Hide & Seek World Champion

[RPM 26,573]

Two years after 4-year-old was reported missing, police find her alive under staircase

(CNN)A New York girl reported missing in 2019 when she was 4 years old was found alive this week under a wooden staircase in a home that officials had visited several times while investigating her disappearance, authorities said Tuesday.

 

The child was reported missing on July 13, 2019, from Cayuga Heights, a village on the outskirts of Ithaca, New York. At the time, she was believed to have been abducted by her non-custodial parents, Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis Jr., police said in a news release.

 

Throughout the 2.5-year investigation, authorities received several tips about the Saugerties-area home where the child was eventually located -- but each time, the residents denied knowing anything about the girl's whereabouts, the release said. The town of Saugerties is about 160 miles east of Cayuga Heights.

 

"Each time, we were met with resistance from the occupants of the residence. We were told that the child was not there, that we were only harassing the family," Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra told HLN in an interview on Tuesday.

 

On several occasions, investigators were allowed into the home without a warrant, but they were given "limited access" by Kirk Shultis Jr. and Kirk Shultis Sr., the release added.

 

That changed Monday when police received information that the child was being hidden and got a search warrant for the home. Police executed that warrant a little after 8 p.m., the release said. The homeowner denied knowing the girl's whereabouts, saying he had not seen her since she was reported missing in 2019, the release added.

 

Something peculiar in a staircase

An hour into the search, one detective noticed that the steps leading to the basement were oddly constructed. The detective, Erik Thiele, pointed a flashlight through a crack in the wooden steps and saw what seemed to be a blanket, the release said.

 

Investigators removed several of the steps, the release added, and "that is when detectives saw a pair of tiny feet."

 

"The child and her abductor, Kimberly Cooper were found hiding in the dark and wet enclosure," the police release said. Authorities believe Cooper and the child had been staying at the home since they disappeared in 2019, Sinagra said, adding the staircase appeared to have been built to hide them both.

 

Police arrested the child's non-custodial parents as well as Shultis Sr., the release said.

 

 

Spoiler

Cooper was charged with two misdemeanors: custodial interference in the second degree and endangering the welfare of a child, and remains in jail because of a prior arrest warrant issued through family court, according to police.

 

Kirk Shultis Jr. and Kirk Shultis Sr. were each charged with custodial interference in the first degree, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. Both were arraigned and released on their own recognizance, police said. All three defendants were ordered by the court to stay away from the child.

 

CNN was unable to identify attorneys for the defendants or reach the three individuals or family members for comment.

One last stop: A McDonald's drive-thru

The young girl was "upset and was concerned" when police first rescued her, Sinagra said.

 

"That begs the question, what was the child told about the police and, you know, why the police would come and take her," Sinagra said. "That's what I'm concerned about. ... And I'm sure that when she saw several of our officers, who were heavily armed ... that was somewhat traumatizing to the child."

 

As detectives drove the girl to police headquarters, she saw a McDonald's and recalled having some a long time ago, the chief said.

 

"So, the detectives turned the car around and went to the drive-thru at McDonald's, picked her up a Happy Meal, and brought her back to headquarters. And she was fine after that," the chief added.

 

The child was found to be in good health and released to her legal guardian and reunited with her older sister, police said.

 

On Tuesday, "detectives met with the family that has the child, and she was in very good spirits," the chief said.

 

 

[Bevo 13,831]

So the biological parents abducted their child because the court said they weren't fit parents? I wonder how many years in prison they will get. It is pretty amazing that they were always the lead suspects but it took 2.5yrs to catch them and over an hour to find the child inside the house that they were searching.

[Homercles 10,206]

My wife told me about this last night, and like Marsellus Wallace, I ain’t gonna have no sense of humor about that shit.  It’s unreal that you can get just a few years in prison for potentially altering a young innocent little girl’s entire lifetime trajectory due to some custody beef.  

