AYLA REYNOLDS - 20 Months - Waterville ME

And the POS father refused to speak to Ayla's mother from day one.

Guess if you just don't talk and make the body disappear you can get by with murdering babies and children.

She was soooo beautiful. The picture of her bruised and battered is heartbreaking.

WATERVILLE — Another vigil for missing child Ayla Reynolds is scheduled for this weekend.

The Teddy Bear Vigil will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at Castonguay Square. Organizers will distribute free bracelets and nightlights. Participants are asked to bring donations of teddy bears, according to organizer Laurie Bingham.

The teddy bears will either be delivered to a shrine near the Violette Avenue home where Ayla was reported missing on Dec. 17, or they will be donated to police or other agencies that help children cope with emergencies, she said.

Bingham, 46, is a Waterville resident with three children and a 20-month-old grandson. Ayla's disappearance felt personal, she said.

"It struck my heart. I just wanted to do anything I could to help Ayla," she said. "From day one, I just couldn't get this case off my mind."

About a month ago, she started the Facebook page "Laurie Bingham Ayla's Angels" to sustain awareness of the missing toddler.

"I wanted it to be a voice for Ayla," Bingham said of the site. "No one else was doing that. My page is about Ayla."

There are almost 20 different Facebook pages and several blogs devoted to the ongoing investigation.

Some sites take clear sides between the tot's maternal and paternal families. Some sites disparage all parties, including law enforcement and the media.

Bingham, who has no relation or friendships with anyone involved, said the bickering is a distraction.

"I got so angry that everybody was arguing about stuff, and no one was concentrating on Ayla," she said. "I run (the site) as if she was my granddaughter, because in my heart she is. And my main goal is to get her name out there."

Nonetheless, Bingham said, she doesn't censor others' opinions or theories.

"I try to keep my personal opinion out of the page, but everybody else, I let them say what they want," she said.

The group of roughly 400 members is relatively small compared to many other sites, but it continues to grow, she said.

"We're building an army of angels for Ayla," she said.

http://www.htrnews.com/usatoday/article/38706775?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs

Too many vigils, not enough action.

Another "missing" baby girl that raises my hinky meter.

It's been more than a month since police announced a major development in the case of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds, but interest is still thriving on social media.
There are almost 20 different Facebook pages and several blogs dedicated to the Waterville toddler.

Cases such as Ayla's are a natural fit for social media because people can use those tools to organize events, offer support to families and, in some instances, find the missing. Users are also free to express their own theories and stoke rumors, which have the potential to devastate the families of the missing and ignite violence.

HIGH INTEREST

For the past eight years, Tim Caya of Brookings, S.D., has been spreading the word about missing persons through social media. Most recently, his Facebook group Find Ayla Reyolds... has recruited more than 15,000 members from throughout the United States.

Caya's interest in missing person cases dates back to 2006, when he read about a Nebraska judge who gave a light sentence to a convicted sex offender. Outraged, Caya turned to social media.

Through his MySpace page, Missing, Caya posted information on select cases from all across the United States, and attracted 1.7 million followers, according to the site.

Late last year, Caya took the Missing concept to Facebook. In five months, the group has attracted more than 12,000 members.

The Find Ayla group has outpaced his other page by a few thousand members, despite the fact he started it a few months later.

Caya said not all missing person cases spark equal interest among followers, but he's not surprised by the heavy interest about the one in Waterville.

"In a case like Ayla's, people want to get involved just because she's so cute. She's got blond hair, blue eyes," he said.

Interest in the case isn't restricted to social media, according to Jeff Hanson, Ayla's step-grandfather.

On Dec. 31, Hanson, a hobbyist web designer, launched aylareynolds.com. Since then, the site has been visited nearly 1 million times. On Jan. 30, the day after Hanson issued a statement that police had discovered Ayla's blood in the basement of the home where she was last seen, the site had more than 250,000 hits.

Hanson said there's a simple reason for the interest in the site.

"You've got a baby missing, she's wearing pajamas that say 'Daddy's Princess' on it and she's got a cast on her arm -- what's up with that? That just piques peoples' curiosity to begin with," he said. "Then, the more people find out about it, the more people get upset about it."

EXPLAINING THE INTEREST

Humans are hard-wired to solve problems and find order in the world, according to Bill Thornton, a professor of social psychology at the University of Southern Maine.

For that reason, missing person cases are inherently interesting. But missing child cases are more compelling, he said.

"We can always say missing adults should have known better, but children are defenseless. They're innocent," he said.

Missing children cases tend to interest people with children, because parents can better imagine the heartache involved, he said.

Of missing child cases, stranger abductions create the strongest reactions, because people feel threatened by randomness, he said. When a child disappears at the hands of a relative, it can be easier to accept because people don't need to fear for their own children.

If the answer remains unknown, it can create anxiety, he said.

It makes sense that people's interest in such cases would emerge on social media sites, he said. There, people can offer support to families, maintain hope, indulge morbid curiosity, try to crack the case or express frustration at the pace of the investigation.

Thornton added that television shows such as CSI give people unrealistic standards.

"One problem with TV is crimes get solved quickly. You're at the crime scene and the investigator says he'll have the DNA analysis for you in the afternoon," Thornton said. "It doesn't happen that way. It doesn't happen that quickly, and it's frustrating when we see it going on and on and on."

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Social media has proven itself to be a powerful tool in missing person cases.

Caya's efforts on Facebook and MySpace have brought at least three people home, he said.

As recently as January, Caya's Facebook posts included information about Kennedy Keels, a teenage runaway from Columbus, Ohio. Caya "friended" Keels' friends and family through the site, and they shared Caya's group with other friends.

Caya said one of Keels' friends knew where she was, but didn't realize she had run away. "She went over to talk to her and convinced her to go home," he said.

The whole process took less than a week, he said.

Keels' case, however, is a rare exception.

Most of the time, social media is a tool for spreading awareness about missing people and supporting the families involved. Sometimes, however, the comments can be used to spread rumors.

Cynthia Caron is president and founder of LostNMissing, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the families of missing persons. Caron is providing assistance for Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds.

