51 replies to this topic

[Shannon]

http://www.onlinesen...2012-05-05.html

Ayla Reynolds' aunt says she took polygraph

May 6, 2012

By BEN MCCANNA

WATERVILLE -- The paternal aunt of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds said she has taken a polygraph test, but police won't confirm her claim.

Elisha DiPietro, 23, is one of three adults who were in the 29 Violette Avenue home on Dec. 17, the morning Ayla was reported missing. She addressed the polygraph exam Saturday during the Eyes Open Walk for Baby Ayla, an event to raise awareness about the toddler's disappearance. DiPietro also shared her family's contention that a two-week forensic investigation of Ayla's home may have overlooked some details.

"They did administer a polygraph," DiPietro said. "I took it. I did fine."

When DiPietro was asked to clarify whether she passed or failed the exam, DiPietro repeated her initial statement, adding that she's not concerned how her response will be received by the public.

"I mean, I did fine. It's what it is. People are going to take things how they take them, and they're going to call us liars, if they want to call us liars, but I know the truth, and we know the truth, and we know we didn't do anything wrong. We want Ayla home. We love Ayla."

DiPietro said she stands by her belief that Ayla was abducted.

"Someone took her," she said. "That's why (police) haven't found her yet."

In late January, Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland announced that investigators had discovered an undisclosed amount of Ayla's blood in the home.

McCausland also said there is no evidence to support the family's claim that Ayla has been abducted, and he said the three adults who were with Ayla the night before she was reported missing -- DiPietro; Ayla's father Justin DiPietro; and friend Courtney Roberts -- are withholding information. DiPietro said she's unsure how investigators came to those conclusions.

"I would love to know," she said.

She added there are some aspects of the forensic investigation that her family feels were incomplete.

"There were things they didn't fingerprint in (Ayla's) room that we felt they should have," she said.

DiPietro said a table that was located directly beneath the bedroom window wasn't fingerprinted, along with other pieces of furniture.

She said the family learned that the window to Ayla's room was unlocked the night of her disappearance.

"We did not know it was unlocked ... which is something we thought was weird because (the window) was always locked," she said.

She said her family also questions the thoroughness of DNA testing at the home. She said investigators should have found DNA belonging to friends who had visited the home in the days before Ayla disappeared, but they didn't.

McCausland wouldn't comment Saturday on DiPietro's claims. He said there are no new developments in the investigation. It's still unknown if undisclosed items retrieved from the Kennebec River on April 25 are related to the case.

"We're waiting for the crime lab to tell us what we've got," he said.

About 60 people participated in the Eyes Open Walk for Baby Ayla, a four-mile walk that started and ended at City Hall on Saturday.

Co-organizer Kass Snider of Oakland, said she has been following the investigation closely and wanted to help out.

"I think everybody should pitch in to help bring a child back where she belongs," she said.

The walk took participants on a loop that extended as far West as First Rangeway. Co-organizer Ed Mea of Albion said he made a last-minute course change to Violette Avenue after DiPietro invited the group to stop at Ayla's home and offer prayers.

[Shannon]

http://projectjason....;num_replies=25

Police pull more items from river

By Ben McCanna

May 12, 2012

WATERVILLE -- Police found more items in the Kennebec River that could potentially be linked to missing toddler Ayla Reynolds.

The items were found Tuesday in the diversion channel of the dam near the Hathaway Mill, according to Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland. This is the same area where police retrieved items on April 25.

McCausland wouldn't specify what was found Tuesday or last month. Police don't know if any of the items are related to the case.

"I'm not detailing what items were recovered from Tuesday's event other than confirming that we did look," he said.

The newly discovered items have been sent to the State Police Crime Laboratory in Augusta, he said.

McCausland said NextEra Energy Inc., which owns the dam, drained water from the channel to give investigators an opportunity to search the area. McCausland added that the dam owners had already planned to drain the channel for routine maintenance at a later date, but rescheduled the maintenance for Tuesday at the request of the state police.

A representative of NextEra Energy wouldn't comment on the search when reached by email Friday.

Five state police divers searched areas of the channel that did not completely drain, McCausland said. Two detectives were also on scene.

McCausland said the dam operators began draining the channel early on Tuesday morning, and the search lasted about five hours.

Ayla was reported missing from her Violette Avenue home by her father on the morning of Dec. 17. Police believe foul play was involved, and they say the three adults who saw her last -- father Justin DiPietro; his girlfriend, Courtney Roberts; and sister Elisha DiPietro -- aren't forthcoming with information.

[Shannon]

http://www.presshera...2012-05-18.html

Missing tot's mother begs for information

Posted: 8:26 PM May 17, 2012
Updated: 1:19 AM

By DAVID SHARP

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.

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.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.sunjourna...-nation/1201570

Search continues for six missing Maine children on National Missing Children’s Day

Nok-Noi Ricker, Bangor Daily News 
Maine | Saturday, May 26, 2012

PORTLAND, Maine — The parents of 6-year-old Etan Patz — who disappeared 33 years ago Friday after leaving his Manhattan home heading for the school bus — got the news this week that they have been dreading for decades.Their son is believed dead and a 51-year-old man has admitted to strangling the first-grader in 1979 when he himself was a teenager.

“The pain of losing a child never dulls,” U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II said Friday in Portland as he and other law enforcement officials marked National Missing Children’s Day. “For those thousands of families missing children today, like Etan Patz, whose case lingered unsolved for … years, we don’t give up.”

In 1983 President Ronald Reagan declared May 25 — the day Etan Patz vanished four years earlier — as National Missing Children’s Day, and the following year Congress passed the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, creating the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Toddler Alya Reynolds, who was 20 months old when she was reported missing on Dec. 17 from her father’s Waterville home, is one case that police continue to actively investigate, but she is not the only missing child in Maine.

“In Maine, there are currently six unsolved missing children cases dating back 40 years,” Delahanty said. “They are not all infants or toddlers.”

In addition to the Ayla Reynolds case, Douglas Charles Chapman, then 3, of Alfred was reported missing June 2, 1971; Cathy Marie Moulton, 16, of Portland was reported missing Sept. 24, 1971; Kurt Ronald Newton, 4, of Manchester was reported missing Sept. 1, 1975; Bernard Ross, 18, of Ashland was reported missing May 12, 1977; and Kimberly Ann Moreau, 17, of Jay was reported missing May 11, 1986.

Chapman was last seen playing by a sandpile about 25 yards from his home in Alfred, while his mother was inside on the phone and his father was at work, according to a Maine State Police website dedicated to missing Mainers.

Moulton had dyed red hair and was last seen in downtown Portland, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s website.

Newton wandered away from his family’s campsite at the Chain of Ponds Public Reserve Land near Coburn Gore on the Quebec border. He was last seen riding his tricycle at the campsite while his mother was out of sight washing muddy shoes.

Moreau was last seen in the company of an individual she met earlier in the day and foul play is suspected, the state police website states.

Two other teenagers who disappeared years ago also remain unaccounted for.

