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The family of the 9-year-old girl who was abducted from an upstate New York camping ground three months ago is breaking its silence as the child tries to “resume her normal life” following the frightening, days-long ordeal.
The shocking kidnapping made national headlines when the child vanished while riding her bike around a small loop at Moreau Lake State Park, outside of Saratoga Springs during a family camping trip on Sept. 1.
The ordeal, which Gov. Kathy Hochul called “every parent’s worst nightmare,” came to an end roughly 48 hours later when authorities found her hiding in a cabinet inside the mobile home of a local man, Craig Nelson Ross Jr., 47, who lived just two miles from the girl’s home.
“You always say this type of stuff doesn’t happen to you but obviously it can happen to you,” Jené Sena, the victim’s aunt, told ABC News Thursday.
Sena, speaking on behalf of the family, asked the network not to publish the girl’s name or show her picture, even though her identity and likeness had been widely publicized after being the subject of an Amber Alert. The Post has honored the family’s request as well.
The woman said she “dropped to my knees, screaming” with relief when learning police had finally found her niece following a massive multi-agency manhunt.
“Pure torture, pure, pure torture really, you’re thinking like, ‘What if this doesn’t end soon?’ ‘What if we can’t find her,’ all of the what-ifs,” Sena said.
Ross had led police to the scene when he dropped a ransom letter in the family’s mailbox as troopers staked out the address.
He was initially charged only with first-degree kidnapping, but prosecutors added charges of predatory sexual assault against a child, along with charges of sexual abuse, assault and endangering the welfare of a child last month.
“Honestly, it’s been a roller coaster. She’s a child that didn’t ask for what happened to her. So, she’s trying to resume her normal life,” Sena said.
“Unfortunately, the world we live in, there are predators out there. And so justice will be not only him being safely away to not do this to anyone else, but also her having … a great support system and tools, and whatever she needs around her to move forward,” Sena said.
“This isn’t just a headline. This isn’t just something to get clicks. This is a real person, a real child, a real family,” she added.
The woman told the network that the young victim will be spending Christmas with her family and hoped her case would bring awareness to other abductions and increase “sensitivity” in the legal system.
Ross has pleaded not guilty and faces up to life in prison if convicted.
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