AYLA REYNOLDS - 20 Months - Waterville ME

February 3rd, 2012
WATERVILLE, Maine – Divers
from the Maine Warden Service and Maine State Police are back in the
Kennebec River as they continue to investigate the disappearance of a
toddler in Waterville.


Maine Department of Safety spokesman Steve
McCausland says divers searching for Ayla Reynolds wanted to go over the
area that was searched on Jan. 11 for a second time.


Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported
missing from her father's Waterville home on Dec. 17, and her
disappearance has been declared a crime.


Over the weekend, state police said the
father and two other adults who were in the home before Ayla went
missing know more than they're telling investigators. Police confirmed
that Ayla's blood was found in the partially finished basement that
DiPietro used as his bedroom.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/03/divers-resume-search-for-missing-maine-girl-ayla-reynolds/?test=latestnews#ixzz1lMUbm6sK

Ayla Reynolds Update: Divers find no new clues in second river search for missing Maine toddler

(CBS/AP) WATERVILLE, Maine - Divers who searched a river and
nearby stream in the hometown of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds turned up
no new clues Friday as the Maine girl's disappearance approached seven
weeks. "I'll be candid," Department of Public Safety
spokesman Steve McCausland said. "It's been 48 days and our concern
grows every day, but we remain hopeful that we'll find Ayla."
The
dives into the Kennebec River, which was previously searched Jan. 11,
and a stream that flows through the city, yielded a backpack and a
knife, neither of which is connected to the child's disappearance,
McCausland said.
Ayla was 20 months old when she was
reported missing from her father's Waterville home on Dec. 17. Her
disappearance has been declared a crime, and a $30,000 reward has been
offered for information that leads authorities to the girl.
Ayla's
father, Justin DiPietro, told police that he last saw Ayla when he put
her to sleep on Dec. 16 but that she wasn't in her bed when he checked
on her the next morning. Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds, lives in
Portland.
Police have said they believe DiPietro and two
other adults who spent that night at DiPietro's house that night know
more than they're telling investigators. Police confirmed that Ayla's
blood was found in the partially finished basement that DiPietro used as
his bedroom.
Officials on Friday made another appeal to the public for information to help locate the child.
"We
need that break. We need that information," Waterville police Chief
Joseph Massey said at a news conference. "The reward is out there, and
we hope someone is going to give us that information for that break we
need."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57371430-504083/ayla-reynolds-update-divers-find-no-new-clues-in-second-river-search-for-missing-maine-toddler/

This is so sad and so sickening. All the baby killers have to do is clam up. JMO.

WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) — Two windows were broken at the home where a
toddler was reported missing seven weeks ago, officials said Saturday.
The
missing girl's grandmother called police at about 11:15 p.m. Friday to
report that someone was throwing things through the windows at her
Waterville home, police said in a statement.
When officers
arrived, they found that two windows had been broken. Police believe the
windows were smashed by a bat or something else that was carried away
since they didn't find any rocks or other objects at the home.
Twenty-month-old
Ayla Reynolds was reported missing from the home Dec. 17 by her father,
Justin DiPietro, who lives there with his mother. DiPietro told police
he last saw Ayla when he put her to bed the night before.
Police
are calling her disappearance a crime and have said that DiPietro and
two other adults in the home that night haven't been totally
forthcoming. Police have confirmed that Ayla's blood was found in the
partially finished basement that DiPietro used as his bedroom.
After
the girl's grandmother called police Friday night, a search of the
surrounding area didn't turn up anything, police said. A police dog
followed a track that ended at a nearby street.
Nobody was hurt, but Police Chief Joseph Massey said somebody could have been injured by flying glass.
"It scares people," he said. "And it could escalate into a confrontation between the occupants of a home and the suspect."
State
police and warden service divers searched stretches of the Kennebec
River and a nearby stream on Friday as part of the ongoing
investigation, but didn't turn up anything new.
At the time of her
disappearance, Ayla was living with her father in Waterville. Her
mother, Trista Reynolds, lives in Portland, about 75 miles south.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwOMLn7DgC-PbdUoDu_wCQ_-HAzg?docId=667deef335754529bba13f62932d745e

No sympathy from this corner.

