Moreau Lake State Park, NY – 9 year old Charlotte Sena is missing after a bike ride while visiting a campsite with her family. According to the New York State Police’s Facebook post, she was last seen at Moreau Lake State Park on September 30 at about 6:15pm. She is approx 4’6, 90 pounds, and has dirty blonde hair that falls just past her shoulders. She was last seen wearing black crocs, a tie dye Pokémon shirt, and blue pants.
An Amber Alert for Charlotte was issued at 9:30am, stating it was “for a child abduction” and notifying recipients that Charlotte “was taken under circumstances that lead police to believe that they are in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death.” According to family, Charlotte wanted to finish a bike ride with a lap on her own. She was gone for approximately 10-15 minutes before family went looking for her. Her bicycle was found on a trail, but Charlotte and her helmet were not located.
Police state that they believe it was “quite possible” that Charlotte had been abducted after they completed an “exhaustive search” of the state park, which is approximately 6,250 acres in Saratoga County, New York. The park also has over 20 miles of hiking trails and a beach.
Governor Kathy Hochul held a press conference on October 1 to provide an update on Charlotte. You can view the press coherence here:
At 4.20am on Monday October 2, a man named Craig Ross Jr (46) went to the home of Charlotte’s parents and put a note in their mailbox.
The note was a ransom note and police believe Charlotte may have been forced to write it. Craig asked for $50,000 in return for Charlotte’s safe recovery.
There was a trooper stationed at the house watching, but Craig managed to drive away without being apprehended. There have been lots of questions about how this happened.
State Police and the governor’s office said they would not comment due to an “ongoing investigation,” the Times-Union reported.
According to the Daily Mail, the state trooper had been called away to another incident, right at the time that Craig dropped the note off.
Authorities investigated the note and by 2.30pm that day, they had obtained a fingerprint from it. They identified Craig as the suspect. His prints were on file from a 1999 arrest for driving while intoxicated in Saratoga Springs, NY.
The Governor gave a summary of the events. “(At) 4:20 a.m. (Monday), the car pulls up to a mailbox, something is left. “State Police immediately go to the mailbox and identify what is a ransom note that had been left behind for (the missing girl). State Police worked diligently trying to find a match for a fingerprint. The first one they tried wasn’t successful. Second one was to identify any other prints in the New York State database that would be a match.”
It took police another four hours to track down where Craig was living.
Craig was living in a trailer in the backyard of his mother’s property.
Police raided the property where Craig is said to have been in his underwear and they said that he resisted arrest. Charlotte was found safe in a cabinet in the trailer at around 6.30pm on October 2.
“So, a little more research, work to identify the location and identifying the fact that there was a home they could visit,” the governor said. “They found a double-wide house with a woman, the suspect’s mother. The suspect lived in the camper behind. They have what they call a dynamic entry, a tactical maneuver, and within the camper, they located the suspect.”
“She knew she was being rescued. She knew she was in safe hands,” Governor Hochul said.
Craig owned a vehicle that was registered to a property two miles away from Charlotte’s home.
Charlotte’s family made a statement after she was returned to them.
“We are thrilled that she is home and we understand that the outcome is not what every family gets. A huge thank you to the FBI, the New York State Police, all of the agencies that were mobilized, all of the families, friends, community, neighbors and hundreds of volunteers who supported us and worked tirelessly to bring Charlotte home.”
After Craig was arrested, police asked the public for help.
The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office is assisting the New York State Police in the ongoing investigation of the Charlotte Sena abduction and subsequent rescue. If there is anyone who may have video footage during the hours of 6:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. for the roads listed below on Saturday evening, 09/30, please contact Inv. Robinson at mrobinson@saratogacountyny.gov
Old Saratoga Road in the Town of Moreau
Route 9 South of Old Saratoga Round in the Towns of Moreau and Wilton
Ballard Road near Corinth Mountain Rd in the Town of Wilton
Corinth Mountain Rd in the Towns of Wilton and Corinth
Spier Falls Road in the Towns of Corinth and Greenfield
North Greenfield Road in the Town of Greenfield
Middle Grove Road in the Town of Greenfield
Route 29 in the Town of Milton
Barret Road in the Town of Milton
Police have also said that additional charges are expected to be laid. He has so far been charged with first-degree kidnapping.
Police have not yet confirmed if Charlotte was specifically targeted or if Craig came across her randomly while she was riding her bike.
Craig does have an adult son called Joshua, and he has spoken to the media.
“He’s in jail. We want nothing to do with him. I couldn’t give a f–k if the dude dropped dead tomorrow — I couldn’t care less,” he told a reporter.
“He’s disgusting, he’s gross, he should die,” Joshua added.
“Yeah, he’s my father, but why do I have to deal with this s–t?” he shouted, Fox News reported. “Everyone is asking me all this. I don’t know anything. I hate him and hope he dies in prison.”
The New York Post report that Craig apparently has an 11 year old daughter, as well as other son/s.
Police descended Monday on the property, where he allegedly cared for his 11-year-old daughter a few days a week.
His two sons reportedly lived with him at the address.
Neighbors told the Daily Mail that Craig suffered from multiple sclerosis and had recently moved back onto his mother’s property in Ballston Spa due to his condition.
Craig seems to have been in some trouble before. In 2017, he apparently squeezed his girlfriend’s neck ‘so hard she couldn’t breathe’, only stopping when she fell to her knees.
Craig pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment in the case, after initially being charged with criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation.
He was also issued a restraining order against his former partner and fined $50.
In terms of Craig ever committing other crimes against children, the Times Union have reported that he was investigated at one point for the possible sexual abuse of a 12 year-old girl.
The incident was alleged to have occurred more than a year ago, but the complaint against 46-year-old Craig N. Ross Jr. was filed this summer. State Police closed that investigation last month without filing any charges against Ross, who had denied the girl’s allegations, according to three sources briefed on the investigation.
SOURCE LIST –
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlotte-sena-updates-missing-girl-found-timeline/
https://nypost.com/2023/10/04/charlotte-senas-alleged-kidnappers-son-doesnt-care-if-he-dropped-dead/