A 4-year-old girl, Paislee Shultis, who went missing more than two years ago, was found alive Monday by police, hidden under a stair in a New York home.
Police who received a tip of her whereabouts at a residence in Saugerties, roughly 45 miles outside of Albany, found Shultis after an hour of searching, discovering her in a makeshift room under a staircase leading to the basement, according to NBC News.
Police were alerted when detective Erik Thiele noticed something strange about the staircase. A blanket showed after he flashed his flashlight between the cracks of the steps.
"Detectives used a halligan tool to remove several of the wooden steps, and that is when detectives saw a pair of tiny feet," a police statement from Tuesday read. "After removing several more steps, the child and her abductor were discovered within. The space was small, cold, and wet."
But, after a review from paramedics, Shultis was deemed to be in good health and was returned to her legal guardian.
In July 2019, Shultis went missing from her residence in Cayuga Heights. Authorities believe she was taken by "noncustodial parents."
Following the event, Kimberly Cooper, Kirk Shultis Jr., and Kirk Shultis Sr., were arrested and charged with Shultis' disappearance.
Before Shultis' discovery, police had followed multiple leads to the residence where the young girl was found, but each time, the residents "denied any knowledge of the little girl's whereabouts."
The police report goes on to mention that "during some of the follow ups to the Fawn Road location, authorities were permitted limited access into the residence to look around for the child, by both Kirk Shultis senior and junior, ... knowing the child and her abductor were hidden within the house and would not be found."
Both face felony charges of custodial interference in the first degree and a misdemeanor for endangering the child's welfare.
Additionally, Cooper was charged with custodial interference in the second degree as well as a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child.
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