Caron said the best use for social media in this case is distributing posters, not gossip.

"I really believe that if someone genuinely wants to help, then the best way to help is to keep posting posters. Get the posters out there," she said.

If someone feels compelled to make a Facebook site, then they should follow some guidelines, Caron said.

"Make it so there are no comments," she said. "It should be specifically set up for news, media releases and posters of the person that's missing or pictures or videos."

Online comments can be hurtful to families, she said.

"The problem (with social media) is when people come up with their own theories and gossip," Caron said. "They're not thinking of the families. That's extremely hurtful. This is not a TV show for them. It's not a blog or forum or a computer screen. This is real life. They are literally going to bed every night without knowing where on earth their child is. This is real for them and it does not help when there's so much going on to have gossip."

In some cases, users will profess to know the family or investigators, she said.

"Trolls will come in and say terrible things," she said. "They'll give ridiculous information that is absolutely not true."

Trista Reynolds said she has seen both extremes from commenters.

"I do appreciate how much people are keeping her name, her picture and her story going, but it is a little too much at times," she said.

One aspect is that commenters sometimes express feelings of kinship or ownership of Ayla, she said.

"Some people are saying that she's their adopted grandchild now, or she's their adopted daughter, and that's not flying with me," she said.

There also is a fair amount of cruelty.

"If you're not going to be nice, then don't go onto these websites and say mean, hurtful things. If you're not being supportive, then keep your mouth shut," she said.

Nonetheless, some comments are meaningful.

"There are some people who are so nice and so wonderful and always have amazing, thoughtful things to say. They actually keep my spirits held pretty high," she said.

Facebook mirrors society, said Chris Brogan, president of Human Business Works, a Maine and Massachusetts company that helps devise social media strategies.

"If you think about Facebook as being like a town common, there's always going to be an opportunity for people to pull out their pitchforks and torches and try to burn the monster," he said. "But, it's like anything. No technology is evil. It's how we use it that can be evil."

Last month, Waterville police cited Jeremy Hanson, 19, of Clinton on a charge of vandalizing after he smashed windows at 29 Violette Ave., the home from where Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, reported her missing.

When police questioned Hanson, he said he was angry over the things he read on Facebook, according to police Chief Joseph Massey.

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said social media are not to blame in that incident.

"It's an aberration that could just as easily have been incited by reading a morning story in the Sentinel," he said.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/ayla-reynolds-case-stays-alive-on-social-media_2012-03-05.html

