According to attorney Carol Morgan, custody of Paislee Shultis has been returned to her mother, Kimberly Shultis. Criminal charges against Kimberley Shultis related to the alleged abduction have been adjourned contemplating dismissal. Paislee and her mother were found hiding beneath a staircase in a Saugerties home last year more than two years after the girl was reported missing.
On February 14, 2022, Saugerties Police received information that Paislee Shultis was being held in a residence at 35 Fawn Road, the home of her paternal grandparents. That evening, with assistance from the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and uniformed troopers, executed a search on the residence, where they said paternal grandfather Kirk Shultis, Sr. denied knowing of Paislee’s whereabouts and told them he hadn’t seen her since she was reported missing in July 2019 from Cayuga Heights in Tompkins County by her maternal grandmother, her court-appointed guardian.
During the search, 6-year-old Paislee and her mother Kimberley were found in a small, dark and damp space beneath a closed staircase leading to the basement. Kimberley, then 33, was charged with custodial interference and endangering the welfare of a child. She was also wanted on an active warrant of arrest issued through Ulster Family Court. Additionally, Paislee’s father, Kirk Shultis, Jr., 32, was charged with felony custodial interference and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child. Kirk Shultis, Sr., 57, was similarly charged.
This week, Morgan, who represented Kimberly Shultis in court, released a custodial update statement, saying that both Paislee and her older sister were together with their mother.
“These children were happy, they are happy, they were not locked under any stairs, they are back with their mom and the rest of their extended family consisting of grandparents, aunts, uncles and many cousins, and the girls will continue to flourish with the love they deserve,” said Morgan.
Morgan added that after the story was reported nationwide, rumors of the Fawn Road home containing a hidden secret apartment and a system of escape routes, and that Paislee was found in a locked box began to spread. Morgan said these rumors were false.
“None of these things were true,” Morgan said in her statement. “It must be clear that what is reported by ‘reliable sources’ in the press are not always true and they do not reflect the intricacies of every case.”
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