Governor Hochul: “This is a very good day. It's been a long two days, but tonight our prayers have been answered. We are overcome with relief and gratitude for this gift to all of us. And it is the people standing here with me, they remind me why I'm so proud to be the governor of the state, incredible men and women who were relentless in their pursuit of finding this little girl.”
Hochul: “[I]t's a traumatic event for the family, and certainly Charlotte. And we'll continue to keep this family in our prayers as they heal. But she'll be going home. That's the story. Charlotte will be going home.”
Earlier this evening, Governor Kathy Hochul provided an update on the rescue of Charlotte Sena at the New York State Police Troop G Headquarters in Latham.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Good evening. This is a very good day. It's been a long two days, but tonight our prayers have been answered. We are overcome with relief and gratitude for this gift to all of us. And it is the people standing here with me, they remind me why I'm so proud to be the governor of the state, incredible men and women who were relentless in their pursuit of finding this little girl.
Yesterday, I held Charlotte's parents in my arms, David and Trisha. I went to the campsite. I saw the place that she had just been a joyful little girl the day before, riding her bike. I was on the road she rode her bike on, saw where she left it. And her parents were just so overcome with sadness and grief.
And as a parent, I thought my own heart was breaking. I said to them, “I promise you this. We will bring Charlotte home to you.” And as each hour went on, hope faded, because we all know the stories: the first 24 hours there's hope, but when you hit 48 hours, hope starts to wane. But when Charlotte disappeared in Moreau State Park, it was every parent's worst nightmare.
But I knew I would be able to have assembled the team of individuals who would not stop. And I want to thank at this moment the individuals gathered here tonight and all the men and women across this state that they represent and the FBI who brought in their specialized, trained individuals all the way from Washington to help with this search. And I want to thank Deputy Superintendent Richard Allen, Lieutenant Colonel James Barnes, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Mazzone, Major Dennis Schager for their work, the New York State Park Police, Colonel Michael Daddona, the Office of Parks and Historic Preservation Chief of Staff Randy Simons, Saratoga County Sheriff's Department, Lieutenant Jeffrey O'Connor, the Schenectady County Sheriff's Office, represented by the Schenectady Police Department, Police Department of Schenectady, Detective, Sergeant Bradley Carlton, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Acting Agent in Charge, Alfred Watson, who I met yesterday on site, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Services Acting Commissioner Daniel Martuscello, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers, Basil Seggos.
As I mentioned, when you hit that 48-hour moment, you realize it's going to be tough, and you start thinking the worst. But what happened was extraordinary. The case started to break at 4:20 a.m. this morning when the family's home that was being guarded by State Police when the parents were still, starting another day at the campsite where they had last seen their daughter.
4:20 a.m., the car pulls up to a mailbox. Something is left. State police immediately go to the mailbox and identify what is a ransom note that had been left behind for Charlotte. State Police worked diligently trying to find a match for a fingerprint. The first one they tried wasn't successful. Second one was to identify any other prints in the New York State database that would be a match.
The hit came at 2:30 in the afternoon. There had been a DWI in 1999 in the city of Saratoga. A fingerprint was found that matched what was found on the ransom note. So, a little more research, work to identify the location and identifying the fact that there was a home they could visit. They found a double wide house with a woman, the suspect's mother. The suspect lived in the camper behind. They have 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, cupboard. She was rescued. And she knew she was being rescued. She knew that she was in safe hands. Her parents were immediately notified. This occurred at 6:32 this evening. The suspect, 47 year old male named Craig Nelson Ross Jr., is still being questioned. At this moment, charges have not been brought, but they are fully expected.
The daughter was transported to a local hospital, as is customary. And that's all the family wishes to reveal at this time. But they are united. She is in good hands. She appeared to be outwardly physically unharmed at the time. But we'll leave the rest information about little Charlotte to her family at a time they deem appropriate.
Often these stories don't end up like this. Every second is key. There's a lot of pressure. Split decisions are made, because you know, not just the life is hanging in the balance, but a little innocent child's life is hanging in the balance. So, to the teams behind me, you work quickly. You work with great urgency. You put it together, the puzzle pieces. You're able to track down the location of Charlotte through technology. But ultimately, it was the two SWAT teams, one federal and one state, that landed in helicopters in Ballston Spa to rescue Charlotte.
It's still pretty overwhelming because all of us feared the worst. But I promise you, Trisha and David, they will be reunited with little Charlotte once again, and she'll see her two sisters, one 10, one four years old. And, obviously, it's a traumatic event for the family, and certainly Charlotte. And we'll continue to keep this family in our prayers as they heal.
But she'll be going home. That's the story. Charlotte will be going home. That's all I have to say on the details. Certainly, there will be many more coming out with respect to the suspect and how that case will proceed. I want to thank the media for their intense interest and the 400 volunteers who would not give up – 400 individuals from law enforcement, fire departments, city, county, state, and federal.
It was an awesome sight to witness up at the State Park yesterday. Everyone doing their job, but also, there are a lot of parents out there among the ranks and everybody thinks, “If it was my child, I would want everybody under the sun looking for them.” And that's what this team did. So thank you. Thank you everyone. Thank you. You brought Charlotte home.