New York State Police are searching for a 9-year-old girl who they said was abducted Saturday night while she was camping with her family.
Charlotte Sena was last seen at Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County, about 50 miles north of Albany, around 6:15 p.m. wearing an orange tie-dye Pokémon shirt, dark blue pants, black Crocs and a gray bike helmet. She is 4 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 90 pounds, and she has blond hair, according to information provided by police.
State police activated an Amber Alert shortly after 9:30 a.m. local time Sunday, saying it was "for a child abduction" that occurred around 6:45 Saturday night.
"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 says.
Lt. Col. Richard Mazzone told reporters Sunday after their “exhaustive search” of the park that police had determined it was "quite possible" Charlotte was abducted.
“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 provided to NBC News.
Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters that Charlotte and her family were camping only 15 minutes from where she and her sisters were raised. Shortly before she disappeared, Charlotte had been biking around Loop A of the park with family friends and had said she wanted to do one more loop by herself, Hochul said at the news conference.
Fifteen minutes later, when she hadn't returned, her parents and nearby campers mounted a search, calling her name. Charlotte's bike was found on the loop at 6:45 p.m., Mazzone said, and two minutes later, her mother called 911 to report her missing. By 7 p.m., state police were at the scene, 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.
She said technology experts had been brought in "to analyze other forms of communications in the park at that time." Mazzone declined to provide more details.
Hochul said she met with Charlotte's "distraught" parents earlier Sunday and promised them officials would find their daughter.
"As a mother and as a grandmother, I cannot imagine the pain they're going through," she said.
"They shared with me how joyful their little girl is, a fourth grader just recently elected to be a class officer for student council," she added.
Hochul implored anyone with information or anyone who may have seen anything to call 911.
“Hearts are broken here today in New York," she said. "Hopefully there will be a reunion. Hopefully, there will be a family that has been traumatized but reunited."
