Who was the missing girl found underneath the staircase?
Paislee Shultis, who went missing in 2019 when she was 4 years old, was found this week, huddled underneath a staircase with her mother at a house in Saugerties, N.Y.
The case has made headlines around the world.
Paislee was reported abducted from Spencer, N.Y., in July 2019.
The apparent kidnapping happened after the parents lost custody of the girl and her older sister, according to an account by The Washington Post.
Police immediately suspected the girl’s father, Kirk Shultis Jr., but he told authorities the mother had fled to Pennsylvania with Paislee.
Still, investigators searched his Fawn Road home numerous times over two years, but never saw any signs of the girl.
Detectives remained determined and came back to the home for a closer look on Monday, Feb. 14, and this time arrived with a search warrant.
Prior to the raid, police had received a tip that the child was in a “hidden location.”
Officials said they found Paislee hiding in the “dark and wet” enclosure with 33-year-old Kimberly Cooper, the girl’s mother, The Washington Post reports.
Both parents have been charged, along with Paislee’s paternal grandfather, 57-year-old Kirk Shultis Sr., with custodial interference and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Post.
The girl has since been released in “good health” to a legal guardian, the Post reports.
The detective who cracked the case reportedly searched the home for an hour before noticing something peculiar about the staircase leading from the back of the house to the basement.
“As he put it, he doesn’t know exactly what it was, but just something was odd about that staircase.”
Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra said, according to the Post.
About the Author
ArLuther Lee is a visual editor and occasionally covers national and world news for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from The University of Florida and has been a journalist for more than 25 years.
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