Bonnie Ledford, 19, of Dedham, who went missing in 1980, and Angel Antonio Torres, also 19, of the Saco-Biddeford area who was reported missing by his family on May 24, 1999 are listed on the state police website.

Foul play is suspected in both cases.

When children go missing or are abducted, time is of the essence, said Todd DiFede, the FBI’s senior supervisory agent for Maine.

“Every second, every minute and every hour counts in bringing a child home safely,” the veteran agent said.

To help parents keep vital information at their fingertips, there is a new app for smartphones that records a child’s height, weight, eye color and physical traits, as well as a photo, and can be instantly accessed, if needed.

“With the click of a button, the information is sent in an email,” DiFede said.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children also has several tips for parents when they discover their child missing.

The new smartphone app is “a tool all parents and grandparents should be aware of and make use of,” Delahanty said.

Parents should always be aware of where their kids and teens are and should know that criminals who take children come in all shapes and sizes, said Maine State Police Lt. Brian McDonough, director of the Major Crimes Unit.

“Predators are everywhere and they come from all walks of life,” said the lieutenant, who is the liaison to the National Center for Missing Children and Maine’s AMBER Alert coordinator.

The disappearance and 1932 murder of 20-month-old Charles Lindbergh Jr., son of the world-famous airplane pilot, drew worldwide attention and led to the Lindbergh Law, which allowed law enforcement to pursue kidnappers across state lines.

When little Etan Patz went missing in 1979, the media frenzy again put a national spotlight on abducted children. He was the first missing child to ever appear on a milk carton, a tool that is now commonplace, and the Missing Children’s Assistance Act led to the creation of the AMBER Alert, an early warning system issued by law enforcement to notify broadcasters and state transportation officials when children are abducted.

“There is no rest for a parent who has lost a child, and there should be no rest for any of us who are in a position to help,” Delahanty said, flanked by DiFede, McDonough, Deputy U.S. Marshal Mike Tenuta, South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins, Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant, victim witness advocate Heather Putnam and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey Neumann.

Delahanty said education for children goes a long way toward helping them protect themselves.

“We ask parents and guardians to take just 25 minutes to teach their children some safety tips that may save their lives someday,” he said, adding that educational tools are available online at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s Take 25 campaign website, www.take25.org. “Twenty-five minutes for 25 tips.”

The tips include telling children never to accept rides from anyone unless they have parental permission, always walking with a friend or in a group, and knowing how to contact loved ones at home and work.

[Shannon]

http://www.cnn.com/2...girl/index.html

Police: Missing Maine toddler Ayla Reynolds believed to be dead

Updated 3:32 PM EDT, Thu May 31, 2012

(CNN) -- Maine authorities gave their most dire judgment yet Thursday as to what they believe happened to missing toddler Ayla Reynolds, with a police spokesman saying "there's nothing we have found that leads us to believe she's alive."

"Based on everything we know -- the thousands of hours of investigation, the 1,127 leads that have come in, the searches, the dives and the evidence gathered -- we think it's highly unlikely that Ayla Reynolds will be found alive," said state police spokesman Stephen McCausland. "Nothing points us in that direction.

Ayla was 20 months old when her father, Justin DiPietro told police he had put her to bed around 8 p.m. on December 16 in a first-floor bedroom of her grandmother's Waterville, Maine, home. The toddler's father, her aunt and the father's girlfriend were in the home at that time. DiPietro called police the next morning, just before 9 a.m., to report Ayla missing.

Authorities believe, as they have said previously, that there was "foul play" involved in the girl's disappearance and they opened a criminal probe, McCausland told reporters Thursday. But her body has not been found and no one has been named a suspect in the case.

"She did not leave that home by herself, and she was not abducted," the state police spokesman said.

On Thursday, as he has done previously, McCausland suggested the adults in the house with Ayla the night before she was reported missing -- including her father -- have not been totally forthcoming.

The police spokesman said there has not been "a lot of communication with the three adults who were inside the home that night." At the same time, he said "it's way premature to start speculating on charging anyone."

"They were the adults and they were there, and they may have answers," said McCausland. "Justin was the father, (and) we believe he knows more than he has told us."

Authorities called Ayla's parents shortly before Thursday's press conference to tell them they'd be stating they presume their daughter is dead.

The toddler's mother, Trista Reynolds, was "thankful for the call," said McCausland, as was DiPietro.

As for the father, "His reaction was no reaction," the spokesman said.

Local attorney John Nale announced at Thursday's press conference that the $30,000 reward offered for information leading to Ayla or the arrest of the person or persons responsible for her disappearance would expire at the end of June.

The hope is that someone will come forward in the next 30 days. Even if they do not, authorities vow that the lapse in the reward offer has no bearing on the investigation. To that point, McCausland promised there will be more searches and that -- even though police are now stating they believe Ayla is dead -- "this is still a missing person's case."

"We are committed to this investigation, no matter how long it takes," said Waterville Police Chief Joe Massey, noting two members of his department will remain assigned to the case.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.washingto...TA6U_story.html

Family of missing Maine tot still seek justice, though police say it’s unlikely she’s alive

By Associated Press
Published: June 1

WATERVILLE, Maine — Police believe a Maine toddler who went missing in the days leading up to Christmas is no longer alive, but there’s no evidence they’re any closer to finding her body or bringing charges against the person who’s responsible.

Ron Reynolds, grandfather of Ayla Reynolds, said the family cannot have closure until the body is recovered and the responsible party is brought to justice.

“I want justice for Ayla,” he said Thursday in Portland after watching a news conference in which investigators provided an update on the five-month investigation.

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, told reporters Thursday that it’s “highly unlikely” that she’ll be found alive. But he said investigators remain determined to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

“We are in this for the long haul. This case will never close until Ayla is found,” said McCausland, who noted that investigators have followed up on more than 1,100 tips.

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

“My worst nightmare has really come true. What hurts the most is I don’t even know where she’s at,” said Trista Reynolds, who noted that there can be no proper burial until Ayla’s body is found.

Ron Reynolds said the family suffers every day that Ayla remains missing. “Why Ayla? She never bothered anybody. She never hurt anybody. Why hurt Ayla?” he said.

Officials pressing for more information about Ayla Reynolds’ whereabouts announced that a $30,000 reward for information 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.

Ayla’s father, Justin DiPietro, told police said he thinks Ayla was abducted, but police say there’s no evidence of that.

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 Thursday when reporters 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.

No arrests have been made in the case.

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 it’s unfortunate that so much time has passed without a break in the case. “This isn’t ‘CSI’ where everything is solved in 60 minutes,” McCausland said.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.huffingto...issing-toddler/

Reward offer to end with Maine tot still missing
           
GLENN ADAMS | June 29, 2012 03:43 PM EST

WATERVILLE, Maine — A $30,000 reward for information leading to missing toddler Ayla Reynolds is about to expire, and police said Friday that it appears the money will go unclaimed, with no sign of the child and questions lingering over what happened to her.

