Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Nancy Grace Mysteries: The Baby Ayla Story
Aired March 14, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: A 20-month-old baby girls, Ayla Reynolds, goes to bed in a house full of adults. By 9:00 AM, she`s gone. Just before she disappears, the mom goes to court fighting for full custody from the father, but never sees her baby again. Tonight, on NANCY GRACE MYSTERIES, what happened to baby Ayla, and will her disappearance ever be solved?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justin! No. Justin! Justin! Justin, talk to me.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at me, Justin, look at me! Justin, please. Justin, just look me in the eye! I know you care, Justin.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Cold temperatures, December 16, Friday night, Waterville, Maine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Through the woods and down the streets, search parties still looking for 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For a 20-month-old to go missing in our area, I feel like it`s part of our duty to go ahead and help any way that we can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Baby Ayla Reynolds, just 20 months old, not quite 2, was staying with her father.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The searchers have scoured several blocks surrounding Ayla`s home on Violette Avenue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were checking everything, in the culverts and outbuildings and trying to get the neighborhood to help us out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But without any luck.
GRACE: Three weeks before, Ayla had gotten a broken arm while with her father. His story is that he fell on Ayla while carrying a bag of groceries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So far, we have not located the young girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Waterville police are now working with the fire department, state police, the FBI and the wardens service, coordinating efforts to find that little girl. As those search parties continue, state police are still calling this, the family`s home, the focal point of the investigation, as K-9 units search inside the home and also inside the garage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That Friday night, the father, John (sic) DiPietro, is in the home, his home. Also there, his girlfriend, her young son, his sister, her infant. So you`ve got three infants and three adults in the home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ayla was last seen at her home Friday night at 8:00. She was reported missing Saturday morning around 9:00 o`clock.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do they account for not seeing her for 12 hours and reporting her at 8:00 in the morning?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was in her own bedroom and everyone went to bed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Ayla`s father, Justin DiPietro, was home, and he wasn`t alone. They aren`t saying who else was in the house, and they haven`t ruled out an abduction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Baby Ayla -- she`s in the bedroom that night sleeping in the same room with her infant cousin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRISTA REYNOLDS, MOTHER: Is she OK? Is she laying somewhere dead? Is she safe? Is she cold? Is she being fed? Is someone watching her? Is she somewhere?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight, Trista Reynolds`s questions go unanswered. She sits with her father and her 8-month-old son. Her 20- month-old daughter, Ayla, still missing without a trace, a nightmare that`s been Reynolds`s reality ever since the toddler vanished from her father`s Waterville home between Friday night and Saturday morning.
REYNOLDS: Where could she be? Why -- why -- why didn`t anyone check on her throughout the night? Like, now do you not, like -- how did they not know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reynolds says she last saw Ayla on November 21st, leaving the toddler with her sister because she was hospitalized. Reynolds says that`s when DHHS took the toddler to live in Waterville, with her father, Justin DiPietro. The two didn`t have a formal custody arrangement, and Reynolds says DiPietro is a loving father. But she says things between them became tense, and she filed custody with the courts on Thursday, just two days before Ayla was reported missing and a week since she last heard from the toddler or DiPietro.
REYNOLDS: I think maybe he does -- he knows where she is. And I sometimes think that, like, you know, maybe, like, you know, did it get a little rough for him? He`s refused to send me a picture. He`s refused to let me talk to her. So now I`m starting to think, like, has she been missing for a little bit, and he`s just now doing something about it, or did she really go missing Friday night?
JUSTIN DIPIETRO, FATHER: I am crawling out of my skin. I am. Because I don`t know where my baby is. I look at her picture. She`s out here somewhere. Where? The poor little thing, she`s so helpless, so defenseless right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But for now, the search for Ayla continues, the Reynoldses saying police have even searched their home for any sign of the little girl, a child whose family is making a plea to the public tonight.
