MOREAU, NEW YORK: A GoFundMe organized for 9-year-old Charlotte Sena has raised more than $17k after she was found safe inside a cabinet of her abductor Craig Ross Jr’s camp van.
Charlotte, a fourth grader at Corinth Central Elementary School, was rescued on Monday, October 2, 2023, nearly two days after she mysteriously vanished while camping with her family in New York's Moreau Lake State Park.
She was last seen on Loop A at around 6.15 pm on Saturday, wearing an orange tie-dye Pokemon t-shirt, dark blue pants, black Crocs, and a gray bike helmet.
On Sunday, Charlotte’s aunt, Jene Luciani organized the fundraiser, which has raised $17,164 out of the $5,000 goal. People are donating for Charlotte’s family despite her safe rescue, claiming that they need to spend time together.
“God Bless Charlotte and her family. Let’s continue to raise funds so they can spend time together without worrying about working,” one donator said.
“I want Mom and Dad to get to spend time with this baby and not worry about work for a little while. God is so good. Miracles DO happen,” a second one wrote.
I want the family to be able to stay home and be able to spend quality time to take care of Charlotte,” one more asserted.
Events that led to Charlotte Sena's safe return
Charlotte reportedly disappeared on Saturday after she split off from her friends to cycle a lap of Trail Loop A by herself.
After extensively searching the park, authorities issued an amber alert for the little girl at around 9:30 am on Sunday, stating that “she was taken under circumstances that led police to believe that (she is) in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death.”
Authorities led a two-day-long search before finally finding little Charlotte covered up and hidden in a cabinet inside Ross Jr’s van on Monday afternoon.
The 47-year-old Ross lived inside a trailer on his mother's property on Barrett Road in Milton, New York. He was identified by authorities after he pulled up to Sena's parent's house on Monday at 4:20 a.m. and placed a ransom note in their mailbox that was stamped with his DNA and fingerprint.
In a press conference, New York Governor Kathy Hochul revealed that at around 2:30 p.m., investigators finally found a fingerprint match in the database and linked it to a DWI arrest made in Saratoga County in 1999.
From there, they discovered Ross Jr's whereabouts and organized a rescue effort for Charlotte. Later that day, Two SWAT teams - one state and one federal - swooped on the property in helicopters, with Ross said to have put up a struggle.
Where is Charlotte Sena now?
Ross was immediately arrested at the scene and is currently under investigation. After the rescue, Charlotte was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital, where she is said to be in good health.
She has not returned to her family. Authorities announced the news of Charlotte’s rescue at around 7:00 pm, stating “Charlotte has been found safe and in good health.”
The rescue effort was the result of a two-day-long frantic search that included 400 search personnel and dozens of federal, state, and local bodies on the ground.
In the conference, Hochul expressed her joy over Charlotte’s rescue, stating that “we are overjoyed at the news that Charlotte Sena has been located safely this evening after an intense days-long search.”