When the paternal family of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds was
displaced from their home by a two-week forensic investigation, a family
in a neighboring town offered them food, clothing and a place to stay.
And the family that supported the DiPietros then continues to support them now.
The Tudela family of Winslow has known Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro,
since he was in grade school. They said they don't believe DiPietro is
capable of hurting his daughter, they contend a kidnapping scenario is
plausible and they said the public should keep an open mind.
Investigators say a kidnapping did not happen, but Darrell, Heidi and Derek Tudela
and DiPietro said they believe Ayla is alive somewhere, and if public
opinion grows to exclude that possibility, they believe an abductor
could eventually hide the toddler in plain sight.
In a recent interview, the Tudelas and DiPietro also briefly spoke about the
discovery of blood in the Waterville home from where Ayla disappeared,
and a life insurance policy that the Tudela's son sold to DiPietro a few
months ago.
'Nowhere to go'
On the night of Dec. 16, there
were six people at 29 Violette Ave.: DiPietro and his daughter, Ayla;
his sister, Elisha DiPietro, and her daughter; and his girlfriend,
Courtney Roberts, and her son, according to police.
The next morning, DiPietro dialed 911 to report Ayla missing.
After
police responded, the DiPietros and Roberts cooperated with the
investigation by voluntarily turning over the home, computers,
cellphones and all other possessions to police, DiPietro said. Police
also impounded DiPietro's SUV and Roberts' car.
With only the
clothes on their backs and no place to turn, DiPietro called one of his
best friends, Derek Tudela, to ask for help.
Tudela then talked to his mother, Heidi Tudela.
"Derek
called me up and said that Justin, his mom, his sister, Courtney and
two babies had nowhere to go," she recalled. "They had no home. They
couldn't take anything out of their home. They had nowhere to go.
"I said, 'Tell them to come stay with us.'"
For
the next two weeks, the two families lived together in Winslow while
investigators combed through the Violette Avenue home. Meanwhile, public
perception was turning against the DiPietros, Heidi Tudela said.
"They
were devastated. Their granddaughter, niece, daughter is missing. All
they did wrong was have a child that was missing," she said.
The straight-face test
The
Tudelas' home -- a large, newly built neo-Victorian -- sits on a
partially wooded hilltop with sweeping views of the Kennebec River
valley.
On a recent evening in February, husband and wife Darrell
and Heidi Tudela, both 46, sat with their son Derek, 25, and friend
Justin DiPietro, 25, in their spacious living room.
They said they wanted to address just one aspect of the ongoing investigation: They want people to keep an open mind.
They believe Ayla was kidnapped and she will eventually be found alive.
"I
just want the public to keep their eyes open and not close the book on
this," DiPietro said. "This isn't anywhere near over. ... There's not
going to be any closure until Ayla comes home."
On Jan. 28,
Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland said
investigators believe that Justin DiPietro, his sister Elisha and
girlfriend Roberts aren't telling police everything they know about
Ayla's disappearance. He added that investigators hadn't found any
evidence to support a kidnapping, that the scenario that someone snuck
into a small house with three adults inside and took a baby doesn't pass
the "straight-face test."
Heidi Tudela disagrees.
"When
McCausland says it doesn't pass a straight-face test, I guess I don't
understand that," she said. "It is possible. It does happen."
Tudela
acknowledged that nighttime kidnappings within a home are rare, but
cited Salt Lake City teenager Elizabeth Smart as one example.
"If
you're quiet enough," she said. "If you're someone who knows the house,
for example, then you can be in and out of the house really fast.
"Everybody
thinks that is so outrageous and crazy, and yet, the alternative to
them is so much more believable -- that he would harm this child and
then talk other people into covering for him, two of which (Elisha
DiPietro and Roberts) have babies and are very loving moms."
Heidi Tudela, a daycare provider, added that young children don't necessarily wake up when lifted from their beds.
"I work with babies all day long. I can pick up babies, carry them around in their sleep, and they do not wake up," she said.
DiPietro said there are good reasons to believe Ayla is with someone, but wouldn't elaborate.
"When
the time is right, everything is going to come out. And regardless of
what law enforcement is saying or what (Ayla's mother) Trista (Reynolds)
is saying, this really isn't the time to be saying anything. And law
enforcement, they can say 'We don't believe they're telling the truth,'
but there's a big difference between fact and thinking something."
DiPietro
said he hopes that the person who took his daughter will send a signal
out to the public that she's alive. He also said he wishes the police
could offer immunity to the kidnapper so Ayla can be returned.
McCausland said Monday that investigators stand by their original assessment.
"We
looked at that scenario, and it doesn't hold water," he said of the
potential for a kidnapping. "That some intruder came in -- in silence --
and no one heard a thing. It didn't happen."
Darrell Tudela said he believes DiPietro is telling the truth.
"Suffice
it to say, Justin is still very confident that eventually police are
going to get to the bottom of it and find Ayla," he said. "If whoever
out there has her could help speed that process up, that would make
thousands of people's lives better."
The discovery of blood
On
the same day police announced their belief that a kidnapping was
implausible, they also announced that blood had been discovered during
the investigation of 29 Violette Ave. Later, McCausland said some of the
samples were Ayla's blood, and the lab is analyzing other samples. He
added the amount of blood attributed to Ayla was more than a small cut
would produce.
DiPietro said he was shown the blood evidence, but he's not sure of the amount.
Heidi
Tudela said she doesn't believe the blood is related to Ayla's
disappearance, and said the announcement by police was premature.
"Unless
you have evidence to prove that, I don't feel it's OK to use that to
turn public perception, because you need the public to be out there
looking for missing people. It's very important."
McCausland said Monday the decision by investigators to release the information was responsible.
"We
felt it was important that the public understand some specifics of the
investigation. We felt it was important that the public understand the
magnitude of this investigation and that some of the blood was Ayla's,"
he said.
He wouldn't comment on whether more samples have been attributed to Ayla, but said investigators have made progress.
"It's
a positive sign that the forensic work done by a committed team at the
State Police Crime Laboratory is giving investigators new information
almost on a daily basis, without getting into specifics."
The insurance policy
On
Feb. 13, Ayla's maternal family released a statement that DiPietro
bought a life insurance policy on Ayla shortly after she moved in with
him in October.
Derek Tudela said he sold DiPietro the policy.
"He didn't ask for it, I approached him about it," he said.
DiPietro
agreed. He said he switched car insurance carriers shortly after moving
back to Waterville. Tudela encouraged him to add the policy at that
time. The premiums for both the car and life insurance policies are paid
in one monthly bill.
Tudela said the additional insurance was
inexpensive, and policies like Ayla's are intended to be a gift for a
child later in life, like a savings account.
"It's very
inexpensive. I told Justin it's the same policy I have on my son, and
it's one of the best gifts you can give (Ayla)," he said. "I would do
the same thing for any one of my friends, and I have."
McCausland said investigators are aware of the policy, but wouldn't comment further.
Ongoing support
The
Tudelas said they have known DiPietro since he was a young child.
DiPietro was a frequent visitor at the Tudela's former house in
Waterville, and one summer he joined the Tudelas during a family driving
vacation to Virginia and back.
As children, DiPietro and Derek Tudela shared a paper route.
Watching their friend endure scrutiny from the police, media and the public has been difficult, the Tudelas said.
"I
feel like I'm a pretty good judge of character," Derek Tudela said.
"I've known Justin for most of my life. He's been one of my best
friends. I know the type of person he is and the integrity he has. It
irks me that they make him out to be a bad parent, and that he could
have any involvement. I trust Justin with my child any day of the week."
Heidi Tudela said DiPietro was always trustworthy.
"He
was always honest with me. He was who he was, and he didn't pretend to
be somebody else. I've always told him, ever since he was little, I
respected that," she said.
Continuing their support for DiPietro
has made them the target of criticism, but they won't back down unless
police can prove he was involved in any wrongdoing, she said.
"There's
nothing that says he has done something. It's as simple as that," she
said. "And, if he were to be proven guilty of something, I would still
be OK with (having supported him), because it was still the right thing
to do. Do I believe he is guilty? Absolutely not. But, I still would've
been OK with what I did, because it's still the right way to go about
it. You don't convict somebody without evidence."
http://www.kjonline.com/news/friends-father-ask-othersto-believe-ayla-remains-alive_2012-03-11.html

The three-month anniversary of the
disappearance of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds is passing quietly, but
police said the investigation is continuing.Ayla was 20 months
old when she was last seen on the night of Dec. 16 at the home of her
father, Justin DiPietro, at 29 Violette Ave. in Waterville. DiPietro
reported his daughter missing the next morning when he said he found her
bed empty.Police have classified the child's disappearance as a
crime and have said that the three adults in the home at the time --
DiPietro, his sister and his girlfriend -- have not been candid with
investigators. No one has been charged.Steve McCausland of the
Maine Department of Public Safety said investigators have received more
than 970 leads, and detectives continue to conduct interviews. He said
the crime lab is providing new evidence almost daily. Waterville
businesspeople have put up a $30,000 reward for information that leads
to the little girl's whereabouts.Ayla was living with DiPietro in
Waterville when she disappeared. Her mother, Trista Reynolds, lives in
Portland. Ayla will turn 2 on April 4.

Read more: http://www.wmtw.com/news/30700523/detail.html#ixzz1pTQXlgMF

A renewed search for missing toddler Ayla Reynolds was launched on Saturday, officials said.
The girl vanished from her father's home in Waterville, Maine, in December.
Ayla was aged 20 months old at the time.
Police are treating her disappearance as a crime, but no one has been charged.

Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said in a
statement released Saturday that the estimated 100 searchers included
volunteers, firefighters and game wardens.
They were being aided by six tracking dogs, he added.

