Missing New York girl found alive inside staircase after two years
Saugerties, New York - Two years after she went missing, six-year-old Paislee Joann Shultis was found hidden underneath a staircase.
Police received a tip which allowed them to obtain a warrant to search the upstate New York home of Kirk Shultis Sr., who is Paislee's grandfather.
Around 4 PM Monday afternoon, officials conducted their search of the house for about an hour, finally finding the child, along with her mother Kimberly Cooper, in a secret compartment hidden underneath a staircase that led into the basement.
Saugerties police chief Joseph Sinagra described the scene as "pretty dingy. It was cold. There was blankets that were laying on the ground, on the concrete floor. They were completely soaked, extremely heavy."
Officials had been to the same home about a dozen times beforehand, but were never allowed do an extensive search of the house. When officers finally received a concrete tip that gave the go-ahead on Monday, they noticed something that looked off about the staircase, and later determined that it had perhaps been built just to hide the missing girl.
As investigators pulled the staircase apart, "the child never made a sound, Kimberly never made a sound," they said. "That is when detectives saw a pair of tiny feet."
Paislee's biological parents and grandfather were quickly taken into custody.
The child was found in good health with no signs of abuse, but police discovered in an interview that she could not read or write. Officers reportedly took her out for a happy meal after her rescue. She was reunited with her legal guardian and older sister on Tuesday.
The details of what transpired over the two years she had been missing are unclear, but it's believed she has been kept in isolation as her parents and grandfather made multiple attempts to cover up their knowledge of her whereabouts.
Paislee's family made multiple attempts to throw off the investigation
Paislee was originally reported missing in July 2019 by the Saugerties Police Department. Her biological parents, Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr., had been suspected of kidnapping due to having recently lost custody of both Paislee and her older sister.
"We believe what happened after that point was that somebody informed the parents that the older child had been picked up by the legal guardian and by county officials at the time, and that caused the parents then to take Paislee and flee," Chief Sinagra told CBS2 New York.
Police continued questioning Shultis Jr., who claimed Cooper had fled with the child to Philadelphia, and he had no knowledge of their whereabouts.
Shultis Sr. had also been questioned several times, and, like his son, refused to cooperate with investigators on several occasions.
"Now, it is our belief that each and every time in the past two years that we went to the residence with new leads, that this is where the child and mother would hide," Sinagra said.
There had been numerous tips given to police during the investigation, but nothing useful that could warrant a full home search until earlier this week.
Since their arrest, each family member has been charged with child endangerment and custodial interference. While Cooper remains in jail due to a previous warrant, the father and son were arraigned and released on Wednesday.
As disturbing as the details of this story are, the silver lining is that Paislee was found safe, and can now live the life she deserves.
Cover photo: Saugerties Police Department