child. State Senator to Santo, absolutely,

433
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:50,879
Speaker 1: and I think it's pretty clear that that did not

434
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,120
Speaker 1: happen in this situation. And you know, when you look

435
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,639
Speaker 1: at Serenity, this is a little girl. You see a

436
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,199
Speaker 1: little girl's face looking at you. This could be anyone's daughter,

437
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:06,400
Speaker 1: and she deserved better than this, and she is important.

438
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 1: And that's why I appreciate so many people like you

439
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,000
Speaker 1: getting involved in this case and caring, because it would

440
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,800
Speaker 1: be easy, because of her past and because of where

441
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,959
Speaker 1: she is, to not care. It would be easy for

442
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,359
Speaker 1: people to disregard her as a troubled child. But this

443
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 1: is a little girl that is a troubled child, but

444
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:43,200
Speaker 1: for very good reasons that are not her fault. Crime

445
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:50,120
Speaker 1: stories with Nancy Grace moving ahead from that point, then

446
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:55,000
Speaker 1: tell me you know day to day. Were you able

447
00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:56,959
Speaker 1: to work? I mean, what were you doing? This has

448
00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,240
Speaker 1: got to be a terrible time emotionally, I mean, don't

449
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,040
Speaker 1: just go home and go on with your life. So

450
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,960
Speaker 1: tell me what those following days, just how were you coping?

451
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:11,400
Speaker 1: What were you doing? They were hell? Well, you know,

452
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,280
Speaker 1: like I said, we wanted to stay out of their

453
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,680
Speaker 1: way because we wanted them to be doing everything that

454
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,960
Speaker 1: they can possibly be doing and not get in their way.

455
00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 1: At the same time, our hearts just say, you know,

456
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:29,719
Speaker 1: it was a constant up and down. We weren't working.

457
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:33,880
Speaker 1: Brian does a lot of work from home and tried

458
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,480
Speaker 1: to work, but he wasn't able to work. I just

459
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,880
Speaker 1: I wasn't working at all. You were hearing State Senator

460
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:47,440
Speaker 1: Lynda Santo speaking with Serenity's adoptive parents saying that then

461
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,360
Speaker 1: the days after her disappearance, their lives have been hell.

462
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,720
Speaker 1: They can't work. They also go on to state that

463
00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:01,840
Speaker 1: they thought Serenity was living with her biological dad. Now

464
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,200
Speaker 1: this doesn't make any sense to me, joining me a

465
00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:09,600
Speaker 1: special guest, South Dakota State Senator Lynda Santo, she had

466
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,680
Speaker 1: been in the home. How could they not know where

467
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,040
Speaker 1: she was? So Nancy. The way that it worked out

468
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 1: is is that there was two people that adopted Serenity

469
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 1: and ended up getting divorced a year later, and both

470
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 1: then remarried other people. And at that time, the agreement

471
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 1: was that the adoptive father would have physical custody of

472
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:37,640
Speaker 1: Serenity and the adoptive mother would have visitation and doing

473
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,520
Speaker 1: every other weekend or some type of an arrangement like that.

474
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 1: At some point the communication broke down between these two

475
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 1: people and he actually placed her at children's home without

476
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:53,320
Speaker 1: the knowledge of the adoptive mother. This woman was at

477
00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,520
Speaker 1: work one day and sees there's a missing child on

478
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,480
Speaker 1: the news and looks up and it's her daughter. And

479
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,600
Speaker 1: that's how she became aware that her ex husband had

480
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:09,760
Speaker 1: placed Serenity at children's home. Okay, whoa, whoa wait right there,

481
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:15,040
Speaker 1: State Senator to Santo, I believe everything that you just

482
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:19,200
Speaker 1: told me in that I think that's what the adoptive

483
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:23,120
Speaker 1: mother told you, Mark class what happened to every other weekend?

484
00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:28,320
Speaker 1: You know, Nancy, two little girls somehow outsmarted the entire

485
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 1: staff of this children's home, and the end result is

486
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,520
Speaker 1: one of those little girls lives is very much in danger.

487
00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:39,400
Speaker 1: Now and I want a salute law enforcement because they

488
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,360
Speaker 1: continue to go out into the wild and look for

489
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 1: this little girl. She's getting me attention now that she

490
00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 1: deserved and did not receive for her entire life. Well

491
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 1: as usual, I have to agree with everything you just said.

