Paislee Shultis’ parents’ home searched “multiple times” before girl was found

The six-year-old was found alive in a secret compartment under a staircase earlier this week.

The home of Paislee Shultis' parents was searched "multiple times" before she was eventually found there three years after going missing. Six-year-old Paislee was found alive in a secret compartment under a staircase with her mother at her grandfather's home in New York earlier this week. She was four-years-old when she was reported missing by her legal guardian after her parents, Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr., lost custody of her. Paislee has been returned to her guardian and has been reunited with her older sister. Police say that she is in good health and is carrying out "important activities" like going to school. As CNN reports, Paislee's non-custodial parents have been charged with custodial interference and endangering the welfare of a child. A third man has also been charged. It has since emerged that the home of Paislee's parents was searched "multiple times" following her disappearance. According to People, these searches were of "no avail", and Paislee's parents denied knowing her whereabouts. Yesterday, details of the recovery of Paislee made world news. Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra spoke to CBS New York about how they found Paislee after receiving information that she was at her grandfather's property. Sinagra said that an officer "noticed something about the staircase leading from the back of the residence into the basement of the house that caught his attention." He explained that "little feet" were spotted once a wooden panel underneath the staircase was removed. "After removing several more steps, the child and her abductor were discovered within [...] a makeshift room, under a closed staircase leading to the basement of the residence," he said. Paislee's grandfather, Kirk Shultis, said that he was "unaware" that she was being kept in that space. Images via Saugerties Police Department