Police defend officer who failed to trail kidnapper after he left ransom note

05 October 2023 , 22:00

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Charlotte Sena was found apparently unharmed (Image: NY State Police)

Police have lept to the defence of one of their own who has been accused of failing to follow a man who dropped off a ransom note for kidnapped nine-year-old Charlotte Sena.

The girl had been abducted from a nearby camping ground in New York. Craig Ross Jr, 46, was arrested at his trailer home after police identified a fingerprint left on the note.

At 4.20am Monday, a vehicle pulled up to the family’s home in upstate New York, a short drive away from the campground, and the driver exited in the darkness to place a ransom note asking for $50,000 in the mailbox. Law enforcement had been guarding the little girl’s home and watched the scene unfold.

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Craig Ross Jr (L), 46, was arrested for the kidnapping of nine-year-old Charlotte Sena

The officers rushed to the mailbox, investigators quickly found fingerprints, and within hours were running them through a New York state database. The first try turned up nothing. Then came a second, connecting the print to the suspect and his white camper parked next to a doublewide trailer two miles away.

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But some criticised the police for not following the car immediately after the ransom note was dropped off at this strange hour. New York State Police spokesperson Deanna Cohen insisted to the New York Times the strange hour did not alert officers immediately because visitors had come “throughout the night.”

Forensic teams at the scene (AP)

Police did notice that Ross' visit "looked suspicious." She added: “And that is when he checked the mailbox and found the note."

NYSP public information officer Stephanie O’Neil told Fox News Digital: “Like many other instances where families are experiencing something traumatic, we anticipated there would be a flow of constant traffic in front of the house throughout the night to show support for the family."

Governor Kathy Hochul was out the scene (GovKathyHochul/Twitter)

Some 20 officers from a state police special operations unit and FBI SWAT team descended on Ross' camper, arresting the suspect and finding the girl in a cabinet. Ross was arrested while wearing nothing but his underwear. Then the girl emerged from the camper wrapped in a towel, escorted by police, one neighbour said. The raid came right about at the 48-hour mark of Charlotte’s disappearance, a critical time in the search for any missing child.

“As each hour went on, hope faded because we all know the stories,” Governor Kathy Hochul said after the rescue. “The first 24 hours, there’s hope. But when you hit 48 hours, hope starts to wane. When Charlotte disappeared in Moreau State Park, it was every parent’s worst nightmare.”

The clothes Charlotte was wearing when she went missing (New York State Police)

Ross resisted capture and suffered minor injuries, police said. Charlotte appeared physically unharmed.

“She knew she was being rescued. She knew that she was in safe hands,” Governor Hochul said. The family was immediately notified and reunited at the hospital where Charlotte was taken.

“We are thrilled that she is home and we understand that the outcome is not what every family gets,” the girl’s family said in a statement Tuesday, WRGB in Albany reported.

Charlie Jones