REYNOLDS: Bring her home! Just bring her home to us! I want my baby home! I want her home!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: They put Ayla to sleep that night. She`s wearing a little onesie that says "Daddy`s Little Princess" on it. She`s got a little soft cast. She`s never seen alive again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For a third straight day, there is still no sign of the 20-month-old toddler whose father says vanished in the middle of the night from her grandmother`s home. A family member saw Ayla Reynolds sleeping in her bed Friday night. Her father, Justin DiPietro, says the next morning, she was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, we`re dumbfounded. I mean, I just -- there`s something very strange about it all. Obviously, there`s something very strange about it all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it`s terrible. I`ve really been upset because it`s happened on my street. And we don`t have that much information right now. And if we could just find out that she is safe, it would mean so much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FBI is now joining the investigation. It`s a special team with expertise in finding missing persons. A forensics team also continue to gather and analyze evidence from the home. Police also expanded their search with the help of the Maine Wardens Service, which used this plane to search for Ayla. The warden also searched Messalonskee stream near the home where Ayla went missing, but found nothing.
Police are still asking the public to call in with any information about this case. At an afternoon news conference, Waterville police chief Joe Massey (ph) said 75 officers are out pursuing each and every lead and tip they have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The focus, obviously, is to bring Ayla home. Everybody is hoping for that, and we are working to that end, putting all these resources that we have in play and making sure that we don`t miss anything. It is currently a very open case. We are going in the direction of where the information and the evidence, and where we think the logical conclusion of this investigation would lead us to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As for any theories or suspects or evidence gathered so far, Chief Massey and other investigators won`t give any specifics yet about what they think may have happened to Ayla.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you remember this, Justin? What did you do with her? If you weren`t guilty, you wouldn`t run!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REYNOLDS: You can`t even look me (INAUDIBLE) Stop! You can`t even look me in the eyes as a mom and a grandmother!
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m Ayla`s grandmother, and I believe she`s alive!
REYNOLDS: And I am her mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you believe that she`s alive, then tell us what you did with her!
REYNOLDS: Just seeing Justin just -- it`s like Ayla was right there. It`s like I looked her in her face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: At first, this case of missing baby Ayla was treated as a missing child case. About 10 days into the investigation, into the search for baby Ayla, cops publicly state baby Ayla did not leave the home on her own.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
REYNOLDS: Justin, look me in the eye so I can see her!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mom of a missing toddler followed and yelled at the little girl`s dad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a toddler missing in Maine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The father says, oh, he put the child to sleep at 8:00 o`clock that night, and then approximately 12 hours later, oh, the child is missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see a desperate mom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something terrible happened to Ayla that night.
REYNOLDS: Just look at me, Justin! Look at me!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was like "Jerry Springer Live" outside a courthouse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is drama we don`t see in Maine too often.
REYNOLDS: Within the same week that Justin took Ayla from me, he took out a life insurance policy on Ayla.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a very creepy feeling to think that somebody has been casing your house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Based on everything we know of the thousands of hours of investigation, we think it is highly unlikely that Ayla Reynolds will be found alive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her blood was found on her left shoulder strap to her car seat in Justin`s truck. There was blood on Ayla`s baby doll. And it looks like a murder scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Four days later -- this is two weeks after she goes missing -- cops publicly state this is a case of foul play. That greatly changes the complexion of the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The local fire department first chopping through thick ice and then sucking out the water and muck from this pond now that they`ve seen the bottom. They`re looking for any signs of what happened to little Ayla.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Almost immediately when baby Ayla went missing, the FBI`s child abduction rapid deployment unit came. The entire area was canvassed door to door. People were asked about Ayla, whether they had seen her, what had they seen, if anything. Multiple interviews continued on into the wee hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The missing child`s grandmother, Phoebe DiPietro, says she`s living a nightmare.
