It is clear that accused kidnapper Craig Ross Jr. planned in advance to snatch 9-year-old Charlotte Sena from the park she was visiting with her family over the weekend, a family friend claims.
“It’s obvious that this person had some premeditated aspirations,” Patrick Cane told Fox and Friends Tuesday morning, following Ross’ arraignment on kidnapping charges.
“I think he may have been aware of them,” he suggested of Ross’ knowledge of the Sena family.
Ross lived just two miles away from Charlotte’s family home, according to an address listed on his vehicle registration, Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference Monday night.
But it remains unclear whether Ross targeted Charlotte specifically or if he went after her at random when she was alone for a few minutes while riding her bike through Moreau Lake State Park, where she had been camping with her family on Saturday.
Police will now spend the day questioning Ross to see if he had been stalking Charlotte, if he is a pedophile or if he is simply a criminal who was trying to make money off of her ransom, Newsweek reports.
They will also speak with his family and friends about his whereabouts and his character, while simultaneously comparing his DNA against a database of child abduction cases as he remains behind bars without bail.
Cops have confirmed that Ross is not a registered sex offender, but a report in the Saratogian claims a man by the same name and age was arrested and charged with criminal obstruction of breathing in 2017.
Ross was apprehended late Monday night, after law enforcement personnel were able to match a fingerprint left on a ransom note to one he submitted when he was arrested in Saratoga in 1999 on a DWI charge.
Two law enforcement teams in helicopters then descended upon a Ballston Spa address where the suspect kept his camper behind his mom’s house and arrested him “after some resistance” at about 6:30 p.m. Hochul said.
“Immediately the little girl was found in a cabinet cupboard,” the governor said. “She was rescued and she knew she was being rescued. She knew that she was in safe hands.”
The girl’s parents were notified that she was rescued and appeared to be “physically unharmed,” but was still brought to a local hospital as a precaution.
Speaking on Fox and Friends Tuesday morning, Cane said the young girl is doing “very, very well.
“If you met her parents, you’re gonna say she’ll be just fine,” he claimed. “Her parents are why she is the way she is.
“Her father, who I know quite well, is eternally optimistic — he’s a fun guy,” Cane noted.
“There’s going to be some healing of course, but it’s a wonderful story for a wonderful family.”