Search Intensifies For Missing Baby Ayla Reynolds
FOXNEWS.COM: As the FBI stepped up its efforts to find a 20-month-old girl who disappeared from her father’s home over the weekend, investigators combed through trash bins, drained a stream and pored over more than 100 leads offered by the public.
Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey refused to speculate Tuesday on whether Ayla Reynolds was alive, saying authorities are focused on finding her. The investigation remains a missing-person case, he said.
Meanwhile, in his first public statement, the girl’s father, Justin DiPietro, said he doesn’t know what happened to her.
“I have no idea what happened to Ayla, or who is responsible,” he said. “I will not make accusations or insinuations towards anyone until the police have been able to prove who’s responsible for this.”
The Portland Press Herald reported that DiPietro released the statement through the Waterville Police Department, saying his family and friends will do “everything we can to assist in this investigation and get Ayla back home.”
Massey said the FBI launched a door-to-door canvass of neighbors to glean any information that may lead them to the little girl.
“We’ve ruled out nothing,” said Massey, whose central Maine agency has combined efforts with firefighters, state police, game wardens and the FBI.
Ayla was last seen when DiPietro, put her to bed Friday night. He called police to report her missing the following morning, saying he found her bed empty.
“I have shared every piece of information possible with the police,” DiPietro said in his statement.
On Tuesday, a state police evidence vehicle remained outside the home that DiPietro shared with his mother in Waterville.
State police stationed outside the house told reporters that the DiPietros were not there. Their whereabouts were unknown to the public, and The Associated Press could not find phone numbers for them.
While the neighborhood was canvassed, police were checking out trash bins across the city. A stretch of Messalonskee Stream a few blocks from DiPietro home was drained nearly dry so wardens could get a better look, both from the ground and from an airplane overhead, officials said.
Massey said each of the 100 leads that have been given to police was being followed.
Ayla’s mother said she’s trying to remain optimistic that her daughter is OK. Trista Reynolds said she’s trying to keep it together for an 8-month-old son who remains in her care but acknowledges the past few days have been tough.
“Sometimes I think that she’s OK. Sometimes I start thinking that the worst can happen. That’s how I’ve been feeling. I lay my head down at night and wonder where she is. Am I going to see her again? Do I get to see her beautiful smile?” Reynolds said of her daughter Ayla. “She’s my little girl.”
Police said both of Ayla’s parents, who live separately, continued to cooperate with police.
“Ayla Reynolds is etched in all our minds and reminds every investigator why it’s important to stay focused and committed to the task at hand: to bring Ayla back home,” Massey said.
The Reynolds family was advised after meeting with Waterville police to return to their homes 75 miles to the south in Portland to let police conduct their investigation. Reynolds and her older sister, Jessica, were staying in a hotel Tuesday to keep away from the media frenzy.
“I’m watching my sister fall to pieces,” Jessica Reynolds said. “I don’t think she has any tears left to cry.”
Trista Reynolds told The Associated Press that she and DiPietro never lived together as a couple. But Reynolds said a drinking problem prompted her to enter rehabilitation in Lewiston for 10 days in October; she said that although her mother and older sister cared for Ayla during that time, child welfare agents intervened to place the girl with DiPietro.
Last week, Reynolds filed court papers that she hoped would lead to the return of her daughter. The filing occurred the day before Ayla was last seen in Waterville.
DiPietro said Tuesday that although he has sole custody of his daughter, “It has always been my intention to have a shared parenting arrangement with Ayla’s mother and I will continue to work towards that when Ayla is returned to us.”
SOURCE: ARTICLE BY FOXNEWS.COM DECEMBER 21, 2011
Carolyn Callahan
State Police spokesman Steve McCausland tells us the rumors on Facebook about Ayla Reynolds being found are FALSE.
7 minutes ago
Thanks dee for all the updates
amyfoxrider
December 22, 2011 – 7:58 pm
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Mom: Baby Ayla’s dad ‘didn’t protect’ her – Video
http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/45775493#null
Search For Ayla Enters Day 7
http://www.wmtw.com/video/30062115/detail.html
Grandfather Of Ayla Reynolds Speaks Out
http://www.wmtw.com/video/30059830/detail.html
Waterville Police Department Statement
12-22-11
This afternoon, rumors have run rampant regarding the status of this case. Please understand that at this hour, Ayla has not been located. Investigators are working harder than ever on this case, and we will release information as it becomes available and appropriate. We fully understand the emotion and attention that Ayla’s disappearance has caused. Please stay with us as we move forward, and please share this with your friends to help get the word out.
https://www.facebook.com/waterville.police/posts/307771329263341
As law enforcement agencies continue searching for 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds, several community businesses have rallied to support them.
At least 14 companies have either aided in the search or provided free meals for the searchers.
One of the companies, Central Maine Disposal in Fairfield, provided six paid employees to the search Thursday, president Mickey Wing said.
It was the second day of searching for Wing’s staff. He estimates he is spending “a few thousand dollars” per day in labor fees.
“We just want to be out there and do what we can,” he said. “The more people that are out there looking, the more chance there is of finding something.”
http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/Businesses-step-up-in-search-for-Ayla-Reynolds.html?searchterm=Ayla+Reynolds
Ayla Reynolds
Latest Airing:
December 23 2011
http://www.amw.com/missing_children/brief.cfm?id=79231
Large-scale search efforts for a missing 20-month-old girl are being hampered by a couple of inches of snow that fell overnight as the search for the Maine toddler enters its seventh day.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57347819-504083/search-for-missing-maine-toddler-ayla-reynolds-hampered-by-snowfall/
Loud Noise During the Night
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474980947371
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A neighbor on the opposite side of the house on the backside of the house from where Ayla went missing did hear a loud noise around 3:30 in the morning, so loud in face that her dogs woke up and started barking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone in his family or someone himself has done something with Ayla.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anybody out there knows anything, and I suspect that probably someone out there may know where the little girl is, please call us. To the parents and other family members and relatives all I can say is they are completely cooperative at this particular time.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1112/21/ijvm.01.html
For the first time since a toddler went missing in Maine, police are now saying that they believe someone took Ayla Reynolds from her Waterville home.
$30,000 Reward Offered For Information On Disappearance Of Ayla Reynolds
Read more: http://www.wmur.com/news/30078964/detail.html#ixzz1hk6XStTJ
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/29/justice/maine-missing-girl/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Daddy did it !
Daddy abused that child and daddy is a control freak…..I pray the SOB is caught and locked away !