Craig Ross Jr arrested in raid on camper in upstate New York Monday evening
Craig Ross Jr., a 46-year-old New Yorker accused of abducting a 9-year-old girl from a bicycle trail near Lake George in a state park, faced an arraignment on first-degree kidnapping charges at approximately 3 a.m. on Tuesday, as indicated by jail records.
Governor Kathy Hochul, in a late-night press conference, revealed that authorities were able to identify the suspect. This identification was made after he allegedly left his fingerprints on a ransom note, which state police witnessed him placing in Charlotte Sena’s mailbox at around 4:20 a.m. on Monday.
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According to jail records, he was officially processed and booked into Saratoga County Jail in Ballston Spa, New York, at approximately 3:40 a.m. Unfortunately, a mugshot of the accused is not currently available.
Craig Ross was arraigned in an emergency hearing before Justice Tim Brown at Milton Town Court in the early morning hours on a kidnapping charge, as reported by Albany-based WNYT-TV.
He was held without bail, facing a single charge of first-degree kidnapping, as confirmed by the New York State Police on Tuesday morning.
On Monday evening, both state and federal tactical teams executed a raid on a camper located behind his mother’s double-wide trailer in Milton, just outside Saratoga Springs.
“Within the camper, they located the suspect,” stated Governor Hochul during a Friday evening news briefing in Latham. “After encountering some resistance, law enforcement successfully took the suspect into custody, and the little girl was immediately found in a cabinet, covered. She was rescued.”
Charlotte Sena was subsequently transported to a local hospital, where she was joyfully reunited with her family, according to Hochul.
At the time of Governor Hochul’s statement, Craig Ross was still undergoing questioning, which was ongoing around 11 p.m. on Monday. Court documents were not yet available as it was before business hours on Tuesday.
A 1999 drunken driving charge played a crucial role in identifying Ross, as his fingerprints were already in a law enforcement database due to that incident, as explained by Governor Hochul. These prints were allegedly discovered on the ransom note after state police, who were stationed near the family’s residence, witnessed him placing an item in the mailbox.
Local reports also uncovered a misdemeanor charge of “obstruction of breathing” in April 2017, according to the Saratogian newspaper.
“We are just elated she came home,” expressed Jene Sena, Charlotte Sena’s aunt, when speaking to Fox News Digital on Monday evening following Ross’s arrest.