Inside how tip led police to find Paislee Shultis, 6, hidden in secret room 150 miles from where she was ‘kidnapped’

PAISLEE Shultis has been found safe in a secret room 150 miles from where she disappeared in upstate New York in 2019.

A tip led investigators back to a home they've previously searched on Fawn Road in Saugerties, New York. This time, they found the girl in a secret compartment under a staircase.

5

5

5

5

5

The discovery was made on February 14. The secret staircase room was described by Saugerties police as "dark and wet."

Police had previously visited the home multiple times in their search for the now-six-year-old, as they have long suspected Paislee's non-custodial biological mother and father, Kim Cooper and Kirk Shultis, had kidnapped the girl, according to .

Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra, speaking to , said they had been to that location "a number of times."

But a new tip came in, leading police to obtain a search warrant for the residence, according to a Saugerties Police Department . Officials had been searching the home for "a little over an hour" before one cop made the staircase discovery.

“He took a flashlight and looked between the cracks between the steps," Sinagra told CBS2.

"He saw what he thought it was a blanket, and at that point they used a halogen tool, a forcible entry tool, and they started ripping the steps off the staircase, itself. At one point they saw little feet, as he put it."

Most read in US News

LOST ANGELES

Moment dawn breaks over LA as wildfires rage & officials warn ‘worse to come’

WALL OF FLAMES

Deadly LA fires are 'most destructive in history' as 'source' of blaze IDed

CITY OF FLAMES

Interactive map reveals LA wildfire hotspots & celeb homes under threat

STUCK IN HELL

Vid shows LA locals SURROUNDED by wildfires in desperate bid to outrun blaze

Cooper was found hiding with Paislee in the enclosure.

Sinagra said it is believed Paislee had been in the Saugerties home for the duration of her disappearance.

"The child did not appear to be abused," Sinagra said.

Though it was noted that she could not read nor write, and had not been provided any education within the home, Paislee was found in good health otherwise.

MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE

Paislee had last been seen in July 2019 at the home of her legal guardians in Spencer, New York.

It is believed that Cooper and Shultis took the girl from that location and have been hiding her since.

Kim Cooper and Kirk Shultis did not have custody of Paislee, which Sinagra notes they lost at some point in 2019.

"There was a reason why they lost custody of the children," Sinagra said, adding that Paislee's older sister has been with her legal guardian since 2019.

Cooper has been charged with custodial interference in the second degree and endangering the welfare of a child. She was also wanted on an active warrant, according to the .

Shultis has been charged with felony custodial interference in the first degree and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child, as he has denied knowing the girl's location multiple times since her disappearance, according to the press release.

Shultis' father and owner of the Saugerties home, Kirk Shultis Sr., was also charged with felony custodial interference in the first degree and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child, as it was revealed he lied to cops about his knowledge of where Paislee was.

READ MORE SUN STORIES

ISLE BE OFF

Love Island fans spot clue celeb will QUIT All Stars on first day

TOT TRAGEDY

My baby boy died after doctors blamed weight gain on ‘teething & milk allergy’

"At the time of search warrant execution, the owner of the residence denied having any knowledge of the child's whereabouts telling officers that he had not seen the child since she was reported missing in 2019," the press release states.

Sinagra did not disclose the location of Paislee's current location due to safety concerns, but said she has been placed with her legal guardian and reunited with her sister.