TRUE CRIMEMissing 9-Year-Old Girl Abducted From New York Campground Could Be in 'Imminent Danger,' Police Reveal
The search for a 9-year-old girl named Charlotte Sena intensifies as time is ticking during the critical hours since she vanished from Moreau Lake State Park in upstate New York on Saturday night, September 30.
Fears have strengthened that the little girl was likely kidnapped after police revealed she could be in "imminent danger" in an Amber Alert issued Sunday morning, October 1.
An intensive search continues for missing 9-year-old girl Charlotte Sena.
"Following our exhaustive search of the park we took that step of issuing the Amber Alert because we felt that that exhaustive search, when we couldn’t find her here, it was quite possible that an abduction had taken place," Lt. Colonel Richard Mazzone of the Uniform Force of the State Police announced in a statement.
Sena was on a camping trip with her family at the 6,250-acre state park when she went on a bike ride with close friends around 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, law enforcement officials detailed.
Charlotte Sena was last seen in an orange tie-dyed Pokémon shirt, dark blue pants, black Crocs and a gray bike helmet.
The little girl informed her family friends she wanted to do one more loop by herself before joining her loved ones for dinner — but she never returned.
"She disappeared almost into thin air. I mean it was, minutes, minutes, between when she was last seen and when she wasn’t there anymore," Charlotte's aunt Jéne Sena explained during a conversation with NBC News on Monday, October 2.
The little girl went for an extra loop alone during a bike ride with family friends, though she never returned.
A photograph of Charlotte even captured the exact outfit she was wearing the last time she was seen — which included an orange tie-dyed Pokémon shirt, dark blue pants, black Crocs and a gray bike helmet, according to a description provided by state police.
Frightening worries kicked into high gear after the child's bike was recovered from the loop without any trace of Charlotte in sight.
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Jéne informed WCBS that "no tip is insignificant" as she works endlessly to find her niece.
"She is a blonde, adorable 9-year-old little girl with bangs. She has green eyes, just under 5 feet tall and she is just a sweet, adorable girl," Jéne, the "Brablem Solving" host for Access Hollywood, expressed to the network.
Charlotte Sena's family asked for anyone with information to please call New York State Police or 911.
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"This is a critical time. The statistics tell us in possible abductions, which this well may be, that first 24 to 48 hours is critical," CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller said on CNN This Morning. "Once they found her bike during that search, they realized she’s not on it, she hasn’t gone too far, she didn’t get lost. Something’s really wrong."
"They’re using just about every resource you can think of – helicopters, thermal imaging, license plate readers, video – to the extent that it’s available in that park. They have some of that technology in the area, but it’s not like had this happened in Albany or New York City," Miller noted.
In a statement released to NBC News and several other outlets, Charlotte's family begged: "We just want her returned safely like any parent would. No tip is too small, please call if you know anything at all."
