Neighbors react after Craig Ross, Jr. charged with kidnapping 9-year-old from upstate N.Y. park

BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. -- Neighbors are speaking out after Craig Ross, Jr. was charged with kidnapping a 9-year-old girl from Moreau Lake State Park. 

A fingerprint on a ransom note led to his arrest. 

Police are working to see if Ross, 46, is linked to any other alleged crimes. 

"I've been praying for 48 hours, since I got the first Amber Alert," said Carol Brown of Ballston Spa. Brown lives just down the road from the location where police found Charlotte Sena, hidden in a trailer behind the suspect's mother's home. 

Brown knew something was up Monday night as her quiet neighborhood exploded with activity. 

"The entire road lit up with police officers, helicopter overhead. Just like out of a movie," Brown said. 

This drama had a happy ending. Charlotte was shaken but in good physical condition. 

• Web Extra: Read the complaint (.pdf) 

Ross was grabbed by members of a local SWAT team. He's charged with kidnapping Charlotte from Moreau Lake State Park as she biked on Saturday. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Ross set the stage for his own arrest by visiting the girl's home, putting a ransom note in the family mailbox early Monday. 

"Inserts the ransom note, leaving a critical piece of evidence behind -- his own fingerprint," Hochul said. 

A check of the print led cops to the suspect within hours. 

Witnesses said the assembled first responders erupted with applause when Charlotte was found in good condition. 

As for Ross?

"My family had an issue with him in the beginning of the summer," Brown said. 

Brown said she came outside one day as her young grandson was in the yard. 

"And standing over him, right over him, with his back to me, was that man," Brown said. 

"You confronted him, he got on his bike and rode away?" CBS New York's Tony Aiello asked. 

"Yes, and I believe with all my heart after last night that probably my grandson was 'this close,'" Brown said. 

Tony Aiello

Tony Aiello serves as a CBS2 general assignment reporter with a focus on covering news and breaking stories in the Northern Suburbs.

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