Little Paislee Shultis, who disappeared in 2019 when she was 4 years old, was found after 2 and a half years: she was hidden in the basement of a house in New York State, held by her biological parents who had lost custody. The child, in good health, was in her grandfather’s home in Saugerties, Ulster County, and was found following a report to the police.
Paislee’s story began in July 2019, when her mysterious disappearance from her foster parents’ home in Cayuga Heights, New York State, was reported. At the time, the authorities searched the whole area, but without success. Even though the prime suspects at the time were her biological parents – 33-year-old Kimberly Cooper and 32-year-old Kirk Shultis Junior, no trace of the girl was found in their home. More than two and a half years later, following confidential information from an unspecified source, the police were able to issue a search warrant. After an hour of inconclusive searches, one of the agents noticed an abnormally constructed space under the stairs. The owner of the house is Paislee’s paternal grandfather, who refused to cooperate.
“The officers had to remove many of the wooden steps before they saw two feet,” Saugerties police said. Paislee, 6 and a half, and biological mother Cooper were well hidden in what law enforcement has described as a “small, cold and wet” pen. Subjected to tests, her little girl was found to be in good health and now she will find her adoptive family with her older sister. Her biological parents and Kirk Shultis Senior, 57, owner of the house where the little girl was held for two and a half years, were arrested and charged with custody interference and endangering the child’s well-being. “We believe someone in her time informed the parents that the oldest child was taken by the legal guardian and county officials. This prompted the parents to take Paislee and run away with her, ”Saugerties police chief Joseph Sinagra told broadcaster WNYT. In a statement, the police specified that the investigation is still ongoing and that it will proceed with other arrests of people involved in the disappearance-kidnapping of Paislee.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, most of the children reported missing in the United States are found safe after a relatively short period of time. However, in cases of family abduction, children are missing for a longer period of time, on average over 10 months.