WATERVILLE -- The uncle of missing child Ayla Reynolds was summoned on an assault charge Monday

The uncle, Lance A. DiPietro, 27, allegedly kicked Justin Linnell, 22, in the face after a brief scuffle in a parking lot off College Avenue.

Linnell, who declined medical treatment, is the father of Ayla's cousin, Gabriella Linnell. Linnell and the girl's mother, Elisha DiPietro, are not married.

Lance DiPietro, of 19 Ash St., was driven to and from the scene by Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, according to Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey, who described the incident as follows:

About noon Monday, the DiPietro brothers were driving north on College Avenue near Hazelwood Avenue. Across the street, they saw Linnell walking north. Justin DiPietro drove his SUV into a nearby parking lot and stopped. Next, Lance DiPietro climbed out of the passenger side carrying a wooden novelty baseball bat and confronted the man.

"DiPietro confronted him and said, 'You've been saying stuff about my family. Knock it off,'" Massey said.

DiPietro then dropped the bat and stepped toward Linnell, and there was a short struggle.

Linnell fell to the ground and suffered a large cut on the back of his head. While he was on the ground, DiPietro kicked him in the face, Massey said. Police photos of the facial injury are consistent with a kick, he added.

Next, DiPietro picked up the bat and got into his brother's SUV, and they drove away.

Later, the investigating officer, Steve Brame, found Lance DiPietro in Fairfield and questioned him, Massey said.

According to DiPietro's account for police, Linnell was shouting threats to the brothers as they drove past, and that's why they pulled over.

During a phone interview Monday, Linnell said the assault was unprovoked.

"I didn't even see them until Lance stepped outside the car with a baseball bat. By that time, I just said, 'OK, here we go.'"

Linnell's daughter, Gabriella Linnell, is in the custody of her mother, Elisha DiPietro, and lives at 29 Violette Ave., the home where Ayla was reported missing. Linnell said he had just left Waterville District Court in hopes of rescheduling a custody hearing for an earlier date. A protection-from-abuse order forbids Linnell to see his daughter, according to court records.

Lance DiPietro could not be reached for comment.

The assault charge, a Class D misdemeanor, carries a sentence of up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. He is scheduled to appear April 17 in Waterville District Court.

Justin DiPietro was not charged in the incident.

Lance DiPietro was convicted of seven misdemeanors and five civil violations since 2002, according to Waterville District Court records, including allowing a minor to possess alcohol, underage drinking and theft.

On Feb. 4, two windows were shattered at the DiPietro home in an apparent act of vandalism. Massey offered no updates on that investigation.

http://www.kjonline.com/news/uncle-of-missing-child-summoned-in-assault_2012-02-06.html

No child should be left in that house where Ayla disappeared.

Sounds like another family where everyone is whacky, Haleigh Cummings's family.

Statement Analysis

Ayla Reynolds: 'Bath Salts' Cause of Violence?



When someone covers up for another, there is always a motive.

The motive may be affection; a wife covering for her husband, a boyfriend
covering for a girlfriend, and so on. When this is present in a more
serious crime (one in which guilt would be high, and the consequences to
the guilty be high), the bond between them, including the secrets kept,
must be very strong.

The other motive is self preservation.
This is most often stronger than love and affection. Silence between 2
is difficult, but silence between 3 is next to impossible.

What caused the violence that had Alya's blood spilled?

Where there are drugs, there are problems and given the DiPietro history
(including most recent) of violence, coupled with drugs, it does not
stretch the imagination to grasp what might have happened.

Locals raise a new question:

Were all three of the inhabitants of the house on bath salts?

It is not a stretch, given the nature of the home and the volume of bath
salts stories in the local region in and around Waterville.

Justin DiPietro, Elisha DiPietro and Courtney Roberts have all been said to be withholding information from the police.

It is likely a bond of love and affection between all three.

Will all three, rather than two, face the most serious of charges?

http://seamusoriley.blogspot.com/2012/02/ayla-reynolds-bath-salts-cause-of.html

Bath salts.... reminds me of Lena Lunsford. Wasn't she arrested for using bath salts or having them on her possession against her probation requirements. Maybe using bath salts is like meth and makes users do violent acts like murdering your child. Aaliyah is still missing like Ayla.

