The impressive case of a girl who has been missing for almost 3 years found alive in a secret room
According to police, father, mother and grandfather were involved in the kidnapping.
A young woman who disappeared in 2019 was found alive in a secret room under a staircase, according to New York State Police.
Paislee Shultis, now six, was discovered in a house in the town of Saugerties after a search on Monday (14/2).
She is in good health and is now reunited with her legal guardian and older sister, according to police.
Her parents, who do not have custody of the girl, have been accused of interfering in custody and jeopardizing the well-being of a child.
Paislee was reported missing from Tioga County, New York, in July 2019, according to a police statement. She was four years old.
At the time, authorities believed she had been kidnapped by her parents, Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr., 33 and 32, respectively.
After receiving information that Paislee was being held in a hidden location in the town of Saugerties, Ulster, police obtained a warrant to search the home. The property had been searched before.
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The girl's grandfather, Kirk Shultis Sr., 57, who owns the home, was there when police carried out the search and said he had no knowledge of Paislee's whereabouts, according to police.
But just over an hour after the search, one of the detectives noticed that the stairs leading to the basement of the house had a strange structure.
Upon removing several plaques, police found Paislee and her mother, Kimberly, hiding in what police described as a "small, cold and damp room".
Paislee has been examined by paramedics and is in good health.
Kimberly and Kirk, Paislee's biological parents, lost custody of her and her older sister before the girl disappeared, and police say they believe this was the motive behind Paislee's kidnapping.
"We believe ... that someone informed the parents that the oldest child had been picked up by the legal guardian and county officials at the time and this caused the parents to take Paislee and flee," said Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra, to the WNYT news site.
Kimberly and her husband, as well as her father-in-law, were arrested and charged with Paislee's disappearance.
Father and son were released and are awaiting trial.
Kimberly had an outstanding arrest warrant and therefore remains in detention.
An investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected, the police statement said.
Most missing children in the US are found safely after a relatively short period of time, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
But the institution adds that in cases of kidnapping by the family, they remain missing for longer, on average more than 10 months.
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