Charlotte Sena: Missing Girl Found With The Help Of Fingerprints On Ransom Note
Now, he is being held without bail Tuesday morning at the Saratoga County Correctional Facility on a charge of first-degree kidnapping, according to jail officials.
A missing girl has been found safe after police used fingerprints left on a ransom note to track her down. Here's how.
Police
What happened?
9-year-old Charlotte Sena was kidnapped by a 47-year-old man allegedly holding her in the cabinet of a camper he lived in next to his mother's home.
A ransom note was later delivered to the family home, which officials said contained the suspect's fingerprints. Police were able to identify him, as the print was on their database linked to a drink-driving incident from 1999.
He has been identified by authorities as Craig Nelson Ross Jr. Now, he is being held without bail Tuesday morning at the Saratoga County Correctional Facility on a charge of first-degree kidnapping, according to jail officials.
When and where?
Charlotte's family were on a camping trip when she went missing on Saturday in a wooded area of Moreau Lake State Park, a popular site about 45 miles (72km) north of Albany. The missing girl was found in upstate New York on Monday night.
Spectrum News Albany
How did she disappear?
She disappeared while she was riding her bike in the campground alone. The girl's family and other campers went looking for her. Charlotte's mother then found her bike at around 6:45 pm on Saturday and called 911.
An Amber Alert was issued for the missing child Saturday night, and an intense search involving up to 400 local, state and federal law enforcement officers and firefighters was conducted at the sprawling park.
Saratoga County Sheriff's Office
How was the note found?
The big break in the three-day search for the missing girl came early Monday morning, apparently from the suspect himself. At 4:20 a.m., a car pulled up to the Sena family's home, and what turned out to be a ransom note was left in the mailbox, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
"He literally drove up to the family's mailbox, assuming they were not home, 4:20 in the morning, opens the mailbox and inserts the ransom note, leaving a critical piece of evidence behind ¨C his own fingerprint," Hochul said.
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