Paislee Shultis, a girl who was reported missing from her home in Tompkins County (NY) in 550 when she was 4 years old, was located and was apparently being held all this time in a secret room 150 miles away, in a home in Saugerties, Ulster County (NY).
The confusing case began in July 2019, when it was believed that the kidnappers were his parents who did not have their custody, Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr., but the leads quickly went cold.
Finally yesterday, Saugerties police obtained a warrant to search a house on Fawn Road, having received information that the Shultis girl was detained in a hidden place in a residence on that street.
The owner denied any knowledge of Shultis’s whereabouts when detectives and the New York State Police (NYSP) knocked on his door last night, saying he had not seen Shultis. the girl since her disappearance was reported.
However, more than an hour after the search, Shultis (6) was found in a makeshift secret room under a locked staircase that led to the basement from the house, police say.
The Shultis child and the Cooper adult were found hiding in the dark and damp compound once officers removed the steps. The minor was taken to a hospital for examination and was found to be in good health.
Both Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr. and their father, Kirk Shultis Sr. now face charges in the case. Cooper, aged 33, was arrested for Custodial Interference and Endangering the Welfare of a Minor. All three were prohibited from approaching the girl.
Saugerties police say additional arrests were pending. They, along with other law enforcement agencies, have investigated multiple leads related to the girl’s disappearance since it occurred, including those that led them to the Fawn Road home. On each occasion the owner denied knowing anything about her whereabouts, they say.
The girl’s biological father also denied knowing where she was and said he had not seen her since 2019, insisting that Cooper had fled to Pennsylvania with her daughter, noted NBC News.