What do you do with bath salts? Never heard of this before. This is crazy.

Twink...I first heard of bath salts being used as a drug from the Aaliyah Lunsford missing child case. Her mother was stopped and had them in the car which was against her probation. I looked it up at that time as I had never heard of it before. Here is a link that tells about how idiots use bath salts as a drug. Apparently it can cause a person to become violent so that would make sense. They use bath salts, (smoke it I guess) become violent, and are killing their kids. It's tragic but maybe that is the common thread in some of these missing kids.

http://gleaner.rutgers.edu/2011/03/08/bath-salts-used-to-get-high/

Bath salts used to get high

To the average consumer, purchasing bath salts indicates a night meant for relaxation and meditation. But according to recent news, several products on the market touted as “energizing the mind, body and soul,” might instead be a ploy endorsing shoppers to buy a product that has a shockingly similar exterior look and after effects of one of our country’s most nefarious drugs in cocaine.

The Drug Enforcement Administration reported that after either inhaling or ingesting these particular salts, a growing number of buyers have ended up in the hospital or psychiatric ward because of hallucinations or paranoia. The Administration also claims that trying these particular salts can result in death.

The active drug found is called MDVP (Psychoactive- and is also known as Super Coke, Magic, MDPK and PV) and first surfaced in 2004. According to the DEA, it is almost impossible to find after drug screenings, and is sold frequently at smoke shops across the country. The salts keep dopamine from being released in the brain. Usage of the substance can lead to violence, experts say. In fact, police in Panama City, Florida labeled the drug as the cause of two extremely violent occurrences, one in which a young woman apparently attempted to behead an elderly family member and a second having to do with a man destroying the backseat upholstery of his car with his own teeth.

Names like “Bliss”, “Red Dawn” or “Purple Wave”, are common and apparently come in packages structured similar to Kool-Aid. Costing anywhere from $20- $80 (and can be purchased via the internet), ingestion or inhalation of the salts have resulted in more than 250 calls to poison control centers this year.

With that in mind, states like Florida and Louisiana have banned all sales of these brands and New York Senator Charles Schumer (D) plays a key role in trying to produce a bill that will add these salts to the ever growing list of controlled substances. Adding these bath salts to the list may be the key to keep them from be- coming just another recreational drug that can potentially cause the death of thousands.

Thanks Babyj for this. Looks like it is banned in Florida, my state.

I thought I was up on street drugs but it appears I am not at all.

Idiots are always thinking up new ways to damage their brains and lives. Anyone with children should have better sense.

This was such a beautiful baby. Think of all the people who would love to have her to love and raise. Was another waste of precious human life. I am convinced she is dead.

The mother of a missing toddler whose disappearance garnered an outpouring of national attention claims Maine social service workers may be at fault.

Nearly two months after Ayla Reynolds was reported missing from her Waterville home, the toddler's mother, Trista Reynolds, says she's considering filing a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services.

Reynolds claims DHHS workers didn't ensure Ayla's safety by conducting necessary checks and reviews, and says her daughter's disappearance may have been avoided altogether if they had.

"DHHS just didn't do their job," Reynolds told The Portland Daily Sun late last week.

"I think if they checked up on Ayla, we wouldn't be where we are today," she said. "I think it's partly their blame."

Ayla was reported missing on Dec. 17. She was living with her father, Justin DiPietro, at a Waterville residence DiPietro shared with his mother.

Reynolds claims social workers failed to check the living conditions at the home and didn't require family members living there to undergo mandatory background checks. Both measures are standard policy and procedure when the Office of Child and Family Services places a child in someone's care, she said.

The checks may have alerted officials to a potentially dangerous situation that could have prevented her disappearance, Reynolds claims.

"Nobody went in that house to check on Ayla … (and) I hope that somebody will see that they were in the wrong," she said.

Ayla lived with her mother up until Reynolds checked into a Lewiston drug rehab facility for alcohol abuse on Oct. 13. She stayed with Trista's sister a short time until Reynolds says the Lewiston police "demanded on behalf of DHHS" that Ayla be turned over to DiPietro.