PHOEBE DIPIETRO, GRANDMOTHER: You`re waiting for a phone call, hoping the police have your granddaughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But so far, that phone call hasn`t come, not a single word about what happened to Ayla Reynolds. The toddler, who would now be 21 months old, seen in this home video shot last fall, disappeared in the middle of the night a week before Christmas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s quiet, very sweet. Her eyes -- she`s got the bluest eyes and the longest eyelashes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Baby Ayla was the focus of an extremely intensive search by land, by air, horses, volunteers, police, FBI, everyone looking for baby Ayla. The police looked in trash, lots, dumps, garages, back yards, ballfields, everywhere. They combed through the woods in the area. Nothing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A shrine outside the Waterville home where 21- month-old Ayla Reynolds was last seen continues to grow, teddy bears, cards, candles and other gifts. Over the last two-and-a-half weeks, people like Melissa Corovo (ph) said they were emotionally drawn to the story and came to see for themselves. She brought her own 14-month-old son, Alex.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It hits very close to home. It makes me very sad for both families, for her. We just want to support her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Psychologists say this approach may not be such a good idea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many of these children don`t -- they don`t manage this very well. It leaves them fearful, thinking about, What if it were me? What if this were my brother? You know, I mean, it leaves -- it leaves the kids really sad and anxious and afraid in ways that are disruptive to them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Mosier (ph) says many children, particularly those elementary school age kids, might become more clingy, refuse to go to bed, or might act up because they`ve been overly exposed to this case that`s gripped the nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: DiPietro says Ayla`s father, Justin, put her to bed around 8:00 o`clock. The next day before 9:00 AM, he called police to report her gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s no accident that could have happened that night?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Among anyone here? You, Justin, the other people that were here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something covered up?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Here`s the back story. Ayla`s mother had been in rehab for substance abuse. That`s why she didn`t have Ayla the night she went missing. As soon as she gets out of rehab, she tries to get her baby back. And it seems as if John (sic) DiPietro, the husband, the father, refused to go along with it. He did not want the mother to get her back. In fact, he even sent a very unusual text to the mother stating that he was afraid someone would try and take Ayla, that someone would try and kidnap her or snatch her, which is very odd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What other adults were there, exactly what happened that night or whether anyone checked on Ayla, police won`t say, nor will DiPietro. She says investigators warned her against jeopardizing the case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can tell you there was not a party here at the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People had dinner, watched television, eventually went to bed?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pretty much, yes. I really have to avoid that question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn`t hear any noise?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did not hear anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: On the 8th of that month, December the 8th, the mother spoke to Ayla on the phone. She wanted Ayla back. After that, she never heard Ayla`s voice again. Every time she would call to talk to Ayla, the father, John (sic) DiPietro, would come up with an excuse why Ayla could not come to the phone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Steps away from Phoebe DiPietro`s living room, seen here, is Ayla`s bedroom she shared with her cousin, who was untouched that night. Her face is blurred. Justin told his mother Ayla was missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you found out that she wasn`t there, what did you think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought that I didn`t want my son to go get any of his friends and go kicking in doors looking for her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I take it you don`t think some stranger walked in off the street and did this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a very creepy feeling to think that somebody had been casing your house, that they had been watching the family`s activities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After Ayla vanished, her grandmother told detectives some things around the house didn`t look the same.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some oddities that I had noticed, and we told the law enforcement, you know, what those were.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would not reveal them to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The day before Ayla goes missing, the birth mother, the natural mother, files for full custody in a court of law. The next day, Ayla`s gone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Without a search warrant, Ayla`s grandmother allowed police to turn her house upside down for about two weeks because, she says, she has nothing to hide.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would give everything I own if we could have her back!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ayla`s parents never married and live apart. The child`s mother, who spent time in rehab, her family says, questions whether Justin mistreated Ayla, suspicious about a soft cast she had on her left arm the night she went missing. Justin`s mother says she was home when her son tripped while carrying Ayla into the house. In other words, an accident.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justin is a great dad. He truly, truly is, and I know he loves Ayla.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This sparkling red dress and books are among Ayla`s Christmas gifts, never wrapped.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to believe she`s OK!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have anything to say for whoever took Ayla?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please bring her back. Please. Just bring her back!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So she can see her dancing again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ayla is my best friend. Like, I have told Ayla all of my darkest, deepest secrets because she can`t -- she can`t tell nobody, and it`s, like, when I had a bad day, I could turn to Ayla and I could put her in my arms and I could just tell her my whole day and what bothered me. And it`s, like -- because she didn`t know. She just still loved me no matter what.
I want to pick her up and I want to hold her, and I just want to tell her, like, she`s going to be OK!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Ayla, you know, your granddaughter?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why don`t you tell us what you did with her.
REYNOLDS: Why don`t you tell me? No! You know what, Phoebe?
(CROSSTALK)
REYNOLDS: No! You tell me, Phoebe, what you did with my daughter. Tell me what you did with my daughter!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell us what you did with her.
