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Charlotte Sena, 9 years old, has been missing since Saturday
1 hour ago
A missing New York girl has been found safe after police used fingerprints from a ransom note from her kidnapper.
Charlotte Sena, 9, disappeared while on a bike ride in upstate New York on Saturday, sparking a massive 48hour search involving hundreds of people.
A message was later delivered to the family home. Authorities said the note contained fingerprints of the person suspected of abducting the child.
The police were able to identify him because his fingerprint was in the police database in 1999 the suspect was charged with drunk driving.
He was located on his mother’s property and arrested.
“After some resistance, the suspect was arrested and the girl was immediately found in a closet in the house,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul at a press conference on Monday evening (February 10).
“She knew she was saved. She knew she was in good hands. What happened was extraordinary,” Hochul said.
The governor said the suspect’s name was Craig Nelson Ross Jr., 47, and he said he was still being questioned.
Charlotte’s family was camping when she disappeared Saturday in a wooded area of Moreau Lake State Park, a popular spot about 45 miles north of the city of Albany.
“It was every parent’s worst nightmare,” Gov. Hochul said, adding that she received calls from across the country during the search.
Following Charlotte’s disappearance, a ransom note was left in the mailbox of her family’s home in the early hours of Monday.
Police monitoring the building collected and identified fingerprints.
According to Gov. Kathy Hochul, the investigation was also aided by cell phone data and park visitor records.
Charlotte is “safe and in good health,” authorities said. She was taken to hospital as a precaution.
Charlotte experienced “immense” trauma, commented Callahan Walsh from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in an interview with CBS, the BBC’s American partner.
According to police, 400 teams affiliated with security agencies such as the FBI were involved in the searches and investigations, as well as volunteer firefighters and civilian groups.
In issuing a missing child alert, authorities asked the public for help in finding the “bright, adventurous girl who loves the outdoors.”
Charlotte’s aunt asked for information on the social network TikTok, and a man who knew the family expressed shock to the New York Times, saying the Senas were “wonderful people.”
According to the police, the search operation spanned a distance of almost 80 kilometers.
The park was closed and state police set up checkpoints on surrounding roads to stop and search cars.