Seven-weeks after an infant went missing while in her father's care, police in
Maine have resumed their underwater search for Baby Ayla.
McCausland also asked people in greater
Kennebec County "to keep an eye on their own property for any signs that
could be related to the case, now that the snow has melted."
Ayla was living with her father, Justin DiPietro, when she disappeared.
She was reported missing on Dec. 17 when her father said he found her bed empty.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

TODAY
legal correspondent Savannah Guthrie talks about the developments in
the case of missing Maine toddler Ayla Reynolds and why police waited
several weeks until revealing discovery of blood.

Earlier this month, McCausland told The Associated Press that investigators had received more than 970 leads.
Detectives were continuing to conduct interviews and the crime lab is providing new evidence almost daily, he said.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/24/10841813-new-search-launched-for-missing-toddler-ayla-reynolds

The winter snow has melted and Maine police are once again intensifying
their search for missing toddler Ayla Bell Reynolds, who disappeared
from her father’s home on Dec. 17, 2011.

Nearly 100 volunteers,
firefighters and officers plan to search the Waterville, Maine area
today in hopes that the bare land will yield new clues that will lead
them to Ayla, who will turn 2 years old on April 4.

Organizers implored landowners in the area to watch for anything unusual on their property that could be related to the case.

Ayla’s’
father, Justin DiPietro, told police in December that he believed his
daughter was snatched from the bedroom of the Waterville, Maine home she
shared with him between her 8 p.m. bed time on Dec. 17 and when he
checked her bedroom in the morning.

Within days, what began as
the search for a missing child turned into a criminal probe after
investigators discovered blood in the basement of the home.

“What
[police] were unwilling to confirm to the press, but left to our
discretion, is that it has already been determined to be Ayla’s blood,”
the family said in a statement said. “Even in light of this evidence we
are more determined than ever to find out what has happened to Ayla and
we still cling to the hope that she is alive and will be returned to us.
We urge anyone that has information about Ayla to come forward now and
unburden yourself of the truth.”

DiPietro, 24, and Trista
Reynolds, 23, Ayla’s mother, who does not live in the home and was
forced by Child Protective Services to place Ayla in DiPietro’s
full-time care when she checked into rehab, have taken
police-administered lie-detector tests.

Reynolds told WCVB that the test administrator concluded that she could not complete the test because of a medical condition.

DiPietro has said publicly that he passed the test, though Maine State Police would not comment on his claim.

Reynolds
previously alleged that her daughter was bruised the last time she saw
her, though DiPietro countered that those claims amounted to “accusation
and insinuations.”

The family plans to hold a vigil on April 4 to mark the toddler’s second birthday.

http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/news/national-news/26823-ayla-reynolds-police-comb-areas-where-snow-has-melted-for-missing-maine-toddler

WATERVILLE -- A police spokesman and a lawyer for two family members
of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds are at odds about the level of
communication between them.

FUNDRAISER AND VIGIL

An afternoon fundraiser in honor of Ayla Reynolds is planned for 1-4
p.m. Saturday at the Fairfield VFW, 246 Main St. The cost is $5 for
adults and $3 for children 12 and younger.

There will be food and door prizes donated by area businesses.

Proceeds will be donated in Ayla’s name to LostNMissing, a nonprofit
organization that advocates for the families of missing persons, and the
Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland.

For more information, call Karen Francis at 485-1229.

On April 4, there will be a vigil for Ayla at 6 p.m. at 22 Monument Square
in Portland to mark the toddler’s 2nd birthday.

During a press conference Saturday, Department of Public
Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland said communication between
investigators and the three adults who were with Ayla the night before
she was reported missing has "basically stopped."

That same day, Steve Bourget, an Augusta lawyer who represents Ayla's
grandmother Phoebe DiPietro and aunt Elisha DiPietro, said his clients
are fully cooperative, but police haven't been asking them any questions.

On Tuesday, McCausland agreed that investigators have few questions
for the immediate family, but contends the paternal family has asked few
questions of them.

"Communication is a two-way street," he said. "If your daughter,
granddaughter, niece was missing, wouldn't you occasionally call police
to ask for the status of case? Put yourself in those shoes."

McCausland added, "I will say (the communication issue) is not the
case with Ayla's mother and her relatives in greater Portland."

Bourget reiterated Tuesday that his two clients are fully cooperative and they are in the loop.

"We get information from the Internet and by word of mouth," he said.
"I'm hoping that if (investigators) find something, they would contact
us."

Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, could not be reached for comment.

Ayla was reported missing from her Violette Avenue home on Dec. 17. A
$30,000 reward has been offered for any information that leads
investigators to Ayla. State police are asking that tips be directed to them at 207-624-7076.

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/police-family-lawyer-differ-on-communication-issue_2012-03-27.html

WATERVILLE -- The father of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds said he has just one question for police.

"The only question I have is 'Where is my daughter?' " Justin DiPietro said.

DiPietro's remark was in response to Department of Public Safety
Spokesman Steve McCausland, who recently said that communication between
investigators and Ayla's paternal family had "basically stopped" --
that police expect the family to ask them more questions.

DiPietro said if communication has stopped, it's because the
questions he, his mother and sister ask investigators do not get answered.

"If I'm not calling them, it's for good reason," DiPietro said.

Unanswered questions

DiPietro said he is cooperating with the investigation.

"(Investigators) have my phone number, they know where I live. I've
made myself available to them and accessible at any point in time
they've asked me or called me. As far as 'no communication,' I do not
understand where that's coming from."

DiPietro said he has offered tips and theories about Ayla's
whereabouts to investigators. His attempts to follow up with
investigators on those tips go nowhere, he said.

"You can try and try, but if you're not getting anything in return
... It's like (McCausland) said, communication is a two-way street."

His mother, Phoebe DiPietro, agreed.

"Any time we've asked them any questions, we never get any answers.
(Police) say, 'it's part of the investigation' or they never get back to us."

She added that she and her son want police to release the 911 call
that Justin DiPietro placed on Dec. 17 when he realized his daughter was
missing.