(CROSSTALK)
REYNOLDS: Where is she, Phoebe? You don`t even have -- let me go, Brian! Let me go! You don`t even have the decency to look me in my face, Phoebe, and tell me what happened to my daughter!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why don`t you tell us (INAUDIBLE) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
REYNOLDS: (INAUDIBLE) my daughter! Just look at me, Justin. Look at me!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Here`s another interesting fact about this timeline. We know the mother spoke to Ayla, and we`ve got proof of life on December the 8th. We know she`s gone on December 16 We know that during that time, the mother continued to try to talk to Ayla, and the father refused.
On December the 12, December the 12, Ayla had a doctor`s appointment. The appointment was about her broken arm. The father called and canceled the appointment on December 12the. So realistically and practically speaking, no one outside that home that night can confirm that they`ve seen Ayla alive or knew of her being alive since the mom talked to her on December the 8th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re looking at every angle, and we`ll continue to do so until we find Ayla.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say they continue to look at all options in the search for Ayla Reynolds. Today 18 divers between the Maine Wardens Service and the state police spent daylight in near freezing water searching the Kennebec River.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is just us expanding our search area, trying to think of all the scenarios and doing what we can do to find Ayla.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Wardens Service says today`s search wasn`t necessarily based on one specific tip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any search is elimination, which means, hopefully, we don`t have to go back and it`s not a wasted day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities notified Ayla`s father, Justin DiPietro, of today`s search, telling him not to be alarmed, DiPietro telling News 8 today he is holding out hope. State police would not go into detail about the investigation, only saying there were three adults and two children in the home the night Ayla disappeared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Very typically, someone`s blood is found in their home with -- for innocent reasons. You can cut your finger. You can cut yourself shaving. You can hit your nose and your nose bleeds. There`s millions of reasons why your DNA, blood DNA, could be in your home.
I don`t find that to be consistent with the reported findings of blood in the father`s home, Ayla`s blood. Now, according to her mother, Ayla`s blood was found throughout the father`s home. It was found on the sheets, found on an upstairs sofa, blood the size of a silver dollar on her doll`s face, on a pallet, a wooden pallet in the basement, on the sheets of the bed where her father slept, on the cord to a fan in the basement, various spots on the wall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the days go on, our concern grows, as it`s been 26 days. But I can also tell you that we remain hopeful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since his daughter, Ayla, disappeared three weeks ago, her father, Justin DiPietro, has been reluctant to go on camera. But for the first time, we sat down with Justin to talk about his daughter and what he is doing now to try and bring her home.
JUSTIN DIPIETRO: I don`t want for one second for my daughter to ever think that I wasn`t doing everything that I could to get her home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the first time, Justin DiPietro allowed a camera inside the home on Violette Avenue in Waterville, Maine, the house where his daughter, Ayla Reynolds, was last seen three weeks ago. The 24- year-old father says while he has remained quiet since she disappeared, he has always been focused on finding Ayla.
JUSTIN DIPIETRO: People don`t have to care about me. You know, as long as they care about Ayla, that`s -- that`s -- that`s what I want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s been almost 18 months since Waterville toddler Ayla Reynolds was declared missing. Now a new effort by a group dedicated to her search is using flyers like these to enlist the help of thousands of tourists who visit the state of Maine each year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I made a choice to post it right next to our 50th anniversary, poster, which is very brightly colored and everything like that. So hopefully, we`ll have a lot of eyes on it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although it may be miles from the home where the toddler was last seen, office manager Megan Fear (ph) says this summer, she`s expecting 2,000 guests from all over the country and the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plenty of eyes, so hopefully, you know, between all of us, we can -- we can get some answers here and help out Ayla`s family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCosland (ph) says, currently, there`s no new developments in the case, but the investigation is still very active.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Interesting about the blood. Some of the blood -- some of the blood -- was mixed with saliva. Did she cough up the blood? Was she throwing up blood? There were some toy hair fibers in some of the blood. Police tell the mother that the pattern, the spray pattern of the blood, is not conducive to the theory it was from a cut. So that blood is not from a cut.
We also know that luminol was used to find some of the blood. In fact, police showed the mother, Ayla`s mother, some of the shots of the blood. She said she got so upset when looking at these photos, she could only look at two of them before she had to just quit looking. She couldn`t take it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN DIPIETRO: I want her poster, her face where -- on every corner in America.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He knows that same public he is asking to help find his daughter also has many questions for him. What was happening in the house that night Ayla went missing? Who would want to take her? Justin says what little he does know, he has told detectives. Police have never named Justin as a suspect and say he has cooperated in their investigation.