492
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:57,840
Speaker 1: You're right, and you know, cops and law enforcement always

493
00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:01,000
Speaker 1: get the bad rap when a cop or a sheriff

494
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,040
Speaker 1: does something wrong, and they do things wrong, I get it,

495
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,440
Speaker 1: But for the most part, this is who they are.

496
00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:10,680
Speaker 1: They're out there in the snow, in the wild, up

497
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:12,800
Speaker 1: and down the side of mountains, trying to find this

498
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:17,080
Speaker 1: little girl and they never get the credit. State Senator

499
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:20,720
Speaker 1: to Santo, explain to me how the mom was she

500
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:24,040
Speaker 1: not doing her visitation or had Sunity just been in

501
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,320
Speaker 1: the home a day or two? I mean, how did

502
00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:29,360
Speaker 1: she not see her on the weekends like she was

503
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,560
Speaker 1: supposed to. Well, there has just recently been a lawsuit

504
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:36,640
Speaker 1: filed between these two parties, and she is claiming parental

505
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:40,480
Speaker 1: alienation in her lawsuit that he was not responsive to

506
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,720
Speaker 1: calls and that he was in fact breaking a court

507
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 1: order saying that she was to get visitation and he

508
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 1: was not allowing it. So that is going to be

509
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,920
Speaker 1: hashed out in court here over the next couple of weeks. Okay,

510
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 1: so then we really don't know. She may have been

511
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,160
Speaker 1: trying to see the daughter and was prevented from seeing

512
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,440
Speaker 1: the daughter or somehow blocked from seeing the daughter. So

513
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,920
Speaker 1: before I come down to you hard on her, I

514
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:07,800
Speaker 1: don't know those facts yet, and they are not clear

515
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,040
Speaker 1: to me. You're absolutely right. I don't know why the

516
00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,280
Speaker 1: adopted dad put her in this home. Somebody put her

517
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 1: in the home. I know that much. And now she's gone, Nancy,

518
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,920
Speaker 1: go ahead. A little bit of a little bit of

519
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,520
Speaker 1: insight that has been brought to light, as the adopted

520
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 1: father had recently remarried a woman, and there's reports that

521
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:34,200
Speaker 1: there was some very difficult and strained relationships that were

522
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:38,320
Speaker 1: occurring between Serenity and the new mother, the new wife,

523
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:44,560
Speaker 1: and there actually had been reports made by Serenity of

524
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:48,920
Speaker 1: some mistreatment to her by the new wife, and so

525
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,400
Speaker 1: that certainly seems to be a factor in the mix

526
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,240
Speaker 1: on why that adopted father made the decision to take

527
00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:57,840
Speaker 1: her to Children's home and place her there. I think

528
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:00,320
Speaker 1: I would have placed any wife add on the street

529
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,040
Speaker 1: before I would place a child in home. But I

530
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,800
Speaker 1: don't know what he was thinking. Maybe he thought he

531
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,600
Speaker 1: was doing the best thing for the child. I don't

532
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,880
Speaker 1: know why the mother wasn't seeing her. All that aside,

533
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,720
Speaker 1: I know that she's gone, and I know the search

534
00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:20,319
Speaker 1: is on. Take a listen to this. Yesday night, authorities

535
00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:24,000
Speaker 1: moved the search from a rescue to a recovery effort.

536
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,680
Speaker 1: The Pennington County Sheriff's Office says if Serenity has been

537
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:32,080
Speaker 1: outside this entire time, it's unlikely she survived. However, they

538
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:34,399
Speaker 1: have not ruled out the possibility that she could still

539
00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:37,120
Speaker 1: be alive in a warm shelter or was picked up

540
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,880
Speaker 1: by someone. More than one hundred people helped in the

541
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,800
Speaker 1: search for Serenity di Nard on Tuesday, but now only

542
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:47,280
Speaker 1: people from the Paignton County Sheriff's Office remain in the area.