Will let the judicial process manage it…but the thought a kiddo old enough to have full awareness of their surroundings not being able to socialize, play outside, probably being fed scary lies to keep her compliant and overall probably having her ‘non custodial parent’-fed living nightmare come true when the police found her…it just breaks my heart.  
 

Edit to add that I’ve been watching the movie Parenthood on and off for like 30 years now.  It’s impact and memorable quotes have changed over the years as I’ve gone from kid, to adult, to husband snd father.  But today I’ll use:

”You need a license to buy a dog or drive a car.  Hell you need a license to catch a fish!  But they’ll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father”

Edited February 16, 2022 by Homercles

[Wulaw Horn 19,563]

Ok- so why did the guys get charged felony but the woman get charged with a misdemeanor?  What sense does that make as they were clearly all in this scheme together. 
seems like a case of undercharging all the way around. Why not kidnapping?  

[crash_davis 23,465]

what was the rationale for the courts to remove custody of the parents?

[Mrs Whiggins 13,050]

43 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Ok- so why did the guys get charged felony but the woman get charged with a misdemeanor?  What sense does that make as they were clearly all in this scheme together. 
seems like a case of undercharging all the way around. Why not kidnapping?  

A different article I spotted seemed to indicate that more charges may be forthcoming. The parents were living in a home owned by the bio-dad's father which I think is why he was charged as well.

[South Austin 53,158]

1 hour ago, Homercles said:

”You need a license to buy a dog or drive a car.  Hell you need a license to catch a fish!  But they’ll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father”

Great scene from a great movie.  That monologue from Keanu's character let me know that it was okay to masturbate as much as I did.

[smuggs 9,394]

[billfromlaketravis 11,791]

So the authorities "suspected" the non-custodial parents took the child, and it still took them 2 years to find the child. New York's Finest everyone. 

Edited February 16, 2022 by billfromlaketravis

[WBT 20,888]

Probably stopped looking for awhile when they couldn't get their no-knock warrant approved

[JohnnyRage 1,617]

Fuck your thread title.

[Homercles 10,206]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

Great scene from a great movie.  That monologue from Keanu's character let me know that it was okay to masturbate as much as I did.

The one that hits me the most as my kiddos age is grandpa telling Gil that ‘there is no end zone.  You never cross the goal line, spike the ball and do your touchdown dance’.  
 

It resonates with both myself, and my father when we’ve talked about it.  You never stop worrying about your kids.  I’m an established professional with a wife and two kids, and my dad still thinks about how I’m doing.  
 

That’s why these parents shoulda known better.  My (normally amazing) 8yo boy was a bit of a bully to a kiddo yesterday (he got picked on himself by another kid and was projecting) and won’t earn his electronics privileges back until he meets a few requirements and apologizes sincerely to the kid.  
 

When he got pouty I told him that everyone makes mistakes but it is how you respond that defines your character. So these parents obviously had issues and lacking any kind of moral character decided they’d potentially ruin their daughters mental health and development over a selfish urge.  Makes me sick and I agree the title is a misguided poor attempt at humor. 

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,669]

4 hours ago, RPM said:

And she was fine after that,"

i don't quite have the same faith in the healing powers of mcdonalds as police chief does.

2 hours ago, crash_davis said:

what was the rationale for the courts to remove custody of the parents?

a pair of kidnap prone pieces of human garbage? i'd wager there was some just cause.

[Wally Fairway 5,664]

Misleading thread title 

Jaycee Dugard and the 3 Cleveland kidnapping victims all did a decade, Dugard 18 years. And those are just the ones that jump into my weird ass memory

 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,999]

1 hour ago, WBT said:

Probably stopped looking for awhile when they couldn't get their no-knock warrant approved

Gotta make sure they don't flush any  kids down the toilet.

[Trey3216 15,451]

1 hour ago, JohnnyRage said:

Fuck your thread title.

Yep.  I find no humor in this story whatsoever.