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Girl, 6, Missing Since 2019 Found Hidden Below Basement Staircase in 'Makeshift Room'

Paislee Shultis was just 4 years old when she disappeared on July 13, 2019. No one seemed to know where she was — just that one day she was in Tompkins County, New York, and the next day she was gone. The circumstances…

IJR SyndicatedFeb 17, 20224 min read

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Along the basement staircase, the steps looked suspicious: There were odd gaps and as Thiele shined a flashlight across the area, he spotted part of a blanket through one of the cracks.

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After moving some boards, they spotted Paislee’s feet. Paislee was alive and well, hiding in “a makeshift room, under a closed staircase leading to the basement of the residence.”

Kimberly Cooper was also in the small space, which was described as cold, wet, and dark. She and both Shultis men were arrested.

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Thankfully, Paislee was checked out and found to be in good health.

“The only problem is she hasn’t attended school and they weren’t educating her at the house,” Police Chief Joseph Sinagra told the Daily Freeman.

Paislee was soon reunited with her legal guardian and older sister, whom she remembered. On the way to be reunited with them, the detective returning Paislee to her rightful family passed a McDonald’s. The little girl lit up and reminisced about the restaurant.

“The detective turned the car around and went into McDonald’s and got her food from McDonald’s,” Sinagra said.

Authorities believe Paislee was kept at Shultis, Sr.’s house since 2019. Though they had visited the house multiple times, there were several factors that prevented them from finding her, including the fact that the home was decked out in security cameras.

“A number of times we would go there and sometimes we were met with resistance and at other times they’d say, ‘oh, no, you can come in and look around,” Sinagra explained. “There’s nobody here. The child’s not here.’

“And our belief is that at times when we went into the residence, although we were given limited access, they were using this location to hide the child.”

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Kimberly Cooper was also wanted on an active warrant for a separate charge, but in this case, she was charged with Custodial Interference in the 2nd Degree and Endangering the Welfare of a Child, according to WABC-TV.

Kirk Shultis Jr. and Kirk Shultis Sr. were both charged with Custodial Interference in the 1st Degree and Misdemeanor Endangering the Welfare of a Child, felonies.

“It’s nice to know that the child’s been located and that the child is healthy and safe,” Sinagra said. “That’s the most important thing at the end of the day.”

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.