Image source, SAUGERTIES POLICE
Baisley was reported missing in July 2019
Police in the U.S. state of New York say a teenager who went missing in 2019 has been found alive in a secret room at the bottom of the stairs.
Paisley Schultz, now 6, was found in a house in the town of Socrates after a search on Monday.
Police say he is in good health and has now reunited with his legal guardian and older sister.
He is accused of interfering in his custody by his parents who are not his legal guardians and endangering the welfare of the child.
In July 2019, Baisley went missing from the district of Theoca in New York, according to a police report. He was four years old then.
Authorities at the time believed he had been abducted by his parents, 33-year-old Kimberly Cooper and 32-year-old Kerk Schultz Jr.
Based on information that Paisley was being held in a secret location in the town of Socrates in Ulster County, police obtained a warrant to search the home and conduct a search.
Kerk Schultz Sr., 57, the owner of the home, was present during the police search. He also told police he did not know where Baisley was.
But during the search, which lasted more than an hour, one of the detectives noticed that the stairs leading to the basement of the house were strangely built.
After removing several of the boards, police found Paisley and Ms Cooper hiding in what they described as a “small, cold and damp” block.
Paisley was examined by paramedics and told he was OK.
Baisley’s biological parents have lost legal custody of him and his older sister. Police believe that was the motive behind Baisley’s abduction.
“We believe … someone told the parents that the senior child was taken away by the legal guardian and district officials at the time, so the parents picked up Paisley and fled,” Socrates police chief Joseph Sinagra told the WNYT news channel.
Cooper, Schultz Jr. and Schultz Sr. were all arrested and charged with Paisley’s disappearance. Later, both father and son were released. The case is pending trial.
Cooper is in Ulster District Jail because he already has a warrant.
The police report says that an investigation is underway and many more are to be arrested.
The National Center for Missing Children says most of the children reported missing in the United States are being found safely in a relatively short period of time.
But the organization also says that on average, child abductions by family members go missing for more than 10 months on average.