A DHHS official would not comment on Ayla's case Monday, citing the department's strict confidentiality rules, but confirmed the agency's policies before placing a minor in a person's care.

"If we are placing a child with someone we do background checks and we do a home study," said Therese Cahill-Low, director of the Office of Child and Family Services.

Citing confidentiality rules, Cahill-Low also would not confirm whether DHHS was even working with Ayla's parents.

She explained that just because a case worker may be called to make an assessment of a situation involving a minor, it does not mean that the agency has an active and ongoing case with the family.

"Sometimes we get called in and we might assess the situation and … come up with some unsubstantiated assessment," she said. "So we could walk into someone's house and not be involved, necessarily, with that family."

Reynolds claims a DHHS case worker and supervisor were actively involved in her case, and says they were required to follow agency rules.

"The one thing where things went wrong was with the Department of Health and Human Services," Reynolds said.

April 4 is Ayla's second birthday, and Reynolds said she hopes her daughter will be returned safe so the youngster can enjoy a celebration with friends and family.

"You've got to keep your head up," Reynolds said.

Every day is a struggle, especially when there is no news, she said.

Waterville Police named Maine State Police as lead agency investigating Ayla's disappearance, and deemed the case a criminal investigation, not a missing persons case. Most recently, family members reported the discovery of blood in the basement of the Waterville home, but police are being tight lipped about how much was found.

"I don't live a normal daily life, my mind never stops" thinking about Ayla, Reynolds said.

"The blood, it just freaks me out," Reynolds said, adding she preferred not to talk about it, calling the subject too disturbing.

Reynolds said she talks to detectives daily, although she said she isn't provided updates on the case.

"We've gotten a little further, but we're kind of in the same place we were when she first went missing," Reynolds said.

"It's a nightmare that's not ending, and it's a nightmare that gets worse every day," Reynolds said.

A $30,000 reward is offered for information leading to the location and return of Ayla. Anyone with information is asked to call Waterville Police at 680-4700 or Maine State Police in Augusta at 624-7076.

http://portlanddailysun.me/node/32254/

Two months after Maine toddler Ayla Reynolds disappeared, her mother says she isn't speaking with the girl's father anymore.
But Trista Reynolds says she is pleading with the adults who were in
the house the night Ayla went missing, asking them to speak up.

"I can just feel. I'm her mommy. She's not OK. She's not all right. So
why keep playing the game that's being played? Because it's not a game,
it's serious,” she said. “Everyone who was inside that house that night
who knows what happened to Ayla, they're the ones making this a game
because they can end this in a matter of seconds. All you have to do is
speak up and say something. Whether it was meant to be done or whether
it was an accident."

Ayla's father said he last saw the child when he put her to bed the night before.


Read more: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12006718190497/missing-toddler-s-mom-pleads-for-answers/#ixzz1meKih6cw

Not new, but hadn't read this before. Sounds like what KC was doing to her Cindy -Justin making up excuses why Ayla couldn't talk to her Mom.
Snipped from Nancy Grace (bold is mine): Aired Feb 1, 2012
"...
GRACE: Yes, I am familiar with the case out of that jurisdiction. And the scenario you`re playing out has striking similarities here because the cops are all but saying the three people in this home, the three adults, know where she is and are not telling the truth. Now, why would they not be telling the truth? That is what they`re indicating, although no one has been named a suspect or a person of interest.

Back to Bonnie Druker. For days and days and days, Mommy kept trying to see or contact baby Ayla, her toddler girl. But every time, Daddy would have a different excuse so she couldn`t see the child. Plus, he canceled a longstanding doctor`s appointment. The child was in a cast. What were some of the excuses he would give Mommy to keep her away from baby Ayla?

DRUKER: Well, Nancy, Justin told Trista that inside this house, Ayla was sleeping or she was playing and couldn`t make to it the phone.

CASAREZ: Well, you know, Jean Casarez, when I call the children, even if they`re playing, they can hold the cell phone up to their ear. What about it, Jean?

CASAREZ: Well, he definitely -- it`s a red herring. It`s called consciousness of guilt..."

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1202/01/ng.01.html