Updated 00:18 | Published 2023-10-02 23:49
Charlotte, 9, took a bike ride at the campsite and disappeared.
The police now fear that the girl is “in immediate danger to her life”.
– I just want my daughter back, pleads mother Trisha after the suspected kidnapping in New York.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the disappearance “every parent’s worst nightmare” at a press conference during the search.
It was just after 6pm last Saturday night that Charlotte Sena joined some friends on a bike ride during the camping weekend at Moreau Lake State Park in New York state.
Only the bike left
The kids would only be gone for 15 minutes.
When the others returned to the cabin area, the nine-year-old wanted to do one last jump with the bike on the obstacle course on his own.
She never came back.
Left by the obstacle course, the girl’s bicycle was thrown away.
The police were called and for 16 hours they thoroughly combed the entire campsite and the surrounding national park.
About a hundred people participate in the search, and helicopters, drones, boats, divers and dogs are used.
Charlotte, 9, wanted to do one last jump on her bike in the park. But she never came back to the others. Photo: New York State Police “Probably Kidnapped”
After finding no trace of the girl, the police on Sunday morning issued a so-called Amber Alert, a type of search alert that is alerted to the public and the media when a child is suspected of being abducted.
– After our extensive search of the scene, we decided to issue an Amber Alert because it seems likely that she has been kidnapped, says Richard Mazzone of the New York State Police according to the New York Post.
It is suspected that the nine-year-old is “in immediate danger for his life” according to the search warrant.
Pleading for the daughter
The girl’s mother Trisha Sena is now appealing to the girl’s suspected kidnapper.
– I just want my daughter back, she says to the Albany Times Union.
Charlotte’s aunt Jenè Sena tells the television channel WCBS that “no tips about where she might be are too insignificant”.
– She is a blonde, wonderful little nine-year-old girl with braids. She has green eyes, just under 150 centimeters and is just a kind, lovely girl, she says.
The park, located a few miles north of the state capital, Albany, is larger than 18 square kilometers with the campground located near a lake on the property.
Every parent’s nightmare
Police spokeswoman Stephanie O’Neill says Charlotte knows the park from before because the family used to camp there.
– She is an intelligent, adventurous nine-year-old – but she has never disappeared on her own before, she says.
The family lives in the small town of Greenfield in New York. One of the girl’s relatives is a firefighter and helps during the search.
Other campers in the park have been urged to avoid police action and leave the search to the authorities.
– The family was here to create memories, ones that you could keep for a lifetime. Instead, it turned into every parent’s nightmare, says Governor Hochul.