JUSTIN DIPIETRO: If there was something solid that I knew, I mean, I would be sharing that. But again, you know, I cannot go out there and speculate and -- which is what a lot of people have done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Police say that when they told the father of the blood evidence they found, he had absolutely no reaction whatsoever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justin says people can think and say what they want about him, he only cares about finding the little girl he calls Ay (ph).
JUSTIN DIPIETRO: She`s amazing. I mean, she`s very funny, very outgoing. I mean, she dances around rooms. I mean, she`s just -- I mean, she`s just -- she`s -- she loves dancing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justin says despite accusations from Ayla`s mother, Trista, that he was not a good caregiver, he refuses to engage in finger pointing or placing blame. He says everyone involved has to move ahead with one goal.
JUSTIN DIPIETRO: It`s not about me. It`s not about Trista. It`s not a "he said, she said" thing. It`s not about the public. You know, it`s not about the media. This is about Ayla. And you know, I just -- we want her home, and I`m going to do anything I can to make that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The Maine state police verified that the search for baby Ayla was the largest and most intensive search in Maine state history. They searched for Ayla over the course of 20 searches by air, land and water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We come together today with many tears.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Through power of prayer, two dozen Mainers gather for an emotional vigil for 21-month-old Ayla Reynolds. The gathering of hope turned somber after news broke Maine state police found blood at the house where the Waterville toddler was last seen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) dear God. I hope it`s not Ayla`s -- I hope it`s not blood!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maine state police have confirmed blood was found in the basement of the Ayla`s father`s home on 29 Violette Avenue. Justin DiPietro attended the vigil in honor of his daughter at Castengate (ph) Square, but refused to answer questions about the blood evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can`t comment on the blood that was found in the house?
JUSTIN DIPIETRO: Again, I`m not going to answer any questions. You know, I`m just here to show my support for the community that is supporting Ayla, so...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: However, a tearful Trista Reynolds, Ayla`s mother, had a more emotional response to the discovery.
REYNOLDS: Do you really want to know what my reaction is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.
REYNOLDS: Really? You really want to know? I`m ready to go knocking out people`s doors myself because I want to know what happened to my daughter, and I want to know where she is and who took her, or just whatever, like everybody else does. My reaction is I`m still trying to concept (ph) the fact that blood was found.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both Trista and Justin embrace at the vigil. It`s the first time the two have seen each other in person after their daughter was reported missing on December 17th.
JUSTIN DIPIETRO: You can`t really put it into words what it means to have people...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) people...
JUSTIN DIPIETRO: Well, for people to be doing this for somebody that`s not even their daughter. I mean, it says a lot about the community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both parents released balloons as a symbol of their undying hope that the young girl will come home soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The feds searched. State police searched. Local authorities searched. Volunteers searched. Property owners were asked to search their property for any sign of Ayla. A dive team searched the Kennebec River. Everything possible to find baby Ayla was done.
We all can make a difference. Need proof? Check out this week`s "CNN Hero."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON REYNOLDS, GRANDFATHER: Every day, it`s hard. Every day, it`s hard not knowing where she is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ron Reynolds is sick of waiting for the truth about what happened to his granddaughter. He says he has always believed that Justin DiPietro and his family knew more about Ayla`s disappearance than they were letting on. Now police say they agree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That someone came in that back door, snuck in her bedroom, took her, vanished in the middle of the night, and none of those three adults heard or saw anything -- that`s very frustrating. We think they know more than they`re telling us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This family, again, has gone through hell. And I`m tired of it. I want Ayla home. I want one somebody in that family to have the guts to come up and tell the state police who has her or where she is so we can bring her home once and for all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This is what else we`ve learned. Shortly after the father took baby Ayla -- remember, the mom was in rehab, and her mother and sister were taking care of the baby, and he gets the baby from them -- he takes out a $25,000 life insurance policy on the baby, on baby Ayla. That was just about two months before she goes missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, I`ll be candid. It`s been 48 days. Our concern grows every day. But we remain hopeful that we`re going to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police would only say their investigation led them to search this wide stretch of the Kennebec River and a smaller section of Messalonskee stream just a few miles away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then you work from there as you eliminate areas, and then you move on from there. There are going to be more searches and there are going to be more dives as we continue to hunt for this little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The water is cold. It`s freezing. It caused us some problems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those brutal conditions allowed these divers from state police and the Maine Wardens Service to stay underwater for only 20 minutes at a time. Seven hours of searching today, they say they turned up no evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, if there`s something, we`re going to get it down to the crime lab and have them look at it, but nothing that we feel can be attributed to her right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While police continue to release few details about their investigation, they do say they`ve had recent contact with Ayla`s family, but would not confirm if the family is cooperating. And still, police do not believe the little girl was taken from the home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still think they know more than what they`ve told us. We`ve said that all week long. And from the reasonings that we started early on that we have grave doubts that an abduction ever took place there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s talk about polygraphs. The father, John (sic) DiPietro took a polygraph, and in his words, he "smoked" it. Police say they never showed him the result of the polygraph. Now, Ayla`s mother says that she`s learned he totally failed the polygraph. And when confronted with that, DiPietro says, Well, you know what? The police never showed me the results, so until I see the results, they`re totally irrelevant and I smoked it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reynolds says she doesn`t understand why no one will speak up.