Ayla was reported missing from her Waterville home on Dec. 17. Since then, investigators have received 1,200 leads, including many from psychics, state police spokesman Steve McCausland said. But none of those tips or searches of fields, woods, backyards, trash containers, streams and rivers in this central Maine city of 16,000 residents have led to Ayla, who was 20 months old when she disappeared.

"The reward is ending, but the investigation is not," McCausland said. "The case continues and will not close until we find her. It's still a priority and still being worked on daily."

The case is also being kept alive by residents, including about 15 people who held a candlelight prayer vigil Thursday night in front of Ayla's home, where the front lawn remains marked by a growing collection of stuffed toys.

A month ago, police said for the first time that they didn't believe Ayla was alive. They also said the $30,000 reward that was donated from area businesses and individuals would be withdrawn as of Saturday. Police appealed for anyone with information leading to Ayla's whereabouts to contact police.

No one has been charged, but police have raised doubts about whether the last people to see the child – her father, Justin DiPietro, his sister, Elisha DiPietro, and his girlfriend, Courtney Roberts – have told them everything they know. A lawyer representing the family, Steve Bourget, has said those at home are telling the truth.

Ron Reynolds, father of Ayla's mother Trista Reynolds, hopes whoever is responsible comes forward.

"It's a shame. Six months – I don't know. It's so hard every day. It's so hard not knowing where she is and knowing that (those responsible) are still out there walking around. There's no justice, there's nothing. ... It never should've happened. Someone needs to come out and say something."

Justin DiPietro reported Ayla missing, saying she was last wearing polka dot pajamas with the words "Daddy's Princess" on them. She had a cast on her broken left arm.

Justin DiPietro wasn't home when a reporter visited Friday, and he didn't answer his phone. Elisha DiPietro, who answered the door, said there would be no comment from the family.

Calls to other family members, including Trista Reynolds of Portland, weren't immediately returned Friday.

After Ayla disappeared, investigators scoured the DiPietro home for evidence and found Ayla's blood inside. Authorities have since said that foul play was involved in Ayla's disappearance.

Police had no new information on their investigation Friday, but they stressed that they aren't giving up.

"We certainly haven't heard that any of those leads we have gathered and forwarded to state police would lead to any breakthrough," Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey said Friday. "Although the reward has ended, the case is not going away. Everyone is working to find Ayla."

[Lori Davis]

http://560wgan.com/W...s-Gone/13624483

Waterville Shrine To Missing Child Is Gone

Total News Service Reporting
07/03/2012

WATERVILLE, Maine - A shrine in front of the Waterville house where 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds disappeared last December has been removed.

People had been leaving items including stuffed animals, toys and cards at the Violette Avenue house of her father in tribute to the toddler.

Waterville police say they weren't notified the shrine would be taken down.  Last month state police investigators said they no longer believe the girl is still alive.

[Shannon]

http://www.necn.com/...d27fd5019620090

Divers search river for missing Maine toddler

Jul 17, 2012 12:41pm

WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) — Divers from the Maine State Police and Warden Service are searching the Kennebec River for signs of Ayla Reynolds, the toddler who was reported missing from her Waterville home seven months ago.

The search, which began Tuesday morning, is concentrated below the Brookfield dam in Waterville-Winslow. Spokesman Steve McCausland of the state Public Safety Department says police with dogs are also searching the banks of the river where the water's been lowered.

McCausland says Tuesday's search had been planned for three weeks, and the timing, which marks seven months from the day she was reported missing, is coincidental. Several searches of the Kennebec and other Waterville-area waterways have been conducted, and the area being searched Tuesday had not been checked.

Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing

[Lori Davis]

http://bangordailyne...-charity-event/

Bikers from far and wide to converge for Ayla Reynolds charity event

Christopher Cousins, BDN Staff
Posted Aug. 28, 2012, at 5:38 p.m.

PORTLAND, Maine — Motorcyclists from across Maine will gather for a charity ride in support of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds on Saturday.

Big Moose Harley-Davidson of Portland and LostNMissing Inc., an organization that supports the families of missing people in Maine and beyond, have collaborated to sponsor a “Ride for Ayla,” which will converge at the motorcycle dealership at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Kimberly Curless, a promotions manager for Big Moose, said that anyone, regardless of what kind of motorcycle they ride or whether they ride a motorcycle at all, is welcome to attend.

“We do support a lot of nonprofit organizations, but we have never done anything like this,” said Curless. “This is certainly the most heavy-hearted event we’ve ever done.”

Reynolds was 20 months old when she was reported missing on Dec. 17, 2011, by her father, Justin DiPietro of Waterville. The search for her, which ranks as one of the largest in Maine State Police history, has attracted intense attention in Maine and beyond, but there has been no sign of the little girl.

Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday that detectives are still following leads in her disappearance and conducting interviews, but that tips in the case have slowed to a trickle in recent months. Police have said they believe Reynolds is no longer alive, but there have been no arrests.

“This case will not close until we find her, period,” said McCausland.

Curless said the idea for the Ride for Ayla originated with Jeff Hansen, who is Ayla’s maternal step-grandfather and a motorcycle enthusiast.

“Jeff is one of our customers and he just came in one day and said, ‘Here are my thoughts,’” said Curless. “Then one thing just led to another.”

Bikers are encouraged to start the ride on Saturday from wherever they choose. The afternoon will be spent at Big Moose Harley-Davidson at 375 Riverside St. in Portland. Radio station 107.5 Frank FM will be on site for a remote broadcast and Big Moose is hosting a $5-per-person barbecue beginning at 1 p.m. LostNMissing and other organizations will participate with a booth at the event, where they will distribute safety information for the public and collect donations.

All proceeds from the event will be given to LostNMissing, which has been working closely with Reynolds’ maternal family since her disappearance. There also will be family members of other missing people, along with a special table for Ayla.

Producers from a cable television show called Ridin’ Steel have been promoting the event and will cover it Saturday. Curless said the show’s involvement usually results in a heavy biker turnout.

LostNMissing will raffle off a range of items and accept donations of any amount. Anyone who wishes to donate gift baskets or other items, send a donation in absentia or ask any question whatsoever can contact Curless at 650-2115.

Riders for Ayla in the Lewiston/Auburn area can start their ride from LA Harley and Central Maine Motor Sports, where a blood drive for the American Red Cross is taking place from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Anyone who donates blood at that location will receive a Red Sox T-shirt. Other stores participating in the ride kickoff include Reynolds MotorSports in Buxton; North Country Harley-Davidson in Augusta; Central Maine PowerSports in Lewiston; Central Maine Harley-Davidson in Hermon and Bangor; and Bentley’s Saloon in Arundel.

Curless said she doesn’t have an estimate of how many people might participate, but that she has been bombarded with calls for several days. She said the dealership has arranged for overflow parking and is prepared to serve 1,000 people or more at the barbecue.

McCausland said investigators are appreciative of any event for Ayla’s benefit and that he has been impressed with the power of bikers when they gather for a common cause, such as the annual Toy Run by the United Bikers of Maine.

