9-year-old who vanished from New York park found ‘safe’, man linked to ransom note arrested
- Charlotte Sena disappeared while riding her bike early on Saturday evening at Moreau Lake State Park, a heavily wooded area
- Investigators were able to identify a fingerprint from a ransom note allegedly left by the suspect she identified as Craig Nelson Ross Jr.
A 9-year-old girl who vanished during a family camping trip in upstate New York was “safe and in good health” on Monday after a massive two-day search ended with her rescue and the arrest of a person suspected in her abduction, police said.
Charlotte Sena disappeared while riding her bike early on Saturday evening at Moreau Lake State Park, a heavily wooded area some 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Albany.
Governor Kathy Hochul said on Monday night during a news conference that investigators were able to identify a fingerprint from a ransom note allegedly left by the suspect she identified as Craig Nelson Ross Jr., 47.
“What happened was extraordinary,” she said.
She said while the rest of Charlotte’s family remained at the campground where she had gone missing, police watching their home saw someone drop a note in their postbox at 4:20am. Monday. State police pulled fingerprints off the note and the second one matched Ross, who was in a database from a 1999 DWI case, Hochul said.
After some resistance, the suspect was taken into custody and immediately the little girl was found in a cabinet
Law enforcement agents linked Ross to a property owned by his mother, made entry and found him in a camper at about 6:30pm, she said.