The recent New York arrest of an alleged kidnapper has brought renewed focus on two unsolved murders of teen girls in the same Saratoga County area.
According to Fox News Digital, Christina White, 19, and Jennifer “Moonbeam” Hammond, 18, disappeared two years apart before their bodies were dumped in rural Greenfield, New York.
White vanished in 2005 and a year later, was found stabbed to death near Daketown Road. Her wallet, phone, and knife were missing. In 2003, Hammond was dropped at a Ballston Spa trailer park to sell magazines and never returned.
Police said Hammond never used her airline ticket to return home to Colorado. Her belongings were left in her hotel. Six years later, her skull was found near Lake Desolation Road.
Investigators are now probing the similarities between the cold cases and the abduction of 9-year-old Charlotte Sena.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police arrested 46-year-old Craig N. Ross Jr. at a camper van behind his mother’s property in Porters Corners, on October 2, following Charlotte’s disappearance.
Charlotte was abducted September 30 while riding her bike at New York’s Moreau Lake State Park while on a camping trip with her family. She was found safe inside Ross Jr.’s camping van and his since been reunited with her family.
“He’s [Ross Jr.] alleged to have abducted her, but we also know that the best predictor of present or future behavior is past behavior,” John Kelly, a criminal profiler and the president of STALK Inc., told Fox News Digital.
“So, has he ever abducted in the past?”
According to Kelly, the suspect or suspects responsible for the two teens’ deaths had intimate knowledge of the area and potentially targeted redheads. Kelly added that both bodies were dumped within 10 miles from where the victims vanished from.
“Many killers are interested in certain physical characteristics of their victims, which are usually part of their fantasy,” he said. “Both victims were found in the deep woods of upstate New York in Greenfield.”
Police have not named Ross Jr. the suspect in either of the cold cases. However, Matthew Robinson of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office reportedly said investigators plan to take a look at unsolved cases for possible connections.
Right now, there is little known publicly about Ross Jr., who doesn’t appear to have a long criminal history. He was arrested for driving under the influence in 1999, followed by an aggravated harassment accusation in 2016 and a domestic violence accusation in 2017.
“He does have a history of violence, but he does not have much of a criminal history,” Kelly said.
Ross Jr. was booked on a first-degree kidnapping charge for the Sena case. He’s being held at the Saratoga County Jail without bond.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Craig Ross/Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office]
