Two years after she disappeared, a six-year-old girl was found alive and in good health in a makeshift room under the stairs of a New York house, according to police who suspected she had been abducted by her biological parents, who did not have her guardian.
Police found the girl, Paislee Shultis, Monday in a home in Saugerties, two years after she disappeared from Spencer, New York, about 290km west, the Saugerties police department said in a statement.
Police believed her biological parents, Kimberly Cooper, 33, and Kirk Shultis Jr., 32, had abducted her. The couple did not have custody of the girl, police said.
On Monday, investigating authorities received information about the girl's whereabouts and approved the search warrant. They went to the girl's grandfather's house where they searched for about an hour before finding the child hiding in a makeshift room, down the stairs leading to the basement.
After removing the stairwells, the girl and her mother Kimberly were found hiding in a dark, damp room. The 6-year-old was taken to the police headquarters, where doctors examined her and expressed that she is in good health and was taken to her legal guardian.
Police arrested the girl's parents and grandfather, Kirk Shultis, 57. They face charges of interfering with custody and endangering a child's well-being. Police said they interviewed the father several times since the girl disappeared. He claimed he had no knowledge of her whereabouts and told officers he had not seen the child.
Source: Guardian
