More than two years after she was reported missing, New York girl Paisleee Shultis was found alive on Monday, February 14, in a secret staircase in a home that authorities checked more than a dozen times before.
Paislee was only four years old when her legal guardians reported her missing from Cayuga Heights in Ithaca, New York, in July 2019. But on Valentine's Day, the Saugerties police received a tip of Paislee's presence.
After a three-hour search in the house of Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr., Paislee's biological but non-custodial parents, the police were able to locate the girl, now six years old, hidden under the staircase with her mother. Her parents have been charged with interference and endangering the child's welfare, per ABC News.
What Happened to Paislee Shultis?
Before her disappearance, Paislee's parents lost custody of her and an older sister for an undetermined case. They were then turned over to court-appointed legal guardians, whose identities were not disclosed to the press.
After she went missing, the police investigated the father, who denied that he had any knowledge of Paislee's whereabouts. Later, however, he told the police that Cooper had taken the girl to Philadelphia.
In the last two years, the police said they always got tips about a house in Saugerties, owned by Kirk Shultis Sr., Paislee's biological grandfather. The cops, however, were denied entry on some of the sections of the house without a proper search warrant.
Police chief Joseph Sinagra said they were at the Saugerties property "almost a dozen times" in the last two years, but Kirk and his father would not allow them access to the basement or the bedrooms. They stuck with the story that they do not know anything about where Paislee might be.
However, a fresh tip provided the information they needed to obtain the correct search warrant to allow the cops to look in every room of the house. The police refused to say who gave them this tip.
This time, they found a room specifically for Paislee as it had her name on it. There were also girls' clothes in the closet. The residents of the Saugerties house said they had Paislee's room set up in case she's found.
One police noticed a staircase near Paislee's room, which looked rather odd to Detective Erik Thiele. When he directed a flashlight on it, Thiele could make out a blanket and a pair of tiny feet. When the police forced the staircase open, they found Paisley and her mom.
Arrest Made for Paislee's Parents and Grandfather
Cooper, Kirk Jr., and Kirk Sr. have now been charged for Paislee's disappearance. However, the father and grandfather were released after their arraignment and bail. Cooper, on the other hand, was transferred to Ulster County Jail because she has a pending arrest warrant for another case. The three adults are due back in court this week.
The New York girl, on the other hand, was medically checked and found to be in good health and good spirits. It's unclear how Paislee's life was in the past two years or if she was able to go to school. She has reunited with her older sister.
Sinagra said that Paislee's biological parents could still have full custody of their kids, but this new case will be a major setback.
