Young girl missing since 2019 is found alive under a staircase in New York 

A 6-year-old girl who went missing in 2019 was found alive by police in a secret room under a staircase in New York.

Paislee Shultis was found in Saugerties, south of Albany, on Monday after authorities received a tip that she was at her grandfather's house, said the Saugerties Police Department.

Officers found the girl after spotting her feet in a hidden space under a staircase that seemed suspicious. The police described the room as “small, cold, and wet.”

“Detectives used a tool to remove several of the wooden steps, and that is when detectives saw a pair of tiny feet,” NBC News reported. “After removing several more steps, the child and her abductor were discovered within.”

In 2019, Paislee’s parents, Kimberly Cooper and Kirk Shultis, lost custody of their two daughters. When authorities were supposed to take the children, their parents fled with Paislee. Her older sister was at school at the time.

Police had suspected Cooper and Shultis of kidnapping Paislee. However, they had not found anything in previous searches of the home.

“A number of times we would go there, and sometimes, we were met with resistance, and at other times, they’d say, ‘Oh, no, you can come in and look around. There’s nobody here. The child’s not here,’ ” he said.

“And our belief is that at times when we went into the residence, although we were given limited access, they were using this location to hide the child,” Sinagra said.

Paislee was taken to a hospital for examination and was found in good condition. She was later reunited with her older sister.

Paislee’s parents and grandfather were charged with custodial interference and child endangerment.