New York police have long-suspected that Paislee Shultis was abducted by her biological parents.- But it was a "fresh" and "concrete" tip that finally led cops to get a search warrant and discover the girl hidden under a staircase in a New York home.
Cops have long-suspected that Paislee Shultis was abducted by her biological parents. But, it was a "fresh" and "concrete" tip by a local that finally led authorities to obtain a search warrant this week and discover the missing youngster hidden under the staircase of her paternal grandfather's New York home.
Before this week, authorities never received a tip "this concrete that we could corroborate and that was as fresh as this tip was," Chief Joseph Sinagra of the Saugerties Police Department told Insider on Friday.
Little Paislee was 4-years-old when she was reported
Authorities believe that the child, now 6, was taken by her biological parents, Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr., after the couple lost custody of Paislee and her sister. It is unclear why they lost custody.
Cooper, Shultis Jr., and Kirk Shultis Sr. were arrested on charges of custodial interference and endangering the welfare of a child after Paislee was found on Monday in a sealed area under the staircase of Shultis Sr.'s upstate New York home.
Sinagra told Insider on Friday that though authorities suspected Paislee was being hidden inside the home, they never had the probable cause they needed to obtain a search warrant until Monday.
Sinagra, who declined to comment on the specifics of the tip, said a "community member" provided "factual information and information that was timely and ripe" to authorities.
"That was the first time in this particular case over the two-year period that we actually had somebody that provided information that was so fresh, that can be corroborated," Sinagra said, explaining, "That's why in the past we weren't able to apply for a search warrant."
Since Paislee was reported missing, authorities received more than a dozen tips that only amounted to "hearsay," often with stale information, Sinagra said. And over the last two years, cops visited the Saugerties home up to 12 times and were given "limited access" to the residence, he said.
Cops would go to the home and confront the parents with the tips they had that Paislee was inside, "And they would say, 'No, they're lying. It's not true. She's not here," Sinagra said.
"On very limited occasions, officers would be allowed to walk into the house," Sinagra said, noting that cops were never given access to the basement where police ultimately found a "full apartment" complete with a "kitchen, living room, a master bedroom, Paislee's bedroom."
The chief added: "Until we actually had that information that we could definitively say we are 99.9% sure that this girl is in that house, we were unable to get a search warrant."
A door that was right off Paislee's bedroom went directly to the staircase where the child was found with her mother, said Sinagra.
Paislee was discovered in the dark, cramped space after a detective "felt that there was something odd" about the staircase that showed signs that screws were removed a number of times, Sinagra said.
"There's questions as to whether or not [Paislee] was receiving any type of medical attention," he said. "In our interview with Paislee, it was obvious she didn't read or write. So she wasn't being home schooled."
The child is now in the custody of her legal guardian, police said.
Her parents and grandfather have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
A lawyer for Cooper, Paislee's mother, declined to comment to Insider on Friday.
Shultis Jr.'s attorney, Ann Weaver, told Insider that her client "has been fighting for his children for the past two-and-a-half years in family court without a final resolution of the case."
"He has never relinquished custody of his children," Weaver said, adding, "It is ludicrous to think he would place his children in harm's way or endanger their welfare in any manner."
Weaver continued, "The true facts of this case will be forthcoming and they will reveal that Mr. Shultis is a devoted, dedicated and loving father to his children."
A lawyer for Shultis Sr. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.