“If they can participate in something that has some meaning, it’s a good thing,” he said. “It’s good to keep her name out there in any way possible.”

[Shannon]

http://www.necn.com/...67cb1a9a7b4a292

Search continues for missing toddler in Maine

October 5, 2012, 1:00 pm

WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) — Maine state police and Waterville police have taken advantage of low water levels on Messalonskee Stream to search again for missing toddler Ayla Reynolds.

Steve McCausland from the Maine Department of Public Safety says the dam operator lowered the water levels for routine maintenance. He says detectives and officers used the opportunity Friday to walk along the riverbank, focusing on the North Bridge area, to look for any signs of the missing toddler.

Searchers didn't find anything.

Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing on Dec. 17 by her father, Justin DiPietro of Waterville, who had been caring for her. Police believe she's no longer alive.

Messalonskee Stream was searched twice previously. The river was nearly drained dry Dec. 21 and divers searched the stream in January.

[Shannon]

http://www.cbsnews.c...issing-toddler/

Ayla Reynolds Update: Maine hunting season raises some hope of finding missing toddler

October 17, 2012 1:56 PM

(CBS) WATERVILLE, Maine - The start of hunting season is raising hopes that hunters walking through the Maine woods will aid in the search for toddler Ayla Reynolds, who went missing in December of 2011, CBS affiliate WABI reports.

The child was reported missing from her father's house almost a year ago.
Police believe she is dead but some followers of a website dedicated to finding answers regarding her disappearance believe that she may be alive and that hunters could help.

An administrator for the United for Ayla website, John Pomerleau, tells the Kennebuc Journal that he and others will try to raise awareness among hunters with the distribution of posters about Ayla at locations such as gun clubs, hunter licensing offices, game weigh-in stations, and breakfast diners.

A Department of Public Safety spokesman said there are no new developments in the case, but the investigation remains active.

Alya was 20-months when she was reported missing from her father's Waterville home on Dec. 17, 2011.

Police believe foul play was involved in the disappearance and in April said the three adults who last saw Ayla - her father Justin DiPietro, DiPietro's sister Elisha, and his girlfriend, Courtney Roberts - were not forthcoming with information.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.washingto...ab4e_story.html

A year later, case of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds is among few that lack answers in Maine

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, December 13, 5:26 PM

PORTLAND, Maine — More than 1,000 children are reported missing each year in Maine. The vast majority are quickly reunited with loved ones, often within hours. Over 40 years, only three missing-person cases involving young children remain unsolved.

The case of Ayla Reynolds — which drew national attention as hundreds of searchers looked for her last December in the central Maine town of Waterville — is one of them. And a year later, her family fears that the case is growing cold as they await answers from detectives about what happened to her.

“Sometimes I feel like they’re just kind of giving up on it,” said Ayla’s mother, Trista Reynolds. “You know, Ayla has been missing for a year, and what answers do they have for anybody? None.”

Nationally, about 800,000 children and teens are reported missing each year, said Robert Lowery from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Most are soon resolved in all states, but the number of unresolved cases is uncommonly low in Maine, a mostly rural state with a low crime rate.

Ayla, a blond, blue-eyed toddler with a bright smile, was 20 months old when she was reported missing the morning of Dec. 17 from her father’s home. The disappearance prompted a massive search by Waterville and state police, game wardens, and FBI agents who canvassed neighborhoods and lowered several streams.

Police announced that they didn’t think Ayla was abducted from her bedroom. They also confirmed the presence of her blood in the home and said the father, Justin DiPietro, and two other adults in the home that night know more than they’ve told detectives, creating an air of suspicion.

DiPietro declined to comment for this story.

Each month in Maine, police receive more than 100 calls about missing children, most of whom are runaways and return home in a day or two. Over the past four decades, that adds up to thousands of runaways, along with kids who become lost or are abducted.

Only Ayla’s and two other cases involving young children remain unsolved in Maine, said Stephen McCausland, state police spokesman.

Three-year-old Doug Chapman was last seen playing with his toy trucks in a sand pile behind his family’s home in 1971 in Alfred. When his mother went outside to check on him, he had vanished. Road workers nearby didn’t see anything. Two bloodhounds tracked his scent to the road.

Carole Anne Allen, Doug’s mother, sympathizes with Trista Reynolds because she’s been there. Wardens and police searched the woods but found no evidence of Doug, not even his loafers, which he had trouble keeping on his feet.

The first year, she said, was the worst.

Someone stayed near the phone at all times. She didn’t know how to act. She didn’t want to give up. But law enforcement gave her little hope.

“That’s the worst thing. There is no closure. It’s like every day you think you see a person who’s about the age he would be now. And you think, ‘Could he be my son? Is my son in the woods where he died? Or is he alive somewhere?’ Forty-one years later, I’m still looking,” she said.

Another child, 4-year-old Kurt Ronald Newton, of Manchester, disappeared four years later from a campground near the Canadian border. That case also led to a massive search, but the boy was never found. He father declined to talk about it for this story.

Part of Trista Reynolds’ healing was to move to a small town outside of Portland, where she lives with her toddler son and her boyfriend. She said she’s no longer confronted with daily reminders of Ayla, as she was in Portland, where the two had lived. She’s also seeing a therapist. She’s addressed her substance abuse — which led to Ayla being placed with DiPietro in Waterville, 75 miles away — and she’s in a better place as she cares for 20-month-old Raymond.

“I’m trying to keep in the spirit of things,” she says of her home, which is decorated for the holidays. “Even if my sprits aren’t way up, I’ve got to be up for him,” she said of Raymond, a blond bundle of energy who enjoys dancing to Maroon 5’s “Moves like Jagger,” just as his sister Ayla did.

While Ayla’s disappearance remains a mystery, Reynolds questions whether “mystery” is the right word.

Reynolds said police confirmed to her that DiPietro walked out of an interview when he was confronted with photos showing Ayla’s blood in the basement. They also confirmed that before dialing 911 the morning that Ayla was reported missing, DiPietro called his friend, an insurance agent who wrote a life insurance policy on Ayla.

State police have declined to comment, other than to say they’re not giving up. Police planned to discuss the case at a news conference Friday.

It’s difficult for Reynolds to accept that Ayla may be dead, as police now believe.

In Alfred, Allen still thinks daily about her son. She wonders if he was taken by someone who wanted a child, or became a victim of a crime, or simply became lost in the woods.

She said she has a window into how Reynolds must feel.

“Don’t tell me my boy is dead unless you have a body, because I don’t want to go there,” she said. “You don’t want to give up hope.”

[Lori Davis]

http://www.kjonline....ml?pagenum=full

Neighbors remember missing girl on her birthday

By Amy Calder
Staff Writer
April 4, 2013

WATERVILLE -- Penny Rafuse thinks about Ayla Reynolds every day.

She remembers the missing child when she backs out of her Violette Avenue driveway in the morning and drives past Ayla's house.

She is reminded of Ayla, whose third birthday would be Thursday, every time she steps into her own dining room.

