On Dec. 2, Saugerties police arrested Kirk D. Shultis Jr., 33 in connection with “several burglaries that occurred throughout the Town of Saugerties”. Shultis is the biological father of Paisley Shultis, who attracted international media attention after she was found hiding in “secret room” under a flight of stairs at his home following two years of being reported missing by her legal guardians.
Also arrested was Matthew S. Doyle, 40, another Saugerties resident, arrested just hours before Shultis Jr. Both received charges of felony burglary in the second degree and remanded to Ulster County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bail.
Shultis Jr. was already facing felony charges of custodial interference due to the alleged capture and hiding of his daughter, as was his father Kirk Shultis Sr and a woman named Kimberly Cooper. The trio were taken into custody in February of 2022 and pleaded not guilty. Custody of the girl had been granted to her grandmother after allegations of drug abuse and late-night partying, but in 2019 she went missing. She was found in Feb. 2022 sealed under a wooden staircase, in good health but not having not been to school or seen a doctor since her abduction. Police said they believe this enclosed space was used as a hiding spot for the child when they visited on numerous occasions to investigate her whereabouts.
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