Nine-year-old Charlotte Sena was found alive Monday evening and a suspect in her abduction was arrested after police tracked him to a camper trailer, according to New York State Police. The suspect, Craig Ross Jr., 46, allegedly left a ransom note at Charlotte’s parents' house before dawn on Monday, and fingerprints on that note helped lead to his arrest. Gov. Kathy Hochul said Ross dropped a ransom note in the mailbox at the family's residence around 4:20 a.m. Monday, reports the Albany Times Union. Ross suffered minor injuries when he struggled as he was arrested by a State Police Special Operations Response Team. An FBI SWAT team assisted in the apprehension and rescue. State Police prevented motorists from entering a residential street after they raided the property and rescued the girl. Hochul said she was “overjoyed at the news that Charlotte Sena has been located safely this evening after an intense days-long search. Our hearts are with her family as they welcome her home.”
The arrest was made less than three hours after State Police said a search had expanded over 46 linear miles. Some 400 search and rescue personnel from dozens of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as fire departments, were searching for Charlotte after she vanished Saturday evening at the Moreau Lake State Park, where she had been camping with her family and friends. She had been riding her bicycle on a small loop road dotted with campsites and had asked for permission to ride around the road one last time by herself. Her family and friends searched frantically for her before calling 911 around 6:45 p.m. that evening. State Police sources said their investigation was focused on the theory that her abduction may have been the result of someone deliberately targeting the girl or her family.