"I have a light in my dining room window," Rafuse said at her house Wednesday. "It's a Christmas light that I've never turned off since Dec. 17, 2011, when Ayla was reported missing."

She said she will not turn the light off until those responsible are behind bars.

"I don't know how these people can sleep at night."

Rafuse lives five houses away from Ayla's grandmother, Phoebe DiPietro, who lives at 29 Violette Ave. That is where then-20-month-old Ayla was reportedly last seen. She lived there with DiPietro; DiPietro's son, Justin DiPietro, who is Ayla's father; Justin's sister Elisha DiPietro; and Elisha's baby daughter.

The night Ayla reportedly disappeared, Justin DiPietro and his girlfriend, Courtney Roberts, were in the house, along with Roberts' son, Elisha DiPietro and her daughter. Justin DiPietro filed the missing-person report.

Police have said they think Ayla wasn't abducted from the house and that she is no longer alive.

No one has been charged in her disappearance.

"The case continues to be open and active, but there are no new developments," Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said Wednesday.

He added: "Any birthday of a child is a milestone, usually filled with joy and hope. Today is a sad reminder this is not the case in Waterville, and that on Ayla's third birthday we still do not have the complete story of what happened inside that Violette Avenue home from those who know what occurred. Ayla deserves better."

Meanwhile, Rafuse and other neighbors continue to keep Reynolds in their thoughts.

"It's good that people aren't allowing other people to forget about her, because if you forget about her, it'll never be solved," Rafuse said.

"She's supposed to be walking around and communicating and learning her independence and tying her shoestrings and kicking a ball in the street. It breaks my heart, even more so now that I have a grandson"

Remembering December 2011

A cold wind whipped down Violette Avenue on Wednesday, sending dust swirling in circles near Phoebe DiPietro's house.

A black car stood in the driveway, but no one answered the door, which was flanked on either side by stuffed garbage bags, Christmas lawn decorations and a child's orange snow shovel hanging from a mailbox.

A shrine of teddy bears and other stuffed animals that for many months grew on the front lawn is gone, but a 'No Trespassing' sign still hangs from a big tree near the street.

On Wednesday, the wind whacked away at the sign, making an eerie howling noise that alternated with the clang of a black metal wind chime perched near the house.

Across the street, Will and Kay Conway were sitting in their kitchen, reading the newspaper and remembering Ayla.

"It just doesn't seem possible that it happened," said Kay Conway, 82.

She and her husband, who is 84, have lived in their house for 55 years and spend part of every winter in Myrtle Beach. They recalled going there after Ayla was reported missing and being the focus of attention because they lived on Violette Avenue.

Everyone in Myrtle Beach knew about the Ayla Reynolds case, they said.

Kay Conway left the kitchen and returned with a photo album containing a picture of all the media trucks and cameras stationed outside Ayla's house for several days after she disappeared.

Will Conway said he can't help but think of her every time he looks out the window at the house or sees a little child about her age.

They wait for the day when the case will be solved.

"I can't believe that somebody doesn't know something," said Kay Conway, a retired teacher.

Farther up the street, Glenn Parkhurst, 38, was in his basement, restoring stained-glass windows.

He said people talk less about Ayla these days, but they do not forget.

"Every time I go down the street, I go by the house and think, 'Where is she?'" he said.

Parkhurst said the day Reynolds was reported missing, a friend who is a firefighter knocked on his door at 9:30 a.m. and told him what was happening.

For several nights after that, before Parkhurst and his fiancee went to bed, they brought a pot of coffee to state police officers stationed on Violette Avenue.

Parkhurst said he never imagined the case would remain unresolved more than a year later.

"I kind of thought it would be like an episode of 'Columbo' and somebody would step up and reveal a piece of information that police could use," he said.

Both Rafuse and Parkhurst think police know what happened and are waiting for all the pieces to fall into place before charging someone.

Rafuse, who has lived on Violette Avenue for 27 years, said police did a phenomenal job scouring the neighborhood and beyond, searching nearby Messalonskee Stream and the Kennebec River.

"It's almost surreal," she said, reflecting. "It's like she just vanished, and I so totally respect the law enforcement agencies for what they did."

Walking her dog, Holden, down Violette Avenue on Wednesday, Rafuse said her neighborhood is a safe one, where people are friendly and close-knit.

"If something bad happens, everybody rallies. It's just one of the best streets in the world to bring a child up on."

She said the Ayla's disappearance deeply affected everyone.

"It beyond rocked the neighborhood," she said.

Rafuse said she would be thinking of Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds, on the child's birthday.

"I can't imagine how she's going to feel," Rafuse said. "Ayla's got a little brother that's never going to know her."

[Lori Davis]

http://bangordailyne...-rare-in-maine/

Since 1971, seven Maine children reported missing have not been found

By Alex Barber, BDN Staff
Posted May 17, 2013, at 7:53 p.m.

BANGOR, Maine — Dozens of children are reported missing every month in the state, but almost all are found or return on their own within a couple of days or even hours, Maine Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said Friday.

Only about once a decade does a child go missing for longer than a few days, he said.

Friday marked the fifth day since 15-year-old Nichole Cable was reported missing from her Glenburn home. She was last seen on Sunday evening on Route 221 in her hometown and an intense search involving multiple law enforcement agencies has ensued.

“Missing children [who aren’t soon located], and there are only a handful, go back 40 years,” McCausland said.

Six children in addition to Cable have been reported missing in Maine since 1971 and have not yet been found, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and media reports.

Aside from Cable, the most recent case of a child missing for a significant length of time is Ayla Reynolds, who was last seen 18 months ago.

Reynolds was 20 months old when she was reported missing from her father’s Waterville home on Dec. 17, 2011. McCausland said on Friday there have been no new developments in the case. Police continue to investigate her disappearance, although they have stated they do not think she will be found alive.

Ayla Reynolds’ disappearance is not the only open missing child case in Maine.

Douglas Charles Chapman, then 3, of Alfred was reported missing June 2, 1971; Cathy Marie Moulton, 16, of Portland was reported missing Sept. 24, 1971; Kurt Ronald Newton, 4, of Manchester was reported missing Sept. 1, 1975; Bernard Ross, 18, of Ashland was reported missing May 12, 1977; and Kimberly Ann Moreau, 17, of Jay was reported missing May 11, 1986.

Chapman was last seen playing by a sandpile about 25 yards from his home in Alfred while his mother was inside on the phone and his father was at work, according to a Maine State Police website dedicated to missing Mainers.

Moulton was last seen in downtown Portland, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s website.

Newton wandered away from his family’s campsite at the Chain of Ponds Public Reserve Land near Coburn Gore on the Quebec border, according to media reports. He was last seen riding his tricycle at the campsite while his mother was out of sight washing muddy shoes.

Moreau was last seen in the company of an individual she met earlier in the day and foul play is suspected, the state police website states.

Two older Maine teenagers who disappeared years ago also remain unaccounted for.

Bonnie Ledford, 19, of Dedham, who went missing in 1980, and Angel Antonio Torres, 19, of the Saco-Biddeford area, who was reported missing by his family on May 24, 1999, are listed on the state police website.

