The mother of a missing South Dakota girl says she would do anything to find her daughter, who vanished five years ago.
“It has been a mama’s worst nightmare to have Serenity gone,” Darcie Gentry told the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). “I would travel to the ends of the earth to pick her up and to see her again.”
Serenity Dennard was 9 years old when she was last seen on February 3, 2019, running away from the Black Hills Children’s Home, a residential behavioral treatment facility in Rapid City, South Dakota.
The girl was not wearing a winter coat, despite the frigid temperatures, and staff at the complex waited more than an hour to call 911, according to the Argus Leader.
Police scoured the surrounding area extensively but could not find Serenity. Cold weather, snow, and harsh terrain complicated the searches.
Five years later, Serenity has yet to be found.
But a forensic artist from NCMEC has developed an age-progressed photo of what Serenity may look like today. She turns 15 years old on Sunday, May 12.
Darcie has continued to celebrate her daughter’s birthday, something she plans to do this weekend, too.
“I always make a pink and purple cake or a ‘Frozen’ cake, cupcakes, anything she would have enjoyed,” Darcie said, referring to the movie “Frozen,” which Serenity loved. “And we have a birthday party for her, just like if she were here.”
Darcie also releases a balloon on Serenity’s birthday and on the day she went missing. “In every single balloon we write messages to her and always write down my phone number and put that inside the balloons, then we release them,” Darcie said.
She added: “I just hope that on your birthday I get to hug and kiss you in person,” Darcie said, according to NCMEC. “I keep listening for your voice every day. I pray for you every day and hopefully you will see this and know that Mom loves you and wants you to come home.”
To report information about Serenity or her disappearance, call NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678 or the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office in South Dakota at 1-605-394-6115.
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[Feature Photo: NCMEC/Serenity Dennard]