"Why not release the 911 tape? Who is that going to hurt?" she said.

Public statements

Justin DiPietro contended that McCausland's most recent statements are among several inaccurate ones by investigators.

DiPietro cited a January statement by McCausland that there were
three adults and two children in the house the night before Ayla was
reported missing, which McCausland later clarified to say there were
three children in the home, "two besides Ayla."

"That's a little detail that they're getting wrong at the beginning of this investigation, so how many other things?" he said.

His mother added, "I think Mr. McCausland is very full of himself,
and he should check his facts before he goes out and makes statements.

"In my opinion, he is not giving my family any hope that they are
looking for a live Ayla," she said. "And his statements are leading
people to stop looking for her. I plead, I beg the public to continue to
look for her."

Three adults, blood in basement

Police have disclosed few details on the ongoing investigation, but
they have said Ayla was not kidnapped, her blood was found in the
basement of the home at 29 Violette Ave., and the three adults who were
with Ayla the night before she was reported missing -- Justin DiPietro;
DiPietro's girlfriend, Courtney Roberts, of Portland; and his sister,
Elisha DiPietro -- aren't telling the full truth.

Elisha DiPietro said the public statement about the three adults
knowing more than they are saying differs from what she was told in
private.

"I've had a detective tell me multiple times that he thinks I'm
telling the truth. And then to have Steve McCausland publicly say he
doesn't think I am," she said. "I'm not the person you're trying to
paint me out to be, and I don't appreciate it.

Justin DiPietro wouldn't speak at length about the discovery of blood. He said police showed him evidence of "a few drops."

"It is a fact that her blood was found in my house. Yes, it is a fact
that she broke her arm in my house. But, it is not a fact that any of
it was intentional.

"My daughter did not come to her demise down in my house. Nothing bad
ever happened to my daughter in my house. She never got anything but
love from the people in this house," he said.

DiPietro acknowledged that the majority of public opinion is against him, but said it doesn't matter.

"People who know me, know me," he said. "They know I love my daughter, and I just want her home."
http://www.kjonline.com/news/where-is-my-daughter__2012-03-29.html

That's the same question Ayla's mother had for DiPietro when she first went missing. Yet he refused to even speak to her.

This man who broke Ayla's arm and put bruises all over her wants to know where his daughter is? I submit that he knows and apparently thinks she is buried so well LE will never find her.

Just my opinion.

When his wife's young granddaughter disappeared, Jeff Hanson felt
helpless as the family anxiously awaited word from law enforcement
authorities. He decided he needed to do something constructive as the
investigation, now more than three months long, drew out.
So Hanson created the first of two websites aimed at drawing attention
to Ayla Reynolds, the Maine toddler who disappeared in December from her
father's home in Waterville.

The original website has received more than 1 million clicks, and there
are now more than a dozen websites, blogs and Facebook pages dedicated
to the case of the blond, blue-eyed youngster, helping to raise
awareness along with billboards, posters and other conventional means of
spreading the word about missing children.

"We have a new information age where there are many tools available for
the public to either participate or inform themselves. The websites are
part of that. In this case, it's all positive because it keeps her name
out there," said Stephen McCausland of the Maine Public Safety
Department.

Ayla, whose second birthday will be celebrated Wednesday, was 20 months
old when she was last seen the night of Dec. 16. She was reported
missing the following morning after her father, Justin DiPietro, said he
found her bed empty, prompting a massive search effort. Searchers
lowered the level of several streams, and divers searched icy rivers, as
well.

They've found no sign of her.

Investigators declared the disappearance a crime, disclosed that Ayla's
blood was found in her father's bedroom and dismissed the possibility
that Ayla was kidnapped from the small house where three adults were
present.

Beyond that, investigators have been mum on details.

But there's plenty online, including discussions about the amount of
blood found at the scene, a timeline leading to the toddler's
disappearance and debates over investigative details and theories of
what may have happened.

Hanson originally launched AylaReynolds.com to raise awareness, and it
received more than 1 million hits. Little more than a week ago, he
started a new website, answersforayala.com, to give the family a place
to air its thoughts and to set the record straight on details. The
website reported that DiPietro took out a life insurance policy on Ayla
and details about blood evidence, information police have not confirmed.

But that's only the beginning. There's another blog, justiceforayla,
that reported last week about a suspicious van seen near DiPietro's
house, and another blog that analyzes public statements made by those
involved in the case, aiming to ferret out the truth. A blog entitled
JustStopTheLies aims to debunk false claims.

Hanson said he passes along anonymous tips he gets to police, and he
hopes that they provide information police need to bring Ayla home. He
tries not to let his mind entertain the possibility that something bad
happened.

"I'm holding out for the best," Hanson said. "That's how we get by every day."

Ayla was placed in her father's care after her mother, Trista Reynolds,
entered a substance abuse rehabilitation program in Lewiston, and the
Reynolds family has questioned the care he provided for Ayla.

After being placed in his custody, Ayla broke her arm. DiPietro said
she broke it when he fell on stairs while carrying Ayla and groceries.
They say Ayla suffered bruises on one occasion that DiPietro blamed on a
scuffle with another child and on another occasion suffered a pulled
leg muscle that the father blamed on "horseplay."

He didn't return a message left on his cellphone.

While the investigation goes on, family members wait with growing
frustration as they prepare to observe Ayla's second birthday with cake
and balloons on Wednesday at Portland's Monument Square. The vigil is
being sponsored by the family and nonprofit LostNMissing Inc.

The family is taking it day by day.

"It's not easy," said Ronald Reynolds, Ayla's grandfather. "It's not
easy at all to go through every day, not knowing if she's OK, if she's
being taken care of."

He said he's begun to fear the worst. But regardless of the outcome, the family needs to know what happened.

Trista Reynolds believes Justin DiPietro knows more than he's telling:
"I hope that soon enough he decides it's been long enough and that he
can't hide her forever. What's really on my mind on a daily basis, I'm
wondering every day whether my daughter is dead or alive. That's what I
want to know."


