After an intense 48-hour search, a missing 9-year-old girl who disappeared over the weekend while on a camping trip with her family in upstate New York was found safe Monday evening, and a suspect was in custody, according to New York State Police.
The girl, Charlotte Sena, went missing during an early evening bike ride on Saturday in Moreau Lake State Park, about 45 miles north of Albany. Soon after her disappearance, Charlotte’s bike was found, leading authorities to believe that she had been abducted, a scenario that the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul, called “every parent’s nightmare.”
On Monday night, in an interview on Spectrum News, Gov. Hochul said that the suspect was arrested after authorities broadened their search beyond the park, and after the family received a ransom note and were able to draw fingerprints off that note.
Charlotte was in good health, according to state police. No details on the suspect were released, and the state police said that it was still actively investigating the case. The Times-Union of Albany reported that the suspect was a 51-year old with a criminal record related to sexual abuse.
State police said that troopers had identified the suspect as “being in the area of the Moreau Lake State Park around the time Charlotte went missing,” leading to raids on several residences in the region. And at just past 6:30 p.m. on Monday, troopers found Charlotte at one of those homes, reportedly in Milton, N.Y., about 15 miles south of the park.
The governor praised the efforts of state police as well as “all who worked so tirelessly to find Charlotte.” Some 400 law enforcement officers and other personnel had joined the search, including park rangers and private companies, as well as the F.B.I.
“It just feels like a miracle that little Charlotte is safely reunited with her parents,” Ms. Hochul said.
Charlotte’s disappearance had riveted and terrified parents nationwide, even as experts have cautioned that kidnappings by strangers are rare. The circumstances had echoes of the 1996 kidnapping and murder of Amber Hagerman, another nine-year-old girl who was snatched by a man while riding her bike in the Dallas area.
Amber’s death was the inspiration for Amber Alerts, which broadcast information on a variety of mediums about children that are deemed to be in imminent danger. In Charlotte’s case, such an alert was issued Sunday morning, even as New York authorities were scouring the park, using bloodhounds, aerial units, and boats, which used sonar to search the park’s small lake.
Prior to her discovery, Charlotte’s family had pleaded with the public to share her photo widely in hopes of finding their niece, even as reporters and rescuers descended on the park, a popular area, with dense forest and undergrowth, and a small lake.
“Any information would help,” said Jené Luciani-Sena, Charlotte’s aunt, in a video posted to TikTok on Sunday night.
Authorities also seemed eager for assistance, putting out a lengthy release just hours before Charlotte was found, asking for tips. “No detail is too small when searching for a missing child,” it read.
The details of Charlotte’s disappearance were harrowing: she was last seen riding bikes with friends on a small loop road inside the park — ringed by campsites — at a little after 6 p.m. on Saturday. Charlotte decided to go around the loop one more time by herself, and did not return.
Her parents went to look for Charlotte, a search soon joined by other campers and a crush of law enforcement personnel. They combed the woods for signs but came up short. On Monday, that search continued at the park — which was closed — with bloodhounds darting into the woods, trying to catch a scent.
Others had come to offer whatever help they could, including Patrick Kane, who said he had hoped to help the search, but wasn’t trained and was thus turned away. He said he had texted with Charlotte’s father, David, who he is friendly with, and said the family had remained “optimistic” that his daughter would be returned safe.
“These are wonderful, wonderful people,” Mr. Kane said. “We never want this to happen to anybody. But you are just shocked when it happens to someone like this.”
Gov. Hochul said that she had received calls from all over the nation, worried about Charlotte, a fourth grader whose parents had described her as a “a happy-go-lucky little girl.”
“I look forward to seeing her in person,” the governor said. “And giving her a big hug as well.”
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS