Police discovered a 4-year-old child who had been missing since 2019 alive and well in a secret hideaway beneath a New York home’s staircase.
According to the Saugerties Police Department, Paislee Shultis, now six years old, was rescued from the property in Saugerties, New York, on Monday night February 14, after authorities got a tip about her whereabouts.
Officers searched the house for an hour before discovering the girl hiding in the makeshift room beneath the basement stairway.
A detective noticed something strange about the stairs before spotting a blanket and a flashing light, according to authorities.
“Detectives utilized a halogen tool to remove many of the wooden steps, and it was then that detectives noticed a pair of little feet,” according to a statement from the Saugerties Police Department.
“The youngster and her kidnapper were located within after several more steps were removed. The room was cramped, cold, and damp.”
Paramedics checked the child and decided that she was in good health, so she was returned to her legal guardian.
She was reported missing from her home in Cayuga Heights, New York, in July 2019, with authorities believing she had been taken by her “non-custodial” parents.
Paislee’s disappearance has been linked to Kimberly Cooper, Kirk Shultis, Jr., and Kirk Shultis, Sr.
The property where the girl was discovered had been examined several times by police, but the residents “denied any knowledge of the small girl’s location.”
“During some of the follow-ups to the Fawn Road site, authorities were allowed limited entry into the residence to look around for the girl, by both Kirk Shultis Sr and Jr… knowing the child and her abductor were hidden within the house and would not be located,” police said.
Cooper, 33, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree custodial interference. She was arraigned in Saugerties and then taken to the Ulster County Jail, where she was being held on an active arrest warrant issued by the Ulster County Family Court, according to the statement.
Kirk Shultis Jr., 32, and Kirk Shultis Sr., 57, were both charged with felony custodial interference in the first degree as well as a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child. They were arrested and freed on their own recognizance after being arraigned.
According to authorities, the court has granted stay-away orders to all three accused.
Neighbors were taken aback when they discovered that the missing small girl had been hiding in the house all along.
“I’m absolutely astounded since they seemed like such kind people.”