Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen, a lifelong Malta resident, spoke to us at Thursday's meeting about a recent case without ever naming the criminal or victim. But everyone knew
what she was talking about.The case involved the kidnapping of a 9-year-old girl, a Saratoga County resident, from Moreau Lake State Park. The community immediately rallied in support of the girl and her family, and the search-and-rescue operation, "with a level of action, attention, intensity that I hadn't seen." It was quickly determined that it was likely a kidnapping, rather than a case of a child getting lost or playing hide and seek, and this prompted large-scale activation of resources.
After "a massive coordinated effort," the girl was rescued two days later by state police and other law enforcement personnel. A man arrested at the scene pleaded guilty to two felonies, including first-degree kidnapping, and received a sentence of 47 years to life in prison. Heggen's office had two staff members --
an assistant district attorney and an investigator -- embedded with the law enforcement team which broke the case.
But the arrest was early in the process for ADA Jennifer Buckley. She led the prosecution, ensuring that "the evidence was overwhelming and insurmountable", which resulted in the relatively quick guilty plea.
In other business, we assisted a successful Red Cross blood drive Monday at the Malta Community Center. A couple of our members who were helping out, Miles Cornthwaite and
Donna Kripfgans-Rawlin, also gave blood.
The last donor of the day was Jenny Killian from Ballston Spa.
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