News
4-year-old girl missing since 2019 found alive, hidden under stairs in New York, police say
A girl who went missing more than two years ago at the age of 4 was found alive by police on Monday, hidden underneath a staircase in a New York home.
Paislee Shultis, now 6, was found at a residence in Saugerties, about 45 miles south of Albany, on Monday night after authorities received a tip regarding her whereabouts, according to the Saugerties Police Department.
Officers found the young girl after an hour of searching in a makeshift room under a staircase leading to the basement.
Detective Erik Thiele noted that something appeared odd about the staircase and saw a blanket after flashing a light between the steps.
“However, Detectives used a … tool to remove several of the wooden steps, and that is when detectives saw a pair of tiny feet,” police said in a statement on Tuesday. “After removing several more steps, the child and her abductor were discovered within. The space was small, cold, and wet.”
Paramedics examined Paislee and after determining her to be in good health, she was returned to her legal guardian, police said.
Paislee was reported missing from Cayuga Heights in July 2019, and authorities believe she was taken by her “non-custodial parents.” Cayuga Heights is about 160 miles west of Saugerties.
Kimberly Cooper, Kirk Shultis, Jr. and Kirk Shultis, Sr., were arrested and charged in Paislee’s disappearance.
Police had previously followed leads to the residence where Paislee was ultimately found, but said that each time the residents had “denied any knowledge of the little girl’s whereabouts.”
“During some of the follow ups to the Fawn Road location, authorities were permitted limited access into the residence to look around for the child, by both Kirk Shultis Sr and Jr. … knowing the child and her abductor were hidden within the house and would not be found,” police said.
Paislee Shultis was found being held within a hidden location at a residence in Saugerties, N.Y. (Saugerties Police Dept. )
Both Shultis’ were charged with one count each of felony of custodial interference in the first degree and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.
Cooper was charged with custodial interference in the second degree and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child. She was remanded into custody for an outstanding warrant issued in Ulster County Family Court.
Shultis, Jr., and Shultis, Sr., were released on their own recognizance, according to police. Neither Shultis was available following a phone call from NBC News to the residence where Paislee was found.
A number listed for Cooper was not in service Tuesday and she could not be reached for comment.
Orders of protection were issued against all three defendants.
News
‘I’ll bring my plane… I plan on keeping it for another four years’ – Biden on second debate with Trump
President Biden and former President Trump agreed to hold a second debate Sept. 10 hosted by ABC News.
The two candidates had already accepted an invitation earlier Wednesday to attend a CNN debate on June 27, and both confirmed later in the day on social media that they plan to attend the ABC debate in September.
“I’ve also received and accepted an invitation to a debate hosted by ABC on Tuesday, September 10th,” Biden posted on the social platform X. “Trump says he’ll arrange his own transportation. I’ll bring my plane, too. I plan on keeping it for another four years.”
Biden, of course, is referring to the presidential jet, Air Force One.
“It is my great honor to accept the CNN Debate against Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST PRESIDENT in the History of the United States and a true Threat to Democracy, on June 27th,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Likewise, I accept the ABC News Debate against Crooked Joe on September 10th.”
It marked a whirlwind few hours that started with Biden’s campaign publicly proposing two deabtes in June and September and ended with both candidates agreeing to a date and host.
ABC News had planned to host a GOP primary debate in New Hampshire, but it was canceled after Trump and Nikki Haley said they would not attend. Martha Raddatz of ABC co-moderated one of the 2016 presidential debates; the network did not host a debate in 2020.
The candidates have chosen to go around the Commission on Presidential Debates, the organization that has arranged the showdowns dating back to 1988.
Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon suggested working with outlets that hosted GOP primary debates in 2016 and Democratic primary debates in 2020 to avoid any perceptions of bias.
ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Women Affairs says it is investigating a plan by a lawmaker in central Niger state to marry off some 100 female orphans of unknown ages later this month.
Speaker of the Niger State Assembly Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji announced the mass wedding last week but called off the ceremony following widespread outrage.
Minister of Women Affairs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, condemned the plans.
Kennedy-Ohanenye said she had petitioned the police and filed a lawsuit to stop the marriages pending an investigation to ascertain the age of the orphans and whether they consented to the marriages.
“This is totally unacceptable by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and by the government” of Nigeria, she said.
Last week, Sarkin-Daji announced his support for the mass wedding of the orphans, whose relatives were killed during attacks by armed bandits. He said it was part of his support to his constituents following an appeal for wedding funding by local traditional and religious leaders.
The mass wedding had been scheduled for May 24.
“That support I intend to give for the marriage of those orphans, I’m withdrawing it,” he said. “The parents can have the support [money], if they wish, let them go ahead and marry them off. As it is right now, I’m not threatened by the action of the minister.”
Despite national laws prohibiting it, forced or arranged marriage is a common phenomenon in Nigeria, especially among rural communities in the predominantly Muslim north, where religious and cultural norms such as polygamy favor the practice.
Poor families often use forced marriage to ease financial pressure, and the European Union Agency for Asylum says girls who refuse could face repercussions such as neglect, ostracism, physical assault and rape.
Raquel Kasham Daniel escaped being married off as a teenager when her father died and now runs a nonprofit helping children, especially less-privileged girls, get a formal education for free.
She said the ability of women to avoid forced marriage in Nigeria depends on their income and education.
“I was 16 when I lost my dad and I was almost married off, but then I ran away from home. And that gave me the opportunity to complete my education, and now I have a better life,” Daniel said.
“So, the reason why I prioritize education is to make sure that other girls have access to quality schooling so that it will help them make informed decisions about their lives. Education not only increases our awareness as girls about our rights but also enhances our prospects for higher income earning,” she said.
Thirty percent of girls in Nigeria are married before they turn 18, according to Girls Not Brides, a global network of more than 1,400 civil society groups working to end child marriage.
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