Foul play is suspected in both cases.

Nationally, more than 700,000 children are reported missing each year, according to the website amberalert.com. The Amber Alert program is a voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies and the wireless industry to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child abduction cases, according to its website.

Cable’s disappearance did not meet the qualifications to issue an Amber Alert, Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross said on Friday.

“It has to be an abduction [to qualify for an Amber Alert]. This came in as a missing person,” said Ross. “We also have to be able to put out information immediately such as a white vehicle traveling on the interstate, not just an all-points bulletin.”

The three criteria for an Amber Alert include a reported abduction of a child 17 or younger; belief that the missing child is in imminent danger of physical harm or death; and there is information available to disseminate to the public that could aid in finding the child and/or apprehend a suspect.

Ross said the Sheriff’s Department used other means for getting Cable’s disappearance out quickly, such as contacting media and alerting the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“We circulated through all of our means that were available to us,” said Ross.

Social media, particularly Facebook, has also provided an avenue for people to spread the word about Cable’s disappearance. The Facebook group Bring Nichole Cable Home had more than 5,000 members as of Friday.

The social network site has been criticized because of people creating fake profiles in order to meet teenagers, which may have happened in Cable’s case. The Facebook group, as well as fliers seeking Cable, say that Cable may have been lured by someone using a fake Facebook profile.

Ellsworth police Detective Dotty Small asked parents on the Ellsworth Police Department’s Facebook page to monitor their children’s profiles and friends.

Small said she received a message from a woman who received a friend request from a male who was also friends with several area teenagers. The woman did an image search on the person’s profile picture and discovered it had been lifted from the Internet.

Small asked parents to sit down with their children and go through each of the people on their friends list and delete those they don’t know.

“I’m not saying spy on your kids, I’m saying have open communication with them,” said Small.

Many teenagers have more than one Facebook profile — one for family to see and one for friends to see, she said.

According to its website, Facebook cooperates “with law enforcement where appropriate and to the extent required by law to ensure the safety of the people who use Facebook. We may disclose information pursuant to subpoenas, court orders or other requests (including criminal and civil matters) if we have a good faith belief that the response is required by law.”

“We may also share information when we have a good faith belief it is necessary to prevent fraud or other illegal activity, to prevent imminent bodily harm, or to protect ourselves and you from people violating our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, courts or other government entities,” continued the statement.

In 2010, A 33-year-old British man was sentenced to life in prison after kidnapping, raping and murdering a 17-year-old girl he lured through Facebook by using a fake profile.

A Texas man was sentenced to 118 years in prison in 2010 after he was convicted of three counts of felony aggravated sexual assault of a minor and one count of felony criminal solicitation of a minor. Alfedo Ramirez Jr. searched Facebook and MySpace for victims. After gaining their trust, he arranged to meet with the person to sexually assault them.

“Tell them what’s happening and what’s dangerous and try to keep them safe,” Small said.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.cbsnews.c...-ex-girlfriend/

Ayla Reynolds Update: Father of missing Maine toddler charged with assaulting ex-girlfriend

July 15, 2013 12:26 PM

By Crimesider Staff

(CBS/AP) PORTLAND, Maine - The father of Ayla Reynolds, a missing Maine toddler whose disappearance drew national attention, is facing a charge of domestic violence assault after he allegedly pushed his ex-girlfriend.

Portland police say Justin DiPietro of Waterville, Maine was arrested at 11:15 p.m. July 6 after a lieutenant saw him grab and push a woman on a street. Officials identified her as DiPietro's former girlfriend and said she wasn't injured.

DiPietro's daughter, Ayla, hasn't been seen since she was reported missing Dec. 17, 2011, from DiPietro's mother's home in Waterville, where DiPietro lived. Ayla was 20 months old at the time.

Police have called the case the biggest criminal investigation in Maine history.

DiPietro, who is free on bail, couldn't be reached for comment. His cellphone number is no longer in service, and a new number in his name could not be located.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wcsh6.com...ls-new-evidence

Ayla Reynolds' mother reveals new evidence
6:03 PM, Sep 10, 2013
Caroline Cornish
WCSH 6 News 

(NEWS CENTER) -- The mother of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds is sharing some of the evidence she says police gave her back in January, evidence she believes points to Ayla's father as being responsible for the little girl's death.

Ayla was 18 months old when she disappeared from the Waterville home of her father, Justin DiPietro in December of 2011. Police have said they do not believe she is still alive.

In two weeks, Trista Reynolds is planning to post on Ayla's website all the details of what she says police found in DiPietro's home. But she gave NEWS CENTER a preview Tuesday.

Reynolds is very frustrated with the pace of the investigation into Ayla's disappearance. And she believes if the public knew what she does about the evidence police collected, they would call upon the Attorney General's office to prosecute DiPietro.

Police have said there Ayla's blood was found in DiPietro's home, and that it is more than a small cut would produce. Reynolds said police showed her pictures of Justin's room, where there was blood. His shoes had blood on them. His truck had Ayla's blood in it, and there was saliva mixed with her blood in some places. She said it shows that Ayla suffered, and there was enough blood that she feels it's clear her little girl has died. But it doesn't show a cause. Reynolds believes what she's seen is enough to prosecute DiPietro for something, even if it's child endangerment.

Reynolds said, "When you have a truck that has blood in it when you have things of Ayla's when you have a whole basement with all different things with blood you tell me you don't have enough to prosecute? I don't want to hear it anymore and I don't believe it."

Police will not confirm or deny any of Trista's claims, saying they will not talk about the details of their criminal investigation.

We reached out to Justin DiPietro, who is in the Cumberland County Jail for allegedly violating the conditions of his release on an unrelated domestic violence charge.

DiPietro said "no, thank you" to our request for an interview.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.kjonline....tral-Maine.html

Recent missing-person searches in central Maine
5:00 AM September 22, 2013
STAFF REPORTS

STILL MISSING

Ayla Reynolds was 20 months old when she was reported missing from her home in Waterville on Dec. 17, 2011. In May 2012, state police said she is likely dead. They said the search is ongoing.

[Deborah]

Ayla will turn 4 years old on April 4, 2014.

ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)
Waterville Police Department (Maine) 1-207-872-5551

[Lori Davis]

http://www.centralma...-years-later-2/

 

Ayla Reynolds case: Three Years Later
Posted Sunday, December 14, 2014 at 12:01 AM 

It started with a 911 call at 8:49 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. Justin DiPietro told a Waterville dispatcher that his 20-month-old daughter, Ayla Reynolds, was missing. Three years, 20 searches and thousands of tips later, Ayla has yet to be found. Her mother, father and police, and those associated with them, have been at the epicenter the biggest and most expensive criminal case in the state's history.These are their stories.

 

It started with a 911 call at 8:49 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. Justin DiPietro told a Waterville dispatcher that his 20-month-old daughter, Ayla Reynolds, was missing.