543
00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:50,720
Speaker 1: We still have deputies up there, we still are manning

544
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:55,560
Speaker 1: our command post, but as far as ground search people

545
00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,839
Speaker 1: that are back in the woods, we don't have them

546
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:03,040
Speaker 1: Folks right now doing that. We suspended that at approximately

547
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:06,200
Speaker 1: four or five o'clock yesterday. The Sheriff's office says it's

548
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,719
Speaker 1: still trying to figure out all the details of what

549
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:13,680
Speaker 1: happened the morning Serenity disappeared. We have five investigators that

550
00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:15,839
Speaker 1: are assigned to this that this is all they're doing,

551
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:20,799
Speaker 1: is working every lead, every possibility. Again, they continue to

552
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,160
Speaker 1: interview staff and other children in the home and family

553
00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 1: and neighbors, anybody that might have possibly been on that road.

554
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:32,520
Speaker 1: Hearing our Free Kota's Alexia de Villa of the search

555
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:36,400
Speaker 1: is on for this little girl. To Jeff Gretz, a

556
00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 1: former FBI supervisory special agent, what should the search be now,

557
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,360
Speaker 1: because I've never been convinced she was in those still

558
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,440
Speaker 1: in those woods, you know, I think in terms of

559
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:51,200
Speaker 1: what the investigators are going to be focusing on now,

560
00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:52,960
Speaker 1: it's going to be you know, a lot of what

561
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:56,520
Speaker 1: you're doing keeping this story in the news, tickle the

562
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:59,839
Speaker 1: complaint line, so to speak, putting our photo out there,

563
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 1: covering multiple avenues, one obviously searching the woods and continuing

564
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:10,360
Speaker 1: to search, while at the same time chasing down other leads,

565
00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:12,719
Speaker 1: you know, identifying sex offenders in the area that may

566
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:17,239
Speaker 1: have a propensity towards young children, interviewing, interviewing all of them,

567
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:22,720
Speaker 1: exhausting those leads, answering any answered questions to date related

568
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:27,280
Speaker 1: to the parents, the children's center, local and regional sex

569
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 1: offenders locking down and identifying any CCTV in the area.

570
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:36,319
Speaker 1: You know, I think one of the biggest takeaways from

571
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:39,080
Speaker 1: this story is that, you know, emergency preparedness has has

572
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:42,440
Speaker 1: to be more than words on a page. Policies, procedures.

573
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,560
Speaker 1: They need to be updated reviewed, staff need to train,

574
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,160
Speaker 1: they need to rehearse. This stuff has to stay up

575
00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:51,440
Speaker 1: to date so that situations like this don't happen in

576
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:53,719
Speaker 1: the future. Man, you're telling it, and I guarantee you

577
00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:56,760
Speaker 1: South Dakota State Center to LANDA. Santo is all over

578
00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:01,279
Speaker 1: that Mark Class Founder, Class Kids Foundation. What now? What

579
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:04,800
Speaker 1: should they be doing? This is your specialty. If I

580
00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:07,799
Speaker 1: can add absolutely nothing to what the special agent just said,

581
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,680
Speaker 1: he completely covered the next steps, the steps that have

582
00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 1: been taken in the next steps. And let's just hope

583
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:17,359
Speaker 1: law enforcement is able to somehow find this little girl

584
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:21,280
Speaker 1: and that maybe the public can stay vigilant. Somebody must

585
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,560
Speaker 1: know something, somebody might know something, and hopefully they'll come

586
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,880
Speaker 1: forward in this case can be resolved. Nancy Joehead, if

587
00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:32,080
Speaker 1: you know Warren Jeffs, he is the polygamous fact that

588
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,240
Speaker 1: you know was arrested for marrying off twelve and thirteen

589
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,480
Speaker 1: year old little girls. You know, this little girl is

590
00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:42,680
Speaker 1: missing within the vicinity of that place, and I would

591
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:45,320
Speaker 1: like to see that looked at further as an angle.

592
00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,520
Speaker 1: And so far they've been told, I've been told they've

593
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:53,680
Speaker 1: been blocked. So this is a very unusual situation. We

594
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:57,560
Speaker 1: stand by as just as unfolds and the search for

595
00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:01,759
Speaker 1: nine year old Serenity goes on. If you have information

596
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,919
Speaker 1: on Serenity, please dial six zero five three nine four

597
00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:10,919
Speaker 1: six one one five repeat six zero five three nine

598
00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:16,839
Speaker 1: four six one one five Nancy Grace Crime Story signing off,

599
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:18,360
Speaker 1: goodbye friend,