Cops defend trooper who did not chase Charlotte Sena suspect

New York authorities defended the state trooper who failed to immediately follow the man who was later arrested as a suspect in the kidnapping of Charlotte Sena when he dropped a ransom note off – saying that the girl’s frantic family was receiving a steady stream of well-wishers.

New York State Police spokesperson Deanna Cohen insisted to The New York Times that it did not seem unusual that Craig N. Ross Jr., 46, would drop off the note around 4:20 a.m. Monday at the Sena family’s home in Corinth because visitors had come “throughout the night.”

“Like many other instances where families are experiencing something traumatic, we anticipated there would be a flow of constant traffic in front of the house throughout the night to show support for the family,” NYSP public information officer Stephanie O’Neil added to Fox News Digital.

While Sena’s parents remained at the state campground where their daughter disappeared, “vehicles had been intermittently passing the home [before the note was dropped],” she explained.

Still, the trooper was alert enough to note that Ross’ visit “looked suspicious,” Cohen told the Times.

“And that is when he checked the mailbox and found the note,” she recounted.

While authorities waited on the result of fingerprint analysis on the note, police also scoured the surrounding area for matching vehicles, O’Neil explained.

“Upon finding the letter, they immediately communicated the vehicle’s description to the non-commissioned officer in charge, and a ‘be on the lookout’ (BOLO) was issued to all surrounding patrols,” she noted.

At the same time, local cell towers were pinged for possible evidence and the search area was expanded, the Times reported.

Finally, at around 2:30 p.m., the fingerprint results yielded a match to Ross, who was on the books thanks to a 1999 arrest for driving while intoxicated, the outlet said.

Police subsequently learned that Ross lived on his mother’s property in Ballston Spa, just a few miles from the Senas, and was “in the area of the Moreau Lake State Park” at the time of the abduction, per the Times.

A news release identifying Ross – who reportedly suffers from MS and was struggling to make ends meet – was put out around 4, while tactical teams from the state and federal level organized for the rescue operation.

The authorities – including an FBI SWAT team and two helicopter crews – descended on Ross’ trailer around 6:30, and within minutes Sena was rescued and the suspect was being questioned.

While some onlookers argued that police should have acted more quickly in order to find the girl earlier, experts backed up the NYSP’s claims that the operation was executed as fast and as thoroughly as possible.

“Initially when you look at it, it sounds bad: Like, why didn’t they just chase them down [Monday morning]? But I think it was a good move by the trooper to wait,” former NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor of law and criminal science Joseph L. Giacalone told the Times.

Despite the probable urge to unmask Ross immediately, Giacalone said, there were likely pressing considerations about preserving evidence and the possibility of dangerous accomplices to consider, as well.

“Even when the police do everything right they are wrong,” he lamented to Fox News Digital.

“Policing must be very easy since everyone on the internet can do it.”

On top of the running list of procedures, the trooper was likely not guarding the Sena home statically from the front door, Giacalone noted.

“If you stop every individual that shows up, and the suspect does show up and sees the cops there, you spook him,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”

Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector, agreed with Giacalone’s analysis.

“Nobody had probably conceived the idea of a ransom note drop off,” he told Fox.

“They got the guy fast, it appears to be the right guy, and the girl was alive. On an abduction, you can’t do much better than that.”

As of Thursday, Ross – who was investigated for sexually abusing a 12-year-old acquaintance in a case that was dropped last month by state police – is in custody without bail in Saratoga County.

He is facing one charge of first-degree kidnapping, and will likely be brought up on more counts as the investigation unfolds, police said.