Police are probing whether the mother of the man accused of kidnapping Charlotte Sena from an upstate New York campground last weekend knew her son was holding the young girl captive — though they do not believe anyone else was involved in the abduction.
New York State Police Lt. Colonel Richard Allen said they have interviewed the mother of suspect Craig N. Ross Jr., 46, who was arrested Monday evening at a trailer behind her property in Ballston Spa.
“The mother was in the house, which is directly in front of the camper which is in the backyard,” Allen, who led the desperate 48-hour search for Sena, told Chris Cuomo on NewsNation Tuesday evening.
“We are working with her and interviewing her and as far as charges on her it’s, it’s too early to say what may or may not happen there. We’re still trying to determine what she did know and didn’t know at the time.”
Charlotte Sena was found “in good health” inside a bedroom closet in Ross’ trailer, police said.
“She was in different clothing [when she was found],” Allen added.
“She was in a sweatshirt, which was not the clothing she had on when she was taken [Saturday evening].”
The veteran investigator also described the intense “level of relief” he felt when SWAT members discovered the young girl alive within minutes to swarming the property.
“It was like such a level of relief, excitement that…she was alive, she was okay, and we were going to reunite her back with her family,” he told Cuomo.
“It was really one of the most amazing investigations I’ve ever seen. You know, we got the fingerprint hit on him at 2:30 in the afternoon. We had her in our custody at 6:30,” he added of the quick turnaround between when police identified Ross through a fingerprint left on a ransom note at the Sena family home and the child’s successful recovery.
“To be honest with you, once we got this ransom note, it was the first real, solid piece of evidence we had in this case,” Allen explained.
“[A ransom note] is rare, very rare…This is the first case I’ve ever worked with an actual abduction like this, where there was a ransom note left to try to get money to get the child back.”
Investigators spoke with Ross – who was previously investigated for allegedly sexually abusing a 12-year-old – following his arrest, but have not talked with the suspect since he requested a lawyer a few hours later, Allen explained.
“We don’t believe there was anyone else involved in the abduction itself that we have any, any evidence towards,” he said, noting that the public can likely “expect more charges to be brought” against Ross.
While police are still probing whether Ross targeted Sena specifically, Allen speculated that the kidnapping was “a crime of opportunity.”
“I think this is a guy that…had a rough life and a lot of issues in his life,” he said of Ross.
“We may never fully know that reason, unless he tells us,” he continued.
“I do believe as time went on, the chances of her being seriously injured or, or possibly killed by this individual would have gone up dramatically. Fortunately, we were able to get her within 48 hours of her going missing. You know, who knows what could happen, the longer he had her.”
Charlotte Sena was initially reported missing on Saturday evening, when she vanished while riding her bike around Loop A at Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County.
Her family has requested privacy since her return.