Girl missing for 2 years is found hidden under secret staircase, New York police say
A girl who hadn’t been seen since July 2019 when she was 4 years old was found alive under a secret set of stairs on Monday, Feb. 14, police in New York said.
Paislee Shultis was discovered in a hidden, makeshift room beneath a staircase with one of her accused kidnappers — a non-custodial parent, according to Saugerties police in Ulster County.
A tip about the child’s whereabouts was sent in to authorities, who then executed a search warrant of the local home on Feb. 14, the department said in a news release. The homeowner first told authorities he didn’t know where the girl was.
Kimberly Cooper, one of the child’s non-custodial parents was found in the dark and wet room under the stairs with Paislee, the release said.
During the search of the home, a detective ”noticed something about the staircase leading from the back of the residence into the basement of the house that caught his attention,” the release added, noting that the detective thought the ”construction of the steps were odd.” Then, the detective eventually found Paislee and Cooper when he noticed the child’s “pair of tiny feet.”
Now Cooper, 33, and the girl’s other biological parent, Kirk Shultis Jr., 32, have been charged in her abduction, according to police.
Cooper was charged with custodial interference and endangering the welfare of a child, and Shultis Jr. was charged with felony custodial interference and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.
Shultis Jr.’s father, Kirk Shultis Sr., 57, is also facing the same charges as his son, according to authorities.
Shultis Jr., “who had resurfaced shortly after Paislee’ s disappearance, denied knowledge of his daughter’s whereabouts, and told police that he had not seen the child since 2019, when he (reported) Cooper fled to Pennsylvania with his daughter,” the release said.
“During some of the follow ups ... authorities were permitted limited access into the residence to look around for the child, by both Kirk Shultis Sr and Jr ... knowing the child and her abductor were hidden within the house and would not be found.”
A medical evaluation showed the girl is healthy, and she was later given over to her legal guardian and reunited with her sister, the release said.
Saugerties is located 45 miles south of Albany.
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Girl missing for 2 years is found hidden under secret staircase, New York police say."
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