Read more: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/north/12007100885863/missing-maine-toddler-generates-online-discussions/#ixzz1qtHwca8e

This makes me think of how many babies and children just disappeared and nothing ever happened, no one ever knew, in the time before the internet.

It is horrifying to think about.

WATERVILLE -- The cost of investigating the disappearance of toddler Ayla Reynolds has been substantial.



VIGIL THURSDAY
A prayer vigil for missing toddler Ayla Reynolds will be held at 7
p.m. Thursday at the Church of God, 392 Main Street. The event is being
organized by Ayla's uncle, Lance DiPietro and website thislittlelightofmaine.com.


"I would say it's in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,
and I wouldn't be surprised if it exceeded $500,000," said Police Chief Joseph Massey.

Four months ago, on the morning of Dec. 17, the child, 20 months old
at the time, was reported missing by her father, Justin DiPietro. Since
then, multiple law enforcement agencies have been heavily involved in
the search, which included hundreds of searchers on the ground, dive
teams and boats on the water, planes in the air and a mobile forensic
lab at the Violette Avenue home where Ayla was last seen.

"It is one of the more intense investigations that have taken place
(in Maine) in decades," said Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve
McCausland. "As a result, there is a cost factor there."

During a March 24 press conference, McCausland said the three
agencies involved -- Waterville police, state police and the Maine
Warden Service -- have spent about $100,000 in overtime costs.

In Waterville alone, the overtime costs are estimated at $16,000,
Massey said. He added that a full accounting of costs is difficult to
pin down for just one investigation because so much of the work is done
during regular on-duty hours; but, he estimates his department spent
about $25,000 during the first three weeks of the investigation alone.

"We used a tremendous amount of supplies within the police
department," he said. "We were using 10 times the amount of paper that
we usually do, 10 times the other things we use on a daily basis."

Massey said additional costs included the installation of new
fiberoptic lines in City Council chambers -- the impromptu nerve center
of the investigation in December -- to support FBI transmissions and
other data needs. The department also substantially increased its number
of long-distance phone calls during that period.

Despite the scope of the investigation, Massey said the department's
spending might come in under budget this fiscal year, because of careful planning.

"We plan for unexpected events that utilize a lot of resources, and
so we try to build in some contingency for that," he said. "If another
major event were to happen -- whether it's a homicide or something else
-- that would require us to bring people in around the clock, 24/7, for
an extended period of time, that would significantly impact my budget."

During the early weeks of the investigation, there was at least one
potential expense that had no bearing on the budget: A few dozen area
businesses and residents contributed food donations on a daily basis,
Massey said. He estimates the donations fed 75 officers every day and
saved the department $7,000.

"I don't think people realize just how compassionate and generous
this community is," he said. "In my 25 years of service here, I've seen
that whenever there's a crisis that affects the whole community, people
don't stand back. They come forward and say, 'What can we do?'

"In their own way, they certainly contributed in the effort to find
Ayla, because it allowed us to focus our attention on the investigation
and not get sidetracked on other issues."

McCausland said that although the cost of finding Ayla is high, the agencies are undeterred.

"It's what we do," he said. "And the work continues."
http://www.kjonline.com/news/search-for-aylamay-top_500000_2012-04-16.html

Source: Newly discovered items could be connected to missing toddler case
Police: Items being analyzed by crime lab

UPDATED 12:00 PM EDT Apr 27, 2012

WATERVILLE, Maine - Maine State Police are analyzing items discovered in the Kennebec River, and a source close to the investigation into missing toddler Ayla Reynolds tells News 8 those items could be connected to the Reynolds case.

Police say the items were discovered by a worker in the Kennebec River on Wednesday and were examined at the state police crime lab Thursday.

State police spokesman Steve McCausland says there is no way to tell if the items are related to the Reynolds case, but a source close to the investigation says the items discovered belong to a child and could be connected to Ayla's disappearance.

Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, reported his daughter missing from his Waterville home on Dec. 17.

Police say Ayla's blood was found in the basement of the Violette Avenue home and have labeled her disappearance as suspicious.

No suspects have been named in her disappearance.

http://www.wmtw.com/news/maine/central/Source-Newly-discovered-items-could-be-connected-to-missing-toddler-case/-/8791976/12024932/-/4mo297z/-/

No suspects have been named in her disappearance.

---Ummmm...errr....ahhhh. I have! I know, you need evidence.
I have no such requirements...just insight and experience.

Police investigating the disappearance of Ayla Reynolds are analyzing
objects found in the Kennebec River in Waterville, Maine, but have not
said whether they are related to the missing toddler, who vanished from
her father’s home on Dec. 17, 2011, according to ABC News affiliate
WCVB.
Waterville Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland
told the Morning Sentinel that police do not know whether the items,
which were found Wednesday, are connected to the case of the missing
toddler, who turned 2 years old on April 4.

“Some items were recovered from the Kennebec River yesterday,”
McCausland told the Morning Sentinel Thursday. “The items have been
taken to the state police crime laboratory for analysis.”

In late March, after the winter snow melted, Maine police intensified
their search for the toddler. Organizers implored landowners in the
area to watch for anything unusual on their property that could be
related to the case.

Ayla’s’ father, Justin DiPietro, told police in December that he
believed his daughter was snatched from the bedroom of their Waterville
home between her 8 p.m. bedtime on Dec. 17 and when he checked her
bedroom in the morning.

Within days what began as the search for a missing child turned into a
criminal probe, after investigators discovered blood in the basement of
the home.

“What [police] were unwilling to confirm to the press, but left to
our discretion, is that it has already been determined to be Ayla’s
blood,” the family said in a statement. “Even in light of this evidence
we are more determined than ever to find out what has happened to Ayla
and we still cling to the hope that she is alive and will be returned to
us. We urge anyone that has information about Ayla to come forward now
and unburden yourself of the truth.”

DiPietro, 24, and Trista Reynolds, 23, Ayla’s mother, who does not
live in the home and was forced by Child Protective Services to place
Ayla in DiPietro’s full-time care when she checked into rehab, have
taken police-administered lie-detector tests.

Reynolds told WCVB that the test administrator concluded that she could not complete the test because of a medical condition.

