A Missing Girl, Ransom Note and Daring Rescue: A Guide to the Kidnapping Case Everyone Was Watching
It began with an innocent adventure at a bucolic state park near the Adirondack Mountains of New York state.
It ended with the chaotic explosions of flash-bang grenades.
In between, a nation held its breath as an Amber Alert flashed for a 9-year-old girl who went missing Saturday evening while her family was at rugged Moreau Lake State Park, about 45 miles north of Albany.
Gone Missing
At about 6:15 p.m. Saturday, after riding her bike with friends, the girl wanted to do a “‘big girl’ bike ride” around a loop at the park alone, Gov. Kathy Hochul said, according to Newsweek.
She never came back.
At about 6:45 p.m., her bike was found, but she was gone. On Sunday, after a search that began in the early fall twilight the night before proved fruitless, an Amber Alert was issued.
“The child was taken under circumstances that led police to believe that they are in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death,” the Amber Alert said.
“Following our exhaustive search of the park we took that step of issuing the Amber Alert because we felt that that exhaustive search, when we couldn’t find her here, it was quite possible that an abduction had taken place,” Lt. Colonel Richard Mazzone of the Uniform Force of the State Police said, according to KEYE-TV.
The Search and Investigation
By mid-afternoon Monday, the search for her covered 46 linear miles and had swelled to over 400 people as the park was closed, CNN reported.
But as searchers combed the rugged landscape, police were moving to bring the drama to a conclusion.
At 4:20 a.m., a vehicle pulled up to the missing girl’s family home. Police guarding the home saw it stop by the mailbox and leave.
They found a ransom note.
The note allegedly asked for $50,000 and appeared to have been written by the abducted girl, according to a source cited by the Albany Times-Union.
But what mattered to investigators was that they also found a fingerprint.
Police matched the fingerprint to Craig Ross Jr., 46, who had a 1999 DUI on his record, according to the Associated Press.
After recovering the fingerprints and making an identification, police reviewed cell phone activity in the park at the time of the girl’s abduction, Gov. Hochul said, CNN reported.
The Rescue
About four hours after identifying Ross as a suspect, having massed state and federal officers, police struck at a property owned by Ross’s mother, specifically targeting a camper near her double-wide mobile home.
“At first, I saw two cars pull up on my grass, and as I’m coming out to yell [to] get off the grass, police jump out with tactical gear and vests,” a witness Fox News identified as “Erica” said.
“And just like that, at least 15 SWAT trucks and police cars are all over the house, at least 30 officers, full gear, guns. The flash-bangs were right outside my bedroom. The concern was more, what if he runs into our yard and takes my kids or us as hostages?” she continued.
“SWAT trucks and cop cars were here in seconds, guns out. There was a rapid succession of at least five flash-bangs,” recounted her husband, identified as “Michael” by Fox.
Police forced their way inside.
“They had what they call a ‘dynamic entry,’ a tactical maneuver, and within the camper they located the suspect. After some resistance, the suspect was taken into custody, and immediately the little girl was found in a cabinet, covered. She was rescued,” Hochul said.
“And she knew she was being rescued. And she knew that she was in safe hands,” the governor said, adding that the girl was not injured.
“During the raid, I caught a glimpse of her face, and I said, ‘That’s her. She’s in there.’ And then I saw her getting wheeled into the ambulance. I just wanted to hug her and hold her until her mom came to get her and tell her she’s safe,” Erica said.
“She became like everyone’s child. Everyone in the area loves her and wanted her to come home. And the police did, too. You can see and hear them exhale. They were high-fiving with smiles. It was an amazing outcome,” she said.
The girl was taken to a hospital where she was reunited with her parents.
Aftermath
Ross had been on the radar of law enforcement before. On Tuesday, officials said a recent State Police investigation examined allegations that Ross sexually abused a female family acquaintance who was 12 at the time, according to the Albany Times-Union.
No charges were filed in that previous case.
Ross has been charged with first-degree kidnapping in connection with the abduction.
It was unclear if the girl was targeted. CNN noted that Ross owns property “that is only 1,400 feet from the [girl’s] family home.”
According to the U.K. Daily Mail, Ross, who is 6’4” and 275 lbs., suffers from multiple sclerosis and due to mobility problems had recently moved from a property he owns in nearby Porters Corner into the camper trailer where the missing girl was found.
New York State Police Lt. Col. Richard Allen indicated an investigation will continue, according to NewsNation.
“The mother was in the house, which is directly in front of the camper, which is in the backyard,” Allen said. “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.”
His summary of Ross was that the accused kidnapper “is a guy that had a rough life and a lot of issues in his life. I think we’re going to find this was probably a crime of opportunity.”
He said the motive remains elusive.
“We may never fully know that reason, unless he tells us,” he said.
“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,” Allen said.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
