Police Cheered as Charlotte Sena Was Found and Taken to Safety, Neighbors Say

Authorities erupted into cheers and high fives the moment Charlotte Sena, the 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped from a New York park, was taken safely into custody, said neighbors of the accused kidnapper who witnessed the police raid on his home.

Charlotte was found Monday following a two-day search after she disappeared from Moreau Lake State Park in Gansevoort on Saturday.

Investigators eventually homed in on the residence of Craig Nelson Ross, Jr., 46, in Ballston Spa, after Ross allegedly delivered a ransom note demanding $50,000 for the girl's safe return to Charlotte's parents early Monday morning.

Fingerprints on the note were an alleged match for Ross, prompting several SWAT teams to descend on his trailer, which was located on his mother's property. Charlotte was found hidden in a cupboard inside the camper.

According to the Times Union, some of the police arrived in tactical vehicles and detonated flash grenades as they descended on Ross' home.

A neighbor, who identified herself only as Erica, told the newspaper she immediately recognized Charlotte, as police took her to safety.

"That's her," Erica recalled thinking, as she made the connection between the girl's face and photos of her that appeared in news reports across the country this week.

Erica and another neighbor said they watched police roar with joy as Charlotte was recovered safely, the Times Union reported.

Ross, who has been charged with first-degree kidnapping in connection with Charlotte's abduction, was reportedly taken into custody dressed in his underwear and investigators say he forced the girl to pen her own ransom note.

Neighbors of Ross told the Times Union his arrest shocked them.

“We never expected him to do something like this,” one neighbor told the newspaper. 

Ross is being held at Saratoga County Jail without bail and is due back in court Oct. 17.