DiPietro has said publicly that he passed the test, though Maine State Police would not comment on his claim.

Reynolds previously alleged that her daughter was bruised the last
time she saw her, though DiPietro countered that those claims amounted
to “accusation and insinuations.”
http://www.classichitsandoldies.com/v2/2012/04/28/missing-maine-toddler-ayla-reynolds-police-investigate-items-found-in-river/

Ayla Reynolds Update: New Items Found, New Questions Asked

May 11, 2012 06:45 PM EDT

The search for Ayla Reynolds continued today revealing more
finds, say police. It's being reported that "several new items" have
been found in the search for the missing Maine toddler, making this
quite the investigative update in her case. What was retrieved? Do these
new finds truly have connections to the missing girl?

Steve McCausland, spokesperson for the MSP, won't clarify on the items found
in the search for Ayla Reynolds, but he acknowledged that they did make
some new finds in the same area where other items of interest were found in late April.
"I'm not detailing what items were recovered from Tuesday's event other than confirming that we did look," he said.
The crime lab will be testing these items, along with the other items, but
it's not 100% confirmed if these items are connected to the disappearance of Ayla Reynolds.
What else is going on in this case? It's rumored that Trista Reynolds, the mother of the missing girl,
is filing a suit against the child's father Justin DiPietro. She was
previously reported as filing a suit against the state for the nonsense
involving the child being in Justin's care. This is a huge mess and baby
Ayla is trapped in the middle while she remains missing. If Trista
truly is filing a suit against the father of the child, who was caring
for her when she vanished, hopefully something positive comes from it.
In the meantime, it's important for anyone in the Waterville and Portland
areas to come forward to police if you know anything about the
disappearance of little Ayla. If you've seen anything or if you've even
heard rumors, any tips given to the Maine State Police are useful.

Crime analyst and profiler Chelsea Hoffman can be found on The Huffington Post, Chelsea Hoffman: Case to Case and many other outlets. Follow @TheRealChelseaH on Twitter or click here to contact Chelsea directly.
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981326199

WATERVILLE, Maine -
The
frustration continues to grow for the family of a missing Maine toddler
as the five-month mark approaches with no arrests and no new
developments.

Ayla Reynolds was 20 months old when she
disappeared from the home of her father, Justin DiPietro, in Waterville
on the night of Dec. 16. She was reported missing the following morning.
The father's family contends Ayla was taken by someone, but police say
there's no evidence of that.

Ayla's maternal grandfather, Ronald
Reynolds, says the wait for new information has been excruciating. He
says the family needs answers about what happened.

State police
have confirmed that Ayla's blood was found in the home and investigators
say the adults in the home that night have not been forthcoming. Beyond
that, investigators are mum.
http://www.wmtw.com/news/maine/Ayla-Reynolds-missing-for-nearly-five-months/-/8792012/13378820/-/b6jbk/-/

The mother of a toddler missing for five months says she's begging,
pleading and praying for someone to come forward with information that
will help solve the mystery of what happened to her child, who
disappeared from her bed a week before Christmas.


Ayla Reynolds was 20 months old when she disappeared in December.

Family photo

Trista Reynolds said she awakens every day hoping for
answers to the disappearance of her daughter, Ayla, but there has been
precious little information from law enforcement in recent weeks.

"It's so hard to stay positive. We wake up every morning and there's a
possibility that she's out there, there's a possibility that she's
coming home to me. Every morning I wake up and say, 'Please let today be
the day. Please let me have some answers,'" Reynolds said.

Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing on Dec. 17 from
the home of her father, Justin DiPietro, 75 miles away in Waterville.
The disappearance prompted a massive search by law enforcement
officials, who canvassed neighborhoods and lowered the level of several
streams.

State police confirmed Ayla's blood was found in the home. Police
have said that the three adults in the house on the night Ayla went
missing know more than they're telling police. The adults have
speculated the child was somehow abducted, but police have dismissed
that theory.

"This case continues to be worked upon by investigators and there
will be more searches. And the work continues," said Steve McCausland of
the Maine Department of Public Safety.

DiPietro didn't return a call from The Associated Press.

In Portland, Trista Reynolds' family is angry and upset that there
are no answers. They're waiting to see if items retrieved from the
Kennebec River in Waterville earlier this month have anything to do with
Ayla.

"There's a lot of frustration. There's a lot of anger. There's a lot
of sadness. There's a lot of hurt," said Reynolds, who said she's having
difficulty sleeping and eating.

Ron Reynolds, Trista Reynolds' father, said the family has endured
tremendous anguish, made all the more frustrating because he believes
there's someone out there with answers.

"Just to watch this family go through what we go through every day,
there's a lot of pain. Isn't enough enough?" he said. "If something did
happen that night, why can't somebody come out and say something?"

Trista Reynolds said it's rare that she gets updates from police
these days, but she continues to hope that there will be a tip that
helps police crack the case.

"I really love Ayla. I'm begging and I'm pleading and I'm praying to whoever knows something, to please come forward," she said.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/missing-tots-mother-begs-for-information_2012-05-18.html

Will Father of Ayla Reynolds Show Support at Scheduled Event?

May 26, 2012
The mother of Ayla Reynolds organized a walk to keep awareness of the
missing Maine tot in the public eye, but will the child's paternal
family bother showing their support? So far the DiPietro clan have been
absent from the last couple memorial events held in the child's name,
and they are the ones who last had the little girl in their care.
Hopefully this scheduled walk will attract some compassion from the
adults who last saw the 20-month old before she vanished off the face of
the planet.

