FBI joins search for missing 9-year-old Charlotte Sena as fears grow she may have been abducted
Editor's note: Charlotte Sena was found safe Monday night. The below story is as written before she was found. Click here for more details about how and when she was found.
NEW YORK - The FBI is joining the search for 9-year-old Charlotte Sena, who vanished from Moreau Lake State Park Saturday while riding her bicycle.
Investigators believe there's a strong chance she was abducted.
The park is 45 miles north of Albany, and it's closed for the foreseeable future as investigators search for clues.
Searchers used drones in the sky and bloodhounds on the ground to scour the 6,000 acres of Moreau Lake State Park, trying to determine what happened to Charlotte.
Out of view, Michael Kopy said state police have many technological tools at their disposal. Kopy is a public safety expert who spent more than two decades with the New York State Police.
"They'll be using license plate readers, reviewing cellphone records, data from cell phone towers in the area, so there'll be a two-pronged approach to conducting this investigation," Kopy said.
The Sena family was enjoying weekend getaway. They set up at a campsite in an area known as Loop A. Charlotte went biking with friends before doing one more loop on her own. That's when she disappeared.
Google Street View shows the loop is a paved road that passes through a heavily wooded area.
"At approximately 6:45 p.m., Charlotte's bike was located in Loop A, and at 6:47 pm Charlotte's mom Trisha called 911 to report the child missing," New York State Police Lt. Col. Richard Mazzone said.
It's been agony since then for parents Dave and Trisha Sena.
Family friend Patrick Kane spoke with our Albany affiliate, WRGB-TV.
"I cannot imagine the agony they're going through, cannot imagine it," Cane said. "He and his wife, I'm sure, are just heartbroken right now. It's two nights this young lady's been away."
As investigators focus on likely abduction, investigative protocol would include looking at registered sex offenders in the Saratoga County region.
Fewer than 1% of missing children are abducted by strangers. There's real fear Charlotte may be in that category.
State police are promising to spare no effort to find what happened to 9-year-old Charlotte. They say the search area has expanded to include more than 46 miles, and that more than 400 trained personnel from a variety of agencies are involved in the search.
State police said anyone who was at Moreau Lake State Park Saturday should contact them by emailing crimetip@troopers.ny.gov. They add that sometimes people don't realize what they might've seen there is important, particularly in putting together a timeline of events that day.
"No detail is too small when searching for a missing child," they said in a statement.
