MILTON, NEW YORK: Nine-year-old Charlotte Sena’s suspected kidnapper Craig Ross allegedly knew about the girl’s family fortune, claimed his former girlfriend, Amanda Preece.
Preece claimed to Daily Mail that the 46-year-old Ross targeted Charlotte after he came to know that her grandfather Patrick Sena had a fortune that was worth more than $2 million in 1998.
Per the news outlet, Patrick successfully sued the town of Greenfield for $2.2 million for a sledding accident that happened in 1989.
Patrick, who was sledding with Charlotte's father David, then seven, when he met with an accident and suffered a broken pelvis and a spine fracture.
He later sued the town successfully and received $2.2 million in damages.
Per Daily Mail, in the case that concluded in 1998, almost a decade after the accident, he received $810,000 for past pain and suffering, $1,000,000 for future pain and suffering, $180,000 for past derivative losses and $250,000 for future derivative losses.
The abduction and rescue of Charlotte Sena
The nine-year-old Charlotte Sena went missing on Saturday, September 30, when she was riding her bike with her friends on a loop road inside Moreau Lake State Park, 45 miles north of Albany, per The New York Times.
Search began for the fourth-grader when she didn’t come back and her parents called 911.
Extensive searches began after investigators issued an Amber Alert on Sunday, October 1. State police were guarding Sena’s home as Charlotte’s family camped at the park.
In the wee hours of Monday, October 2, at around 4.20 am, a black car approached the house and left a ransom note at their letter box.
The trooper immediately rushed to the note and were able to get a fingerprint from the letter which matched with Craig Ross' prints in police records. Ross had been arrested in 1999 on DWI charges.
On Monday night, after an extensive operation, Charlotte was rescued from Ross’ camper parked behind his mother’s home, and was charged with first-degree kidnapping.
Ross is scheduled to appear in Milton Town Court on November 21.
Amanda Preece said Craig Ross ‘never wanted to work’
Ross’s former girlfriend Amanda Preece claimed to the outlet, “Charlotte's grandfather sued the Town of Greenfield years ago, and people around Saratoga are aware of this.”
She further added, “I think that's why he held her ransom, he was hoping to get some of the money because he's struggling financially,” before explaining, “That kind of money would set him up for around four or five years.”
“He's never wanted to work. He's always wanted to find people to mooch off of whether it be girlfriends or making his mother feel bad because his MS is so bad,” claimed Preece.
Preece claimed that she was also a victim of Ross and she obtained a restraining order against him in 2017 after he “grabbed her by the throat with both hands” and threw her using force, per Daily Mail.
Fox reported that he was arrested by New York State Police on April 21, 2017 for a misdemeanor charge of criminal obstruction of breathing.
Preece also claimed that Ross was “evil” and his own children felt he was a “monster.”
It has also been reported that Ross moved his RV trailer behind his mother’s home in Ballston Spa because of his dire financial condition. However, Preece contested the claim saying it could have been a ruse to get a place for hiding the girl.
She said, “He had been following her family, he knew where they lived,” before adding, “he watched her until she went around one last time and scooped her up. I feel he definitely had this pre-planned.”
Ross’ ex further stated, “He put up tarp over the windows a few months prior, so I feel like he had been planning it for a while.”
She continued, “He has the patience for messed up things like that.”
She explained, “The man didn't work, so in all that time he's sitting there, drinking, he's thinking about his next moves. His mother could have seen through the window from her patio – so that's why he put up the tarp.”
She commented on his probable modus operandi and said, “You don't just take a child out of nowhere. He waited until she did one final loop on her own [without her friends], so I think he was watching her for a while.”
Preece also said that Ross might have met Charlotte before during softball practice as his daughter and Charlotte play in the same field. He also used to take his own children for camping in the Moreau Lake State Park
Preece continued, “To go to the campsite where they were at, to know where they lived, and to go to the park when they are there. He definitely had this planned,” before adding, “He's the type of person where he pre plans and it can be months ahead to do something.”
“I think other peoples should know that he potentially met Charlotte while she was playing at the same field as his daughter, you never know who he might have come in contact with,” said Preece.
'Hope he dies in prison,' says suspect Craig Ross' son
Per Fox, a man claiming to be Ross's son said to the outlet when asked about the suspected kidnapper, "Yeah, he’s my father, but why do I have to deal with this s--t?" before adding, "Everyone is asking me all this. I don’t know anything. I hate him and hope he dies in prison."
