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Kimberly Cooper, 33, and Kirk Shultis Jr., 32, were arrested Monday night after police found 6-year-old Paislee Shultis being held in a dark, dank room under the stairs in a Saugerties house. She was kept isolated from society for more than two years.
After rescuing Paislee, who was reportedly in good health, detectives treated the girl to a McDonald’s Happy Meal after escorting her out of the house.
Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra told CBS New York that the girl was on her way to the police station when they passed the fast food restaurant. She told the officers that she hadn’t eaten there in a long time, prompting them to turn around and buy her food.
Family
After being ‘released in good health’, Paislee was reunited with her older sister and unnamed legal guardian. However, authorities have expressed concern for her emotional, social, and academic well-being.
‘Number one, this girl didn’t get a chance to go to school. We are pretty sure that she was probably not receiving proper medical care,” Sinagra said.
“Obviously the family just couldn’t get her to a doctor because she was a missing person. The other concern is that you have a son who does not write or read because she did not have the opportunity to go to school. They will now.
Kidnapping
Paislee, then 4 years old, was reported missing in July 2019 after she was taken from her legal guardian’s home in Cayuga Heights, located approximately 162 miles from where she was found Tuesday. It is not clear why her parents lost custody of her daughter.
Police had long suspected that Cooper and Shultis had kidnapped the girl and believed she was being held at the Saugerties home that belonged to her grandfather, Kirk Shultis Sr.
The police searched the property many times, but found nothing. Residents repeatedly ‘denied any knowledge of the girl’s whereabouts’.
However, this week a notice came in saying the girl was being held at the home, resulting in officers obtaining a warrant to search the property.
Saugerties Detective Erik Thiele
During the search, Saugerties Detective Erik Thiele “noticed something on the stairway leading from the rear of the residence to the basement of the home that caught his attention.”
“He took a flashlight and looked through the cracks between the steps,” Sinagra told the television station.
“He saw what he thought was a blanket, at which point they used a halogen tool, a forced entry tool, and they started ripping up the steps of the ladder. At one point they saw little feet, as he said.
Charged and Arrested
Shultis and her father, Kirk Shultis Sr., were arrested and each charged with one count of felony custodial interference in the first degree and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.
Both were released on bail Tuesday morning.
Cooper was charged with Custodial Interference in the Second Degree and Misdemeanor Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
He is still behind bars in the Ulster County Jail on a pending warrant issued by the Ulster County Family Court. It is not clear what that charge is.
Protective orders have been issued against all three suspects and none have been charged with kidnapping. Saugerties police say additional arrests are pending.
