Police in the US state of New York have found a 6-year-old girl who has been hidden under the stairs of her grandfather’s house since 2019.
When she was kidnapped at the age of 4, it was suspected that she had been taken by her parents, who were to be deprived of their parental guardianship over her.
The police said that they “actually went to the house several times, but everyone denied knowing anything. This time they had a search warrant, and after searching for about an hour, one of the policemen there thought something was going on and incomprehensible.”
According to New York Police Chief Joseph Sinagra, the investigator “said there was something strange about the stairs. The way they were built, the way he felt when he was walking on them.”
Sinagra added that the investigator “took a close look at the ladder. There was a crack between two boards. He used a flashlight, looked in there, and saw what he thought was a blanket below. So they used a tool and started removing the ladder boards. Then they found two little feet.”
The bare feet are for the little girl who was left hidden in a box under the stairs. She was cold and wet, and he didn’t know how long she was down.
Her real mother was also found there with her, and the parents and grandfather were arrested and charged after that, before they were released later on orders to stay away from this child.
According to the police, the girl was in good health, while she was later reunited with her older sister and legal guardian.