courtesy: PEOPLE
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Charlotte Sena, the 9-year-old girl who went missing during her camping trip at a New York state park two days ago, has been found safe and a suspect has been detained, as per the authorities on Monday evening.
New York governor Kathy Hochul told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that before she was found, Charlotte’s parents received a ransom note at their home.
At a late-night news conference, the governor acknowledged the meticulous work by the authorities after they found the note and a crucial piece of evidence, which helped them break the case.
Hochul said that the break in the case came around 4.20 am ET Monday when the suspect drive to Charlotte’s home to place the ransom note in the family’s mailbox. “He literally drove up to the family’s mailbox assuming they were not home,” she stated. Further added that the suspect was under impression that the parents would still be at the camping site, searching for their daughter.
The family’s home was being monitored by state police, but the officers had been sent to another call in the area when the note was dropped. Police tested the documents for fingerprints and ran it through their system to see if they could find a match.
On their second attempt, they got back results which showed that the fingerprints belonged to a 47-year-old man named Craig Nelson Ross Jr.
Investigators were able to determine that Craig was living in a camper behind his mother’s house and used two SWAT to make an entry. The police added that he resisted being taken into custody and sustained minor injuries. They found Charlotte hidden in a cabinet in the camper.
The girl appeared to be in good health, but was taken to hospital which is “customary”, says the governor.