My cat hid her kittens

Question
Hello, My cat gave birth to five kittens last Sunday. She is Siamese and this is her first litter.I had her in a spare room with a covered box with a blanket and newspaper which she seemed to like.I had the door open most of the time but a gate up that she can jump if she wants but our dog and other cat cannot jump over.This morning around 5:30 am my father-in-law(he rents our basement) woke us up and said he could hear squealing and crying of the kittens above his bedroom and he checked the cats nest and all the kittens were gone.So we know for sure that the kittens are in an area inaccessible to us between the ceiling of the basement and the floor.At first our cat just went back to her nest and started meowing and looking around like she didnt know where they went.Then she just had been laying around in her nest and around the house like she never had any kittens or something. So I put her on a ledge close to were the kittens were until she heard them crying and she has since gone back and is probably feeding them.I dont feel its a safe place for them especially if she is going to ignore them. And we are moving out of the house as soon as this weekend.We have tried putting a harness on her tied to a long rope and trying to prod her back to where they are and maybe banging on the ceiling to scare her and make her think its unsafe and take them out but so far it hasn't worked. I finally just let her go in along that last time and she hasn't come out yet. Is there anything we can do to convince her to take them back to the nest or at least out of that place?

Answer
Diana,

I am afraid, short of getting into the ceiling, there is no way I know of to convince your mama cat to bring out her kittens.

Banging on the ceiling and the like, will make her less likely to bring them out!!!!!

My expectation is that you may have to just go in and get her.

Best regards... Norm.