REYNOLDS: I can just feel. Like, I`m her Mommy. You know, like, 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. And everyone who was inside that house that night that knows what happened to Ayla, they`re making this a game because they`re the ones who can end this in a matter of seconds. All you got to do is speak up and say something, whether it was meant to be done or whether it was an accident.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think if they said what they knew that Ayla would come home (INAUDIBLE)
REYNOLDS: Either she would come home or we would have our closure. But you`ve got to (INAUDIBLE) like, look every evidence that we`ve got right. Not any of the evidence is pointing toward anything positive. Everything is pointing towards negative. So how is that fair to her, you know? And then I wonder, like, did she suffer? Was it -- if it was the worst, like, was it just quick and easy, or did she suffer from it, you know? Like, that`s not cool for her mom to wonder every day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As the days go by, it gets harder and harder for Reynolds, but she will not give up hope.
REYNOLDS: I just -- I do got my doubts, but then I tell myself, like, I`ve got to keep the faith because miracles happen. They do happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Recently, in May, police make the announcement they believe baby Ayla is likely dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Based on everything we know, of the thousands of hours of investigation, the 1,127 leads that have come in and have been received and acted on, the searches, the dives and the evidence gathered at this point, we think it is highly unlikely Ayla Reynolds will be found alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watching the news conference from their living room in Portland, Ayla`s mother, grandparents and uncle burst into tears.
REYNOLDS: I think the news that I just found out I would never want any parent to find out. I think, like, my worst nightmare has really come true. And what hurts the most is I don`t even know where she`s at.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police also notified the child`s father, Justin DiPietro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justin was also thankful for the information. His reaction was no reaction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: State police spokesman Steve McCosland would not say what led them to conclude that Ayla is likely dead. But it`s been nearly six months since Justin DiPietro told police his daughter was abducted. Police have said the abduction theory does not pass, quote, the "straight face test" and have classified the case as a crime. However, they have not named any suspects or persons of interest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities continue to say that someone who was in the home the night before Ayla was reported missing knows something. They say Justin DiPietro, his sister, Alesha DiPietro (ph), and Justin`s girlfriend, Courtney Roberts (ph), were there. Asked if police could charge the three adults with obstruction from justice, McCosland said...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s way premature to start speculating on charging anyone. Our focus is to find Ayla. And therefore, at that point we will take the case where it leads us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: As of tonight, the Maine state police say that there is no person of interest, no one has been named a suspect and no one has been ruled out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REYNOLDS: Her diaper bag, shoes, PJs -- I mean, you name it, I`ve got it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A year later, even after moving apartments, Trista Reynolds holds onto Ayla`s favorite things in the garage just in case.
REYNOLDS: People -- no, I get told that I`m crazy for keeping all this stuff. But like, I can`t -- I can`t get rid of it. I just -- I -- I can`t.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reynolds can`t give up hope completely, but she knows that state police wouldn`t say they believe Ayla is no longer alive without evidence. She says therapy is helping her begin to grieve for her daughter.
REYNOLDS: No matter where Ayla is, she`s still with me all day every day because she`s right here in my heart. And I got memories.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The memories are in pictures all around her, and Ayla`s little brother, Raymond, keeps Ayla`s memory alive in his own way. At