 

She was last seen, he said, by his sister, Elisha DiPietro, when she checked on the toddler at 10 p.m. the night before. DiPietro said when he went in to get her that morning, her bed was empty.

 

Three years, 20 searches and thousands of tips later, investigators are no closer to finding out what happened to Ayla.

 

During that time, Ayla’s mother, Trista Reynolds and her family; DiPietro; the others in the house the night Ayla disappeared; local and state police; and countless others have been at the epicenter of what authorities say is the biggest and most expensive criminal case in the state’s history.

 

Reynolds continues to suffer with her grief, her desire for justice and coming to grips with how long that may take.

 

Sgt. Jeff Love, a state police detective, has led the investigation from the first day and is sure the truth will come to light.

 

And Justin DiPietro, a public target since almost the day his daughter was reported missing, is staying silent and out of the public eye.

 

These are their stories.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.nbcnews.c...eynolds-n272766

 

COLD CASE SPOTLIGHT: Ayla Reynolds

 

First published December 21st 2014, 1:51 pm

 

 

It's been more than three years since 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds vanished from her father's home in Waterville, Maine.

 

"This is still active and ongoing," Public Safety Spokesperson Steve McCausland told NBC affiliate WCSH6. "This case is the largest criminal case in Maine history. We are as determined today as we were three years ago."

 

Ayla was reported missing by her father, Justin DiPietro, who called 911 the morning of December 17th, 2011, after he said Ayla was missing from her crib. "We still feel that those three adults in that home that night know more than they've told us, and our doors are always open to tell the full story," McCausland said.

 

Detectives found Ayla's blood in the basement of DiPetro's house, but he has never been named a suspect in the case. The toddler remains a missing person as police have never located a body. However, investigators have said they don't believe Ayla is still alive. Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds, has insisted since the little girl vanished that DiPietro had something to do with it.

 

"Something terrible happened to Ayla that night, whether it was by accident or done on purpose," Trista told WCSH6 in 2012. "But people need to be brought to justice."

 

With another holiday season here, Trista says that she is still hopeful that police will find out what happened the night her daughter disappeared. "If she is out there somewhere and she sees me out on TV, mommy says Merry Christmas and I love her."

 

The Facebook page 'Find Ayla Reynolds' has been liked more than 16,000 times since Ayla disappeared. Family members continue to update the page with other missing person cases as well as updates on Ayla's case. The website Bring Ayla Home is also frequently updated.

 

If you have any information that could help crack this case, please call the Waterville Police Department at (207) 680-4700.

[Lori Davis]

http://bangordailyne...tigation-squad/

 

Mother of Ayla Reynolds supports effort to fund cold-case investigation squad

 

By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff

Posted Jan. 06, 2015, at 1:18 p.m.

 

PORTLAND, Maine — The mother of the little girl at the center of the state’s most extensive missing-person investigation is lending her voice to an effort to fund Maine’s first full-time cold case homicide investigation squad, she said.

 

“I think it is great that there will be [detectives] working 24-7 on cold cases [if the squad is funded]. There are tons of grandparents and parents who have unanswered questions,” 26-year-old Trista Reynolds said Monday night.

 

Reynolds, who fears her daughter’s case will soon go cold, said she will join backers of funding the squad in testifying before the Legislature this spring in hopes that the effort will solve the mystery of the disappearance of Ayla Reynolds. Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing from the Waterville home of her father, Justin DiPietro, on Dec. 17, 2011. The case has since become the largest missing person investigation in Maine history, but police have said they do not think the girl will be found alive.

 

“Wherever they are, if I have to go and tell my story in front of the legislators, I would be 100 percent behind doing it. I have to be Ayla’s voice. Whatever I can do, I am down for it,” Reynolds said.

 

A law establishing the squad was passed last year but was left unfunded. Rep. Karl Ward, R-Dedham, submitted a fiscal note to the law last month seeking funding through the state’s general fund. The bill’s language is undergoing a legal review and will likely start being reviewed by legislative committees later this month, said Ward, who welcomed the Reynolds’ involvement.

 

The Reynolds family “is desperate to solve the case and they are not the only ones,” Ward said.

 

Ayla Reynolds is not among the 69 names on the cold-case homicide listing at maine.gov. She is still classified as a missing person, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. He described the case as open and very active.

 

Maine State Police officials said more than two years ago they believe Ayla was the victim of foul play. They said they don’t believe the child was abducted, and that they think DiPietro has not been completely forthcoming about what occurred the night of Ayla’s disappearance. DiPietro’s girlfriend and his sister were also at his home when the girl was reported missing. Police reported that blood found in the partially finished basement of the Waterville home was tested and could be traced to Ayla. No one has been charged in the case.

 

Reynolds said there is no implied criticism of state police in her joining the cold-case legislative effort.

 

“I know that they are working the case to their fullest. They have actually been really supportive,” Reynolds said. “We have had our differences but I definitely have come to grasp the fact that they are doing their job. They have a lot of other cases to work. They have been great on giving me answers and trying to keep my mind at ease as best they can.”

 

According to a fiscal note, the squad would require a General Fund appropriation of $332,020 and Highway Fund allocation of $178,779 for two state police detective positions, one forensic chemist position and related costs. The costs would decrease slightly in following years, the note states.

 

Ward is hopeful the effort will be successful this year but said that with at least 1,500 bills being submitted seeking funding for all kinds of initiatives, his effort faces steep competition. One of the difficulties the effort faces, he said, is that education and social services programming consume more than 50 percent of the state budget.

 

“The good news is that the state surplus is increasing,” Ward said of the state’s recording a $49 million surplus at the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year.

 

Patrick Day, a volunteer who built a website dedicated to the bill and to cold cases, coldcasesquadme.com, said that the friends and families of cold-case victims, including Reynolds, plan to testify to the Legislature. Supporters also plan on holding a rally at the State Capitol, he said.

 

“We would like to have a huge turnout of people to come out to this,” Day said.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.centralma...rthday-quietly/

 

Family to mark Ayla Reynolds’ birthday quietly

 

Posted March 27, 2015

BY AMY CALDER STAFF WRITER

 

Trista Reynolds, the mother of the toddler who disappeared from her father's Waterville home in 2011, said she is focusing on her growing sons.

 

Trista Reynolds’ sons are getting older and Raymond, who turns 4 Tuesday, is beginning to understand more.

 

Reynolds said her growing sons are one reason that she plans a quiet remembrance of her daughter Ayla, whose fifth birthday is April 4.

 

Ayla disappeared from her father’s Waterville home in 2011, when she was 20 months old, and Reynolds plans to set off of balloons and light candles on her birthday.

 

“I’m just doing something with my sons and my family. I’m not doing anything involving a bunch of people,” Reynolds, 26, of Portland, said Friday. “It has been a rough couple of weeks. I’m just kind of needing my space this year.”

 

Her sons, who are not related to Ayla’s father, Justin DiPietro, are growing older, and she said she has to think of them.

 

“Anthony will be 2 in August,” she said. “Raymond’s still asking tons and tons of questions. I’m trying to keep them away from everybody.

