Serenity Alanna Marie Kinsey AMBER Alert Missing Girl From Dandridge, Tennessee Found Dead In Douglas Lake

Gregory Raucoules and Dominic Webster

7 hours ago

DANDRIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) — An hours-long search for a missing Jefferson County child came to a tragic end Thursday morning when the body of 7-year-old Serenity Kinsey was found in Douglas Lake. She hadn't been seen since 1 a.m. before her body was discovered.

Crews from multiple counties immediately mobilized as soon as the call came in for a missing person near the lake. She was suspected to be heading toward the water where she was eventually found at 11:18 a.m.

“One of the first officers that responded, one of them was a canine officer and the victim did follow a trail to the water,” Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Coffey said. “That was one of our suspicions that she went into the water and she had done that in the past when she was gone. That was one of our fears as to what the end result of what happened here was going to be.”

Law enforcement and multiple search and rescue teams rushed to Indian Creek Road and the area of ​​Douglas Lake. Coffey expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support.

“I talked to them a while back and they’re all volunteers,” Coffey said. “It’s the Fourth of July, they had all kinds of things planned today and they dropped all their plans and everything they were doing with their families. They came out here to help and we can’t say enough about the volunteers in our community here in Jefferson County and the surrounding counties. If we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t have been able to do this on our own.”

According to the sheriff's office, the child had ventured to the lake before, but was quickly found. Unfortunately, today's search ended tragically.

Family members declined to comment. The sheriff's office posted on social media Thursday afternoon that it was sending its condolences and prayers to the Serenities family during this difficult time.