Girl’s aunt says niece her ‘hero’ for helping put kidnapper away

The aunt of the girl kidnapped from Moreau Lake State Park last September said her niece is her hero for how she handled the traumatic experience.

The aunt blogged how the girl was able to provide information to investigators to help build the case against Craig Ross Jr., who was sentenced on Wednesday to 47 years to life in prison.

“I’m not sure what ‘most kids’ would do in this instance as this is something NO CHILD should ever have to endure,” she wrote. “But I do know that she shocked family members and investigators with her ability to calmly and articulately recount every last detail, no matter how small, of what happened to her during those 47 hours, effectively building what could be considered an airtight case for the prosecution. More than a million pieces of evidence were sent to the defense and that’s not an exaggeration.”

The aunt said the girl, who was 9 at the time of the kidnapping, has made sure that Ross will never harm another child ever again.

“The petite little angel who barely scrapes 5 feet tall went up against a giant scary monster – the boogeyman in the flesh – and she won. No one can every take that away from her. Not all heroes wear capes. Mine wears a Pokemon T-shirt,” she wrote.