 

“Raymond is starting to understand what’s going on, so out of respect for him, I’m trying to take a step back.”

 

It’s a balancing act to keep Ayla’s memory alive yet try to protect her sons while working full time and wanting to spend more time with them, she said. She works at Five Guys Burgers and Fries in South Portland.

 

“Anthony resembles Ayla a whole lot,” she said. “He’s got her chipmunk chubby cheeks. He does everything she does. She was a busybody, always playing in cupboards and trying to get into the toilet. He tried to climb in the oven the other day.”

 

Reynolds said this time of year is tough for her, a memory of the days before Ayla was born, when she was having a baby shower, getting a room ready for the daughter who would be coming into her life, and then going into labor.

 

When Ayla was reported missing from 29 Violette Ave. in Waterville, it launched what state law enforcement officials have said is the largest criminal investigation in Maine’s history.

 

Ayla was staying with DiPietro, who reported her missing. He maintains she was abducted during the night, but authorities have ruled that out and say he; his girlfriend at the time, Courtney Robeters; and sister Elisha DiPietro, who were in the house that night, aren’t telling the whole story.

 

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said in an email Friday that the case “remains open and active and there are no new developments.”

 

Reynolds said she remains dedicated to finding the truth of what occurred that night.

 

She is urging the state to establish a cold-case squad to work on homicide cases that never have been solved.

 

“I don’t want to be one of those moms who dies and never ends up knowing,” she said.

[Lori Davis]

http://bangordailyne...old-case-squad/

 

Mother of Ayla Reynolds plans to speak at hearing on funding cold case squad

 

By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff

Posted April 20, 2015, at 3:21 p.m.

 

AUGUSTA, Maine — Proponents of a bill that would fund the state’s first full-time cold case homicide investigation squad in 2016 hope to have 300 people and 40 speakers at a public hearing on it, they said Monday.

 

Trista Reynolds, the 27-year-old mother of the little girl at the center of the state’s most extensive missing-person investigation, plans to be one of the speakers when the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee takes up the matter. The hearing is set for 1 p.m. April 30 in State House Room 438, according to a listing at maine.gov.

 

“I will be there on behalf of my child. It is not OK that they are having so many missing or murder victims where cases have been left open. They [legislators] need to fund it so that people can have closure,” said Reynolds, whose daughter Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing from the Waterville home of her father, Justin DiPietro, on Dec. 17, 2011. Police have said they do not think the girl, a likely victim of foul play, will be found alive.

 

A law establishing the squad was passed last year with bipartisan support, including from Gov. Paul LePage, but its funding has been a political football, with Democrats and Republicans blaming their opponents for its going unfunded.

 

Rep. Karl Ward, R-Dedham, submitted a fiscal note to the law in December seeking funding through the state’s general fund. The April 30 hearing is likely to be the only one in which state residents will be allowed to speak, said Patrick Day, a volunteer working with Ward to get the squad funded.

 

“We want to bring home the point that we want this bill funded and put into budget for next year,” Day said Monday. “We want action, immediate action on this bill and not have it delayed. By having many families and experts come in and speak, it will make a difference. Last year we had very few.”

 

Ward criticized LePage in January for opting to fund 11 new drug enforcement officers and prosecutors to address what LePage’s spokeswoman called Maine’s “severe drug epidemic” rather than the three-member squad. Ward did not immediately return calls on Monday. The governor supports the squad and his anti-drug initiative, but would fund the MDEA initiative first, the spokeswoman said.

 

“I think it is ridiculous that no one wants to fund it,” Reynolds said. State leaders need “to remember that there are parents who are hurt and frustrated every day.”

 

The bill seeks $510,799 to fund two state police detective positions and one forensic chemist, plus other costs. The squad would be created on July 1, 2016.

 

The state listed 69 cold cases over the last 40 years on its list at maine.gov as of Wednesday. Twenty to 25 homicides occur annually, with about 90 percent resulting in arrests.

 

Reynolds expressed gratitude to legislators who support the bill. She said that Day, who built a website dedicated to the bill, coldcasesquadme.com, “has just done so much, from all the research to getting the people involved with this. He has just been a big part of it.”

 

Besides listing the hearing on the website, Reynolds’ supporters have spread the word on Facebook and issued a mass email. Five other homicide victims’ support groups and a real estate agents’ group are also organizing to attend the hearing, Day said.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.centralma...cold-case-unit/

 

With support from Maine families, cold case unit gets lawmakers’ endorsement

The Judiciary Committee unanimously supports a bill to fund two state police detectives and a forensic chemist to investigate unsolved homicides.

 

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted 

April 30

Updated May 1

 

AUGUSTA — Family members of missing children and murder victims whose cases have never been solved implored lawmakers Thursday to help them find justice by providing funding for a special unit in the Attorney General’s Office dedicated to investigating the crimes.

 

“I don’t want to be one of those moms 30 years from now not knowing what happened,” said Trista Reynolds, whose toddler daughter’s disappearance more than three years ago set off the biggest criminal investigation in state history. Reynolds said she believes the special unit could help shed light on what happened to Ayla Reynolds, who was 20 months old when she vanished from her home in 2011 and is presumed dead.

 

Republican Gov. Paul LePage signed a bill to create a cold-case homicide unit last year, but the Legislature didn’t set aside money for it – an act one victim’s family member called “shameful.”

 

This year’s bill, which the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee unanimously endorsed Thursday, would provide $500,000 to support two state police detectives and a forensic chemist who would work with the prosecutor in the Attorney General’s Office who focuses on the more than 120 unsolved homicides in Maine.

 

Some have criticized LePage for not putting the money in his more than $6 billion budget proposal, but his administration says the governor wants to ensure that his anti-drug effort is funded first. LePage is seeking $4 million to create seven new drug enforcement agent positions, four district court judges and four prosecutors to stem the tide of the state’s growing drug problem.

 

“If we can find money for everything, then let’s move forward,” said Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for LePage. “But if there’s only money for one of the priorities, the governor has been very clear and consistent that the drug epidemic needs to be addressed first.”

 

The decision to fund the cold case unit will ultimately lie with the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, which will be faced with dozens of other proposals competing for limited resources.

 

Sen. Linda Valentino, a Democrat from Saco who introduced the bill and serves on that committee, pledged to fight to ensure that the funding for the unit ends up in the final state budget, which must be adopted by June 30.

 

“This is a small price to pay to get murderers off the street and finally give peace to the victims’ families,” Valentino said.

 

Among the dozens of family members who gathered Thursday at the State House to urge support for the bill was the mother of Ashley Ouellette, a 15-year-old who was killed in 1999, and the parents of Angel Torres, who vanished the same year.

 

Angel’s father, Narcisco Torres, told lawmakers that the cloud cast over his family since his son’s disappearance has never gone away. But he said he and his wife remain hopeful that Angel’s remains will be found so they can give him a proper burial.

 

“Families like ours and many others need closure,” he said. “Even if the answers our family seeks are not found, surely there will be many families for whom the questions are answered.”