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

(CNN)A child who was reported missing in 2019 when she was 4 years old was found hidden under a wooden staircase with her noncustodial mother, in a home officials had visited several times while investigating her disappearance, authorities said.

The child, Paislee Joann Shultis, now 6, was reported missing on July 13, 2019, from Cayuga Heights, a village on the outskirts of Ithaca, New York. At the time, she was believed to have been abducted by her noncustodial parents, Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr., police said in a news release.
Paislee and her mother were found Monday when investigators spotted "a pair of tiny feet" in a secret space under wooden steps leading to a basement.

"We should all wait until the facts come out," said Carol K. Morgan, who represents Cooper. "Everyone should be patient before they draw their own conclusions."

In the basement of the house, detectives searching for the girl found an apartment, including a bedroom with Paislee's name on a wall, Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra told CNN on Wednesday. The bed appeared to have been slept in.

"Our officers asked, 'Is she here?' ... And they denied that anybody was living in that house, in that particular room," the chief said in an interview. "They said they had set the room up like that in the event that Paislee should ever return..."



One last stop: A McDonald's drive-thru

The young girl was "upset and was concerned" when police first rescued her, Sinagra said.

"That begs the question, what was the child told about the police and, you know, why the police would come and take her," Sinagra said. "That's what I'm concerned about. ... And I'm sure that when she saw several of our officers, who were heavily armed ... that was somewhat traumatizing to the child."

Before she was released to her legal guardian, detectives drove the girl to police headquarters, in part so medics could examine her. As they drove, she saw a McDonald's and recalled having some a long time ago, the chief said.

"So, the detectives turned the car around and went to the drive-through at McDonald's, picked her up a Happy Meal, and brought her back to headquarters. And she was fine after that," the chief added.
An investigation is ongoing, police said.

"We don't know what Paislee lived (through) for the past two years," Sinagra said.
"And we don't know what kind of damage may have been done because of the conditions that she had to live under."

CNN's Jessica Prater and Kiely Westhoff contributed to this report.


The full article at [www.cnn.com]

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An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

absolutely heart wrenching. I can't even imagine.

i am so confused. Are the noncustodial parents a stepmom and bio dad? Was the mother she was found with her stepmom or her bio mom? What relationship is the legal guardian to the child?

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The non-custodial parents were her biological mother and father.

The father's father was also involved.

I don't know if Paslee's legal guardian is related.

She has a sister who is in another guardian's care.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

She was also able to visit with her sister, and remembered her.

I hope some more details are forthcoming.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

What? An unhealthy Happy Meal? Monsters! I hope they got her the apple slices and not the fries.

Quote
RAMd®d
The non-custodial parents were her biological mother and father.

The father's father was also involved.

I don't know if Paslee's legal guardian is related.

She has a sister who is in another guardian's care.

How badly did both mom & dad have to behave to lose custody of all their kids?

Any criminal records?

How badly did both mom & dad have to behave to lose custody of all their kids?

Any criminal records?


I wondered the same thing.

I haven't seen anything about that, yet.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say "drugs" were somehow involved in the biological parents losing custody.

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