Fingerprints on a ransom note led to the arrest of a New York man, who has been charged with the kidnapping of 9-year-old Charlotte Sena. She vanished on a family camping trip, authorities said.
Fingerprints on a ransom note led to the arrest of a New York man now charged with kidnapping 9-year-old Charlotte Sena, who vanished over the weekend during a family camping trip and became the target of a frantic, two-day search by hundreds of law enforcement officers, authorities said.
Craig Nelson Ross, 47, was arrested Monday night after local, state and federal officers descended on property owned by his mother and set off flash grenades, officials said. Ross was dragged from a camper behind his mother's house, and Charlotte was found hidden in a cabinet.
The girl was in good physical condition, authorities said.
“After some resistance, the suspect was taken into custody and immediately the little girl was found in a cabinet, covered and she was rescued,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a press conference late Monday.
"She knew that she was being rescued. She knew that she was in safe hands," the governor said.
Hochul had earlier described Charlotte's abduction as "every parent's nightmare."
The young girl went missing Saturday evening at Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County, about 50 miles north of Albany. She had been bike riding with a group of friends, and said she wanted to make one final loop by herself before returning to her family's camp site, authorities said.
“She said she just wanted to go around one more time by herself — be that big girl, do it by herself,” Hochul told reporters Sunday after an Amber Alert had been issued for the child.
Her mother had called 911 after her daughter failed to return, and family members found her abandoned bicycle on Loop A at the 6,200-acre park.
A break in the case came before dawn on Monday, when a man was seen leaving a note at the family's nearby home, according to the New York State Police.
Investigators were able to lift fingerprints from the paper, which was a ransom note, and those prints matched law enforcement data on file from a 1999 arrest of Ross for drunken driving, the governor said.
“It just feels like a miracle that little Charlotte is safely reunited with her parents,” Hochul told Spectrum News.
Charlotte was taken to a hospital for routine testing, officials said.
Ross is being held without bail at the Saratoga County Correction Center on a first-degree felony kidnapping charge, state police said. Additional charges are expected to be filed in the coming days, officials said.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Friday, and he has not entered a plea, according to court records.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out for comment to the Saratoga County Public Defender's Office, which is representing Ross.
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