Kidnapped girl missing for two years found alive in secret room under stairs

Paislee Shultis was abducted from her legal guardian two years ago, police found the little girl hidden under the stairs on Monday following a tip. Photo / Saugerties Police

A six-year-old girl who was abducted by her parents who lost custody of her has been found alive more than two years after she went missing.

Paislee Shultis was abducted in 2019 by her parents when she was just four, but was found by authorities inside a secret room under the staircase of their house in New York.

For two years her parents had been hiding out from police.

Investigators at the time suspected her biological parents, Kimberly Cooper, 33, and Kirk Shultis Jr, 32, were behind the abduction.

After getting a tip-off on Monday, officers searched the property with Shultis Jr telling police he had no idea where his daughter Paislee was.

During the search Detective Erik Thiele "noticed something about the staircase leading from the back of the residence into the basement of the house that caught his attention", according to a statement released on Tuesday.

The hidden room where the girl was found living under the stairs at her grandfather's house. Photo / Saugerties Police

Investigating further, he shined his torch inside the staircase where he found a pair of tiny feet.

After removing several steps officers found the child with her mother Cooper hidden in a makeshift room behind the stairs.

"The child was located secreted in a makeshift room, under a closed staircase leading to the basement of the residence," Saugerties Police said in a statement.

Paislee's non-custodial parents, Kirk Shultis Jr and Kimberly Cooper. Photo / NYSD

"Upon removing the step boards, the child and her abductor, Kimberly Cooper were found hiding in the dark and wet enclosure."

Cooper, Shultis, and his father, Kirk Shultis Sr, 57, were all arrested and charged with felony custodial interference and endangering the welfare of a child.