Trista
Reynolds, the mother of missing tot Ayla Reynolds, is coordinating the
walk for July 14th at 4:00 p.m., at the Portland Monument Square. This
is an area the mother claims that she and her child "walked often."
There
is no doubt about it; the mother is suffering in heartbreak, still,
after all these months. But what of Justin DiPietro and his family?
Their silence has been nothing short of offensive while even perfect
strangers in the state of Maine pull together to search for this child
and demand answers.
Maybe Justin DiPietro, Elisha DiPietro, Phoebe
DiPietro and Courtney Roberts can all come forward and tell the truth
that the Maine State Police have been demanding for several months now.
They have not been 100% truthful with investigators and the evidence is
not in their favor. A crime was committed, a crime that resulted in the
disappearance of baby Ayla Reynolds. Where is she? What happened to her?
Who is responsible? Most importantly—is her father going to take an
even moderately active role in this case aside from hiding and avoiding
the mother and the media?
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981357340

Posted:Today
Updated: 7:01 AM

Dispatches: State Police will hold news conference on missing toddler

The Maine State Police have called a news conference to provide an update on the five-month investigation into the disappearance of toddler Ayla Reynolds from her father's home in Waterville.

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, announced that the briefing will be held today in Waterville. He declined to discuss details.

Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing on Dec. 17 from the home of her father, Justin DiPietro, in Waterville. The disappearance prompted a massive search by law enforcement officials.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/dispatches_2012-05-31.html
State police confirmed that Ayla's blood was found in the home, and said that the three adults in the house on the night Ayla disappeared know more than they are telling police. There have been no arrests.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/dispatches_2012-05-31.html

Police: Unlikely Maine tot Ayla Reynolds is alive

By Glenn Adams
Associated Press / May 31, 2012

WATERVILLE, Maine—Law enforcement officials said Thursday for the first time that they believe a toddler who disappeared in the days leading up to Christmas is no longer alive.

Officials pressing for more information about Ayla Reynolds' whereabouts also announced at a news conference that a $30,000 reward for information on the case will expire June 30. They appealed for anyone with information leading to Ayla's whereabouts to contact police.

"To the person or persons responsible for her disappearance, we ask that you now come forward, accept responsibility for what you have done, show us that you are human and relieve yourself, Ayla's family and this community of this burden," said John Nale, a lawyer who led the effort to raise the reward money from local residents and businesses.

Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing Dec. 17 from her father's home in Waterville. The toddler had last been seen wearing polka dot pajamas with the words "Daddy's Princess" on them. She had a cast on her broken left arm.

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said investigators remain determined to solve the mystery of Ayla's disappearance.

"It has been 166 days since she was reported missing from her home in Waterville, and the work and the investigation goes on. There will be more searches, more dives and more interviews. And we are in this for the long haul. This case will never close until Ayla is found," McCausland said.

Before the news conference, detectives called Ayla's parents to deliver the somber news that they no longer believe she'll be found alive. Asked if police believe a crime was committed, McCausland said, "We believe foul play has been involved ... this is a criminal investigation."

In Portland, Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds, and her father and mother, burst into tears while watching the news conference.

"Everybody broke down. I'm still crying. I'm still hurting now," said Ronald Reynolds, Ayla's grandfather, in Portland. "Why Ayla? She never bothered anybody. She never hurt anybody. Why hurt Ayla?"

"My worst nightmare has really come true," said Trista Reynolds on video captured from her home.

Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, told police he was thankful for the information, said McCausland, adding, "His reaction was no reaction."

DiPietro has said he thinks Ayla was abducted, but police say there's no evidence of that. No arrests have been made in the case.

State police confirmed that Ayla's blood was found in DiPietro's house and said DiPietro, his girlfriend and his sister who were there the night Ayla disappeared know more than they're telling police.

Police repeated that assertion on Thursday when asked about the father. "We believe he knows more than he's told us," McCausland said.

Neither DiPietro nor a lawyer hired by members of his family returned a call. There was no answer when a reporter knocked on DiPietro's door.

After Ayla was reported missing, dozens of game wardens, FBI agents and local and state police officers participated in the search in this central Maine city of 16,000 residents about 20 miles north of the state capital, Augusta.

Police checked trash bins and FBI agents knocked on doors. Officials even went so far as to drain a stream so wardens could get a better look.

Recently, divers searched the Kennebec River and retrieved some items. Investigators declined to comment on those items Thursday.

Investigators said that they have received more than 1,100 tips and that people shouldn't expect it to be solved overnight, McCausland said. "This isn't `CSI' where everything is solved in 60 minutes," he said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2012/05/31/police_unlikely_maine_tot_ayla_reynolds_is_alive/

Ayla Reynolds Update: Mother Reveals Shocking Information in New Interview

06/05/2012
The mother of Ayla Reynolds was kind enough to give an exclusive
interview for the first time since last week's fateful press conference
in which Steve McCausland expressed the belief that the 2-year-old child
is not alive. This informal phone interview lasted for over an hour and
Trista Reynolds even revealed some details that haven't appeared to be
touched upon in the news since her daughter vanished in December of
2011. Could this interview and the details discussed lead the way for
police to take a closer look at who might be responsible?

Trista Reynolds revealed in the interview that she was literally the last
person to know that her daughter was missing. Nobody told her until
almost noon on the morning Justin DiPietro reported Ayla Reynolds
missing. That isn't the only detail revealed by the saddened mother. She
also mentioned something very interesting that indicates suspicion in
Justin from the beginning. The father of the missing tot allegedly
barricaded himself in his mother's bathroom on the morning that he
reported their 20-month-old daughter missing. Why on Earth would Justin DiPietro do that?
In the course of the interview with Trista Reynolds, she revealed
something very disturbing regarding what may have happened. She claimed
that Phoebe DiPietro told her that she kept a gun in her home as well as
people on constant watch. Trista says that this was during her last
visit with Ayla in November of 2011, and she still doesn't understand
why the mother of Justin DiPietro felt the need to tell her such a thing.
However, the night before Ayla was reported missing
neighbors claimed to hear a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot at
around 3:00 a.m. It should also be pointed out that police found "more
than a cupful" of Ayla's blood in the basement of Justin DiPietro's
home. Could it be at all possible that Ayla was accidentally (or even purposely) shot that night?
Trista Reynolds had plenty to say, so
hopefully the media and the public is paying attention. It seems that
she and her family are the ones pulling together for little Ayla while
the DiPietros sit quietly and refuse to speak to the media or anyone
else. Justin is still refusing to speak to Trista.
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981376572


You can read the entire interview here:


http://www.chelseahoffman.com/2012/06/mother-of-ayla-reynolds-speaks-to.html