A mother says her nine-year-old daughter was kidnapped by a stranger even after teaching her exactly what to say when approached by an unknown adult.
Trisha Sena’s daughter Charlotte was riding her bicycle when she was kidnapped from Moreau State Park in upstate New York last year when a stranger asked her for help getting something from his truck.
“That’s something we’ve talked about with our kids: that adults don’t ask kids for help. They ask other adults,” Sena said Fox News.
Following her mother’s careful instructions, Charlotte told the man – later identified as Craig Ross – that he could do it himself or ask another adult.
But Ross persisted, telling Charlotte his hands were “too big to reach into the back of his truck.”
The kind little girl agreed to help, but Ross jumped up and threw her in the back of his van.
Trisha Sena’s daughter Charlotte was riding her bike when she was kidnapped from a New York park last year when a stranger asked her for help getting something from his truck
Charlotte is depicted after being rescued. Her mother says the family has been through a horrific deal, but they are grateful to have their young daughter home
“And he said, ‘My hands are too big. I can’t reach them in the back of my truck.'” Sena explained:
‘So she decided to help him. And that’s when he shoved her in the back of his truck and drove past our campsite with Charlotte in the back… and she was gone for 47 hours.”
Sena had also taught her children to always go out in pairs, but Charlotte was separated from the other children before she was kidnapped.
‘Long story short, the role is that there are two of you going. You are not allowed to go alone. They were cycling and wanted to come back,” Sena explained.
“And Charlotte said, ‘I’ll go again.’
‘She didn’t tell anyone. Everyone stopped and she kept pedaling. And unfortunately, there was someone waiting there on the other side of the loop.”
Sena soon realized that Charlotte was missing and called the police.
It was an agonizing 34 hours after the girl was kidnapped that police got a break in the case when a car approached the family’s home, a short drive from the campsite, and the driver stepped outside in the dark to take a car. to place a ransom note. in the mailbox.
Law enforcement officers guarded the little girl’s home and watched the scene unfold.
Craig Ross Jr. was sentenced to 47 years to life in prison on charges of kidnapping and assault
Law enforcement is seen during the search for Charlotte in October 2023
The officers ran to the mailbox, and investigators quickly isolated fingerprints, linking the print to the suspect and his white camper, parked next to a double-wide trailer two miles away.
Police then descended on the RV, arrested 46-year-old Craig Ross Jr. and found the girl in a closet.
Sena said the fallow year was the hardest of her life, but the family is working to move forward.
‘As a family we have made a lot of progress. Charlotte has made a lot of progress,” she told Fox News.
After the terrifying experience, Sena has become an advocate for updating the Amber Alert laws and the Child Survivor Privacy Act.
Sena and her sister Jené also call for stricter sentences for child abusers.
“I mean, these people who commit crimes against children get out in six months or they get off with time served.…
“And it doesn’t protect our children by putting them back on the streets,” Jené said.
Ross was sentenced to 47 years to life in prison on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault.