Missing Girl From 2019, Thankfully Found Alive And Well Under Staircase
When little Paislee Shultis went missing in July 2019, police initially suspected her non-custodial parents, Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr, as her abductors. However, the police brought no charges, and Paislee would not be found for another two and a half years.
Paislee was just four-years-old when she disappeared from her home in Tioga County, NY. After receiving a tip-off that the girl was being hidden in a Saugerties, Hudson Valley house, police obtained a warrant to search the home belonging to Paislee's paternal grandfather.
"A little over an hour into the search of the residence, the child was located secreted in a makeshift room, under a closed staircase leading to the basement of the residence," Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra said. Police found both Paislee and her custodial mother Kimberley "hiding in the dark and wet enclosure once officers removed the step boards."
Paislee, now six-and-a-half, was taken to the hospital to be examined and was deemed to be in good health. There was no evidence of abuse, and she was later released and reunited with her older sister.
"We believe 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," police said in an official statement. "We are pretty certain that she probably wasn't receiving proper medical attention."
Police located the little girl in a makeshift room under a closed staircase leading to the basement of her grandfather's home.
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Paislee, now six-and-a-half, was deemed to be in good health. There was no evidence of abuse, and she was later released and reunited with her older sister.
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Sadly, Paislee has missed out on her first years of schooling. "During our initial interview, unfortunately, we found that she does not read or write," police said.
"She was not getting educated at home, so there is no homeschooling in place at all, and that's a disadvantage," they said. "This is the sad part of the story."
"She's missed out on that part of the life of going to school, and now hopefully she'll have an opportunity to do that," the statement added. The reasons for Paislee's family losing custody of her are unknown.
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Paislee and her custodial mother Kimberley were found "hiding in the dark and wet enclosure once officers removed the step boards."
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Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr. faced a judge for charges pertaining to her abduction. Paislee's grandfather also appeared in court, and restraining orders were passed by the judge.
"We're not here to hurt them," said Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra. "If they had complied with that court order two years ago, depending on what the deficiency was within the household that caused a judge to remove those children, there's a good possibility that they could've taken corrective action."
"And today, they would have full custody of those kids. Now, I don't know again what that deficiency was, so that may or may not be the case."
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Paislee's custodial parents had been hiding her in a house belonging to her paternal grandfather.
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Cooper was arrested on charges including endangering the welfare of a child and custodial interference. Shultis Jr and his father were each charged with felony custodial interference and misdemeanor child endangerment.
"I am hoping that sometime in [the] future that the family has learned from this," said Sinagra. "And that with proper services put in place by county social services, by the Ulster County Family Child Advocacy Center, and by CPS, that eventually the family will gain the right to actually get the custody of the kids, which is ultimately what we're looking for."
Police say the investigation is ongoing, and additional arrests are still pending. Paislee has since been reunited with her grandmother and teenage sister.
