The FBI has joined the desperate search for missing nine-year-old Charlotte Sena in upstate New York as the public is asked to stay clear from the state park where she was last seen.
Charlotte vanished during a family camping trip at Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County on Saturday evening. The little girl failed to return to her campsite following a solo bike trip near Loop A, prompting family members and other campers at the park to search for her in the woods.
Her mother called 911 at around 6.15pm when Charlotte’s bike was found abandoned, with no sign of her nearby. New York State Police issued an Amber Alert for Charlotte on Sunday morning, with authorities now saying that she may have been abducted and is believed to be in imminent danger.
Governor Kathy Hochul said during a press conference on Sunday that New York state parks police, Forest Rangers, UAS, and URT have been searching the grounds of the park for the missing child. The FBI has also been conducting interviews with those in the park and around the region, police said.
Meanwhile, authorities have asked the public to avoid the area where Charlotte was last seen as the park remains closed. Family and friends of the missing nine-year-old have reportedly been turned away from the site and the Moreau Lake State Park issued a statement warning the public to “leave the searching to the professionals”.
“I cannot imagine what they’re going through right now,” Patrick Kane, a friend of the Sena family, told CBS6. “[Right now police] just want us to stand down and wait for further instructions. We’re just here to help. We’ll do whatever we can.”
Mr Kane called Charlotte’s father Dave Sena a “devoted’ father” to the missing nine-year-old and her two sisters.
“He and his wife are just heartbroken right now because it’s been two nights this young lady is away,” Mr Kane added. “He coaches every sport you could imagine and attends everything the girls do.”
Charlotte is described as a “joyful” child who was recently elected a class officer for the student council at her school.
Missing poster for Charlotte Sena, who vanished on Saturday evening at Moreau Lake State Park— (NYSP)
“Everybody thought of her as just a really nice girl - the kind everyone wanted to be friends with, the kind that looked out for other children,” Governor Hochul said. “The pride of every parent.”
Over 100 personnel were deployed on Sunday to find her, including 75 law enforcement on the ground, two drones and airboat search teams, as well as six underwater rescue teams, Governor Hochul said.
“We are leaving no stone, no branch, no table, no cabin, unturned, untouched, unexamined in our search to find Charlotte,” the governor said.
Charlotte Sena, 9, vanished Saturday evening from Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County, New York— (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)
New York State Police said during a press conference on Sunday that authorities waited to send the alert because they first needed to exhaust all search efforts within the park.
In order to meet the criteria for an Amber Alert activation, the child must be under 18 and evidence surrounding the disappearance must suggest that they are in danger. Police have since said that Charlotte may have been abducted and is “in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death.”
Charlotte is approximately 4 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 90 pounds.
She was last seen wearing a pink tie-dye Pokemon shirt, dark blue pants, black Crocs and a grey bike helmet.
