The suspect in the alleged abduction of Charlotte Sena may have forced the nine-year-old to write her own $50,000 ransom note, according to a report.
Craig Nelson Ross Jr, 47, was charged with first-degree kidnapping on Tuesday after Charlotte Sena was found hidden in a cabinet inside his campervan at the back of his mother’s house on Monday evening.
Her rescue came almost 48 hours after she was snatched while riding her bike in Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County, upstate New York, on Saturday evening.
New York officials said that the suspect was tracked down and arrested after he drove to the home of Charlotte’s parents and left a ransom note in their mailbox in the early hours of Monday morning.
“He literally drove up to the family’s mailbox assuming they were not home,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, adding that Charlotte’s parents were still at the campground at Moreau Lake State Park at the time, and officers who were monitoring the family home had been sent to another call in the area.
New details have now emerged about the contents of the ransom note and who may have written it.
According to court documents obtained by CNN, the note allegedly demanded $50,000 from the nine-year-old’s family in exchange for her safe return.
Sources close to the investigation have now also told local paper Times Union that Mr Ross Jr may have forced the nine-year-old to write the note herself.
Mr Ross Jr was not arrested when he dropped off the note, but police later tested it for fingerprints, Ms Hochul said on Monday night.
A match came back as belonging to the 47-year-old suspect, who was in a database from a 1999 DWI case.
Law enforcement agents then linked Mr Ross Jr to the property owned by his mother, where they found him in the campervan, and arrested him.
Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office released mug shot of Craig Nelson Ross Jr— (Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office)
“After some resistance, the suspect was taken into custody and immediately the little girl was found in a cabinet,” Ms Hochul said. “She knew she was being rescued. She knew that she was in safe hands.”
The governor said that Charlotte was found unharmed and was transported to a hospital for a standard checkup. She was later reunited with her family.
“It’s not been determined that the suspect was known to the family. That is what will be revealed after more extensive questioning,” Ms Hochul said.
“The vehicle registered to the suspect, the address in the database was two miles from Charlotte’s home but it is not known at this point whether he knew her or had her under surveillance for a length of time.”
It came almost 48 hours after the nine-year-old’s family found her abandoned bike at Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County after she went on a solo bike ride.
Charlotte Sena— (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)
Police issued an Amber Alert for the missing girl, and a search was launched including an estimated 400 search and rescue personnel.
Moreau Lake State Park temporarily closed while authorities searched for Charlotte.
Mr Ross Jr was arraigned in the early hours of Tuesday morning in town court in Milton.
He is now being held in Saratoga County Jail without bail and is expected to appear in court again on 6 October.
