Residents of a quiet suburban town in upstate New York were stunned when police arrived in their quiet neighborhood Monday night to rescue 9-year-old Charlotte Sena, who was allegedly abducted while riding her bicycle along a local park.
Neighbors Michael and Erica told Fox News how “SWAT trucks and police cups were here in seconds,” transporting officers who had their “guns drawn” as they searched for the fourth-grade boy, who was found hidden hidden away. safe in a closet in Craig Ross Jr.’s trailer on his family’s property in Milton.
“At first I saw two police cars pull up on my lawn and when I got out to yell at them [them]’Get off my lawn,’ the police jump out with tactical equipment and vests,” Erica said.
“And so, at least 15 SWAT trucks and police cars are all over the house: at least 30 officers, full equipment and weapons. The flashes were right outside my room,” she said, as her husband described “a quick succession of at least five flashes.”
But Erica said she was more worried about her children.
Charlotte Sena, 9, was found Monday night hiding in a closet in Craig Ross Jr.’s trailer. New York State Police Craig Ross Jr., 47, is accused of kidnapping the young woman and He is detained without bail. Saratoga County Jail
“The concern was more: what would happen if he ran into our yard and took my children or us hostage?”
Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and Ross was taken into custody “after some resistance” around 6:30 p.m., Gov. Kathy Hochul announced at a news conference Monday night.
He said Charlotte was found “immediately” in a closet.
“She was rescued and she knew she was being rescued,” Hochul said. “She knew she was in good hands.”
The girl’s parents were then notified that she had been rescued and appeared to be “physically unharmed,” but she was still taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
“During the raid, I caught a glimpse of her face and said, ‘That’s her, she’s there,'” Erica said of the discovery that the missing girl was so close to where she lived. “And then I saw them take her to the ambulance.
“I just wanted to hold her and hold her until her mom came to get her and tell her she was safe,” Erica said. “She became like everyone’s daughter. Everyone in the area loves her and wanted her to come home.
“And the police did it too,” he added. “You can see them and hear them exhale. They high-fived each other with smiles. “It was a surprising result.”
Charlotte was found safe inside Ross Jr.’s trailer, which is located on his mother’s property in upstate New York. Daniel William McKnight for NY Post
The Post observed authorities removing boxes from the property on Tuesday.
The community had been on high alert amid the two-day search for Charlotte, who decided to take one last lap alone along Loop A around a picnic field at Moreau Lake State Park on Saturday, but never returned.
The trail is easily accessible from Old Saratoga Road, where a chest-high fence could easily be trampled.
Charlotte’s bicycle was found a short time later, and a 100-person search party comprised of state troopers, special operations, park rangers, park police and civilian volunteers soon converged on the scene.
During search efforts, a neighbor, identified only as Charlene, said she stopped letting her oldest daughter ride her bike or take the bus, and was even afraid to let her two young daughters play outside.
Her daughter Briella, 11, said it also hit her especially hard because she is only two years older than Charlotte.
Charlotte was camping with her family at Moreau Lake State Park when she disappeared Saturday. New York State Police
“I was just thinking about [Charlotte]Briella told Fox News Digital. “During school that was all she thought about. She couldn’t have anything on her mind. She was just praying and hoping that she was okay because she is just a little girl.”
Briella added that if she were in Charlotte’s position, the only thing she could think about is, “Is someone looking for me? Will I ever come home?
A break in the case came Monday morning when Ross reportedly dropped a ransom letter with his fingerprints on it into the Sena family’s mailbox.
Investigators entered the prints into their database and matched them to those of the 47-year-old man, who had previously been arrested in Saratoga in 1999 on a DWI charge, Hochul said.
For several hours before the raid that night, Milton residents said they saw a slow build-up of law enforcement personnel.
Ross’s neighbors, Charlene and Briella, told Fox News Digital how they saw a steady increase in police personnel in their neighborhood Monday night.FOX
Around 6 p.m., Charlene and Briella said they noticed a couple of police cars stopped, which seemed unusual on their street, which leads to a dead end.
Soon, they would also see an ambulance and a helicopter circling overhead, before a convoy of police vehicles, including those from the state police and the FBI, drove through their neighborhood and stopped on the street near their home.
“Then you knew: They found Charlotte,” Charlene said.
She said she didn’t know Ross personally, but was horrified that he lived so close.
“When I found out how close he was to me, it really shocked me,” Charlene said. “The oldest is 11 years old and the youngest is five, and they go through this part all the time.
Authorities continue to investigate what Ross’ motive may have been in the kidnapping plot. Daniel William McKnight for NY Post
“Now, it makes me more suspicious of everyone because you’re going for a bike ride and you’re really close to your family, and you’re gone in a flash.”
“If it’s a predator, it’s a hunting ground for it,” he added. “I could have been walking around this part when my kids were away.”
Police are now investigating whether Ross had been stalking Charlotte, whether he is a pedophile, or whether he is simply a criminal trying to make money from her ransom, Newsweek reports.
They will also speak to his family and friends about his whereabouts and character, while simultaneously comparing his DNA to a database of child abduction cases while he remains behind bars without bail.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn