Police Search for Maine Toddler Last Seen at Bedtime Friday
Dec. 18, 2011— -- Police in Maine turned to the public for help today after local, state and federal law enforcement officials came up empty in their search for a 20-month-old girl whose father told police he last saw her when he put her to bed at 8 p.m. Friday.
"It was imperative for us to bring together all the resources we could, as quickly as we could, to find her," Waterville Police Department Chief Joseph Massey said today, adding that local fire officials have assisted in the search.
Ayla Bell Reynolds was wearing green polka-dotted pajamas with "Daddy's Princess" emblazoned across the front and a soft cast on her left arm when she was last seen, Massey said.
The broken arm, an injury Massy said she sustained about three weeks ago, also is in a sling, according to a "Find Ayla Reynolds … " Facebook page that's been set up.
Ayla is blonde, blue-eyed, 2'9" tall and weighs 30 pounds, according to a National Center for Missing & Exploited Children link on that Facebook site.
Massey said police have interviewed the girl's parents and other relatives and non-relatives who also were present Friday in the home where Ayla lives with her father, Justin DiPietro.
"They were, as far as we could see, very forthcoming with the information," the police chief said.
The girl's mother, Trista Reynolds, has no permanent address, Massey said.
Ronald Reynolds, Ayla's grandfather told ABC News: "Oh, man, what I'm going through right now is I want to go there. I want to search. I want to just got up there and search and stay out all night and do whatever I need to do. But the police are telling me to let them do their job. Does somebody have her in a car. Is she dead?"
Massey said local and state police and FBI agents have scoured Ayla's neighborhood but found no sign of the toddler.
When she was reported missing at 8:50 a.m. Saturday, the department, following its protocols, delivered automated phone messages to every home within a mile radius of where Ayla reportedly disappeared, alerting them of the disappearance.
"We need more than just us. We need the help of the general public," Massey said. "I suspect that somebody out there may know where the little girl is. ... We'd like to get her back home."
