Police chief reveals how 6-year-old girl was found alive under staircase two years after she was reported missing

Authorities said a 4-year-old girl who went missing in 2019 was discovered concealed beneath a wooden staircase with her noncustodial mother in a residence investigators had visited multiple times while investigating her abduction.

Paislee Joann Shultis, now 6, was reported missing from Cayuga Heights, a town on the outskirts of Ithaca, New York, on July 13, 2019. Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr., her noncustodial parents, were suspected of abducting her at the time, according to authorities.

Paislee and her mother were discovered when detectives discovered "a pair of little feet" in a concealed area beneath wooden steps leading to a basement on Monday.

Detectives looking for the youngster discovered an apartment in the house's basement, including a bedroom with Paislee's name written on the wall, Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra told CNN on Wednesday. It looked that someone had slept in the bed.

"'Is she here?' our policemen inquired... They also denied that anybody lived in that residence, in that specific room "In an interview, the chief stated. "They claimed they had arranged the room up that way in case Paislee ever returned."

Authorities got many leads about the Saugerties-area residence where the kid was finally identified during the course of the 2.5-year inquiry, but the homeowners denied knowing anything about the girl's location each time, according to the statement. Cayuga Heights is roughly 160 kilometers east of Saugerties.

"The fast answer: That's our criminal justice system," Sinagra said of his department's prior failure to locate the youngster, adding that Monday was the first time officers were able to acquire a search warrant based on verifiable evidence rather than hearsay.

The residents, according to Sinagra, were continually "adversarial" with the policemen, accusing them of "harassing" and "badgering" them and "insisting we should be looking for Paislee."

Officers had been in the house about a dozen times before, Sinagra said, but they were not permitted in the basement or the bedrooms.

"The fact that this dragged on for two years bothers us," the chief stated. "For two years, they lied to us, including the father's claim that he had no knowledge where his daughter was."

Investigators were permitted into the house without a warrant on many occasions, but Kirk Shultis Jr. and Kirk Shultis Sr. gave them "limited access," according to the press release.

That changed on Monday, when authorities acquired information about the child's whereabouts and obtained a search order for the residence.

Officers arrived at the residence at 4 p.m. to make sure no one had gone. The warrant was subsequently executed just after 8 p.m., according to the chief. The homeowner denied knowing the girl's whereabouts, saying he had not seen her since she was reported missing in 2019.

In a stairwell, there's something unusual.

One detective observed the steps leading to the basement were strangely constructed an hour into the hunt. According to the announcement, the investigator, Erik Thiele, used a flashlight to see through a crevice in the wooden steps and spotted what appeared to be a blanket.

The cop who found the concealed room was troubled by something about the stairs, according to Sinagra.

Sinagra described the quiet as unnerving when cops proceeded to dismantle the stairwell.

"The infant was deafeningly quiet. Kimberly was deafeningly quiet "Sinagra remarked.

"What she was told by her parents that kept her so motionless and quiet while the officers were marching up and down the steps, taking the steps apart," Sinagra remarked.

"Detectives noticed a pair of little feet" after removing some of the stairs, according to the press statement.

According to Sinagra, a door in Paislee's basement chamber led to a small passage that went straight to the secret compartment under the stairs, which was around three to four feet away.

According to the police announcement, "the youngster and her abductor, Kimberly Cooper, were discovered cowering in the dark and damp cage." Cooper and the kid are believed to have been residing at the house since they vanished in 2019, according to Sinagra, who added that the staircase looked to have been erected to conceal them both.

"In our assessment," Sinagra added, "that spot was probably utilized each and every time we dispatched an officer to the house."

According to the press release, police detained Cooper and Shultis Jr., the girl's biological parents, as well as Shultis Sr.

Cooper was charged with two misdemeanors: second-degree custodial interference and endangering the welfare of a child, and he remains in custody due to a previous arrest warrant issued by family court, according to police.

Custodial interference in the first degree, a crime, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, were both filed against Kirk Shultis Jr. and Kirk Shultis Sr. According to police, both were arraigned and freed on their own recognizance. The judge ordered all three offenders to remain away from the youngster.

Cooper, who was released on bond, and the other two males were in court on Wednesday.

The men's cases have been postponed until later this month. Their attorneys have declined to comment. Cooper will return to court on March 2nd.

According to authorities, the kid was determined to be in good health and was released to her legal guardian as well as reunited with her elder sister.

On Tuesday, "detectives met with the child's family, and she was in very good spirits," according to the chief.

Last but not least, a McDonald's drive-thru.

Sinagra claimed the young child was "upset and anxious" when officers initially retrieved her.

"That begs the issue of what the youngster was informed about the cops and why they would come and remove her," Sinagra added. "That's the thing that worries me.... And I'm sure the youngster was traumatized when she saw many of our policemen, all of them were highly armed."

Detectives drove the youngster to police headquarters before releasing her to her legal guardian, in part so that medics could examine her. She noticed a McDonald's as they traveled and remembered eating some a long time ago, according to the chief.

"So the detectives reversed the car and drove to a McDonald's drive-through, where they picked her up a Happy Meal and returned her to headquarters. After that, she was fine "Added the chief.

According to authorities, the investigation is still underway.

"We have no idea what Paislee has been through the last two years," Sinagra remarked.

"And we have no idea what type of harm she may have suffered as a result of the conditions in which she had to live."