New York State Police are searching for a 9-year-old girl they say was abducted Saturday night while she was camping with her family at Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County, New York, NBC News reported.
Charlotte Sena was last seen at the park, which is approximately 50 miles north of Albany, around 6:15 p.m. on Saturday. Police say she was wearing an orange tie-dye Pokémon shirt, dark blue pants, black Crocs, and a gray bike helmet. Charlotte has blond hair, weighs 90 pounds, and stands 4-feet, 6-inches tall.
State police issued an Amber Alert after around 9:30 a.m. on Sunday for a “child abduction” they say occurred around 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
“The child was taken under circumstances that lead police to believe that they are in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death,” the Amber Alert reads.
Lt. Col. Richard Mazzone told reporters Sunday that police conducted an “exhaustive search” of the park and determined it was “quite possible” that Charlotte was abducted, according to the report.
“We just want her returned safely like any parent would. No tip is too small, please call if you know anything at all,” the Sena family said in a statement to NBC News.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) told reporters at a news conference that Charlotte had been biking around Loop A of the park with family and friends and had said she wanted to bike one more loop on her own. She and her family were camping “only 15 minutes from where she and her sisters were raised,” the report states.
Hochul said that when Charlotte had not returned 15 minutes later, her parents, along with nearby campers, began searching for her and calling her name. Mazzone said they found Charlotte’s bike on the loop at 6:45 p.m., and two minutes later, her mother called 911 to report her daughter missing. Police arrived at the scene by 7 p.m., Hochul said.
“Since then, over 100 personnel and 75 law enforcement officials have been deployed in the search, which also includes dogs, two drones, two boats and six underwater rescue teams, said Hochul, who added that a command post had been established at the state park,” according to the report.
Hochul said technology experts were also brought in “to analyze other forms of communications in the park at that time.”
The governor said she met with Charlotte’s parents on Sunday, who shared “how joyful their little girl is, a fourth grader just recently elected to be a class officer for student council.”
“Hearts are broken here today in New York,” Hochul said. “Hopefully there will be a reunion. Hopefully, there will be a family that has been traumatized but reunited.”
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