Parents, grandfather of Paislee Shultis appear in court after she's found alive, hidden beneath basement stairs
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. - There's an update on the case of the girl found safe after being missing for more than two years.
Paislee Shultis was 4 when she disappeared from Cayuga Heights in 2019 after her parents lost custody.
She was located Monday night, hiding in a secret space inside her grandfather's home in Saugerties in Ulster County.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reports, Paislee's father, mother and grandfather made brief court appearances late Wednesday afternoon.
Kimberly Cooper was brought into the municipal building after making bail. She hid her face and said nothing on the way in, surrounded by a crush of cameras.
Kirk Shultis Jr. and Sr. said nothing on their way in or out.
Police say the men hid the fact that Paislee and her mom where living in Kirk Shultis, Sr.'s home for two years, pretending that the mom and daughter were missing and they had no idea where she might be.
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Saugerties cops made repeated visits to the Shultis home, even looking around inside, but always leaving empty-handed until a tip gave them probably cause to get a warrant. During a search Monday night, a sharp-eyed cop noticed something wrong with the basement stairs, and they found Paislee hiding with her mom.
Police believe the girl had been living in the home, not attending school, for two years - and hiding in that secret space whenever police arrived.
The parents temporarily lost custody in 2019, just before the then-4-year-old went missing.
We do not know why the parents initially lost custody, but Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra says their actions may have made it a lot harder for them to ever regain it.
"We're not here to hurt them. If they had complied with that court order two years ago, depending on what the deficiency was within the household that caused a judge to remove those children, there's a good possibility that they could've take corrective action, and today they would have full custody of those kids. Now, I don't know again what that deficiency was, so that may or may not be the case," Sinagra said.
But he says there could be a scenario where the family is reunited.
"I am hoping that some time in future that the family has learned from this, and that with proper services put in place by county social services, by the Ulster County Family Child Advocacy Center, and by CPS, that eventually the family will gain the right to actually get the custody of the kids, which is ultimately what we're looking for," he said.
The mother, father and grandfather all face charges of interfering with custodial rights and endangering the welfare of the child. As CBS2's Ali Bauman reports, we're told prosecutors are considering upgrading those charges or filing more.
Police don't believe Paislee, now 6, was mistreated in any way nor was she abused. They believe she had her own bedroom in the home and hid beneath the stairs with her mom whenever cops came knocking.
Paislee is now back with her sister and their legal guardian. Police say the child is in good health but likely had not seen a doctor in the two years she was hidden.
She also wasn't going to school and can't read or write.
Detectives have been in touch with Paislee. They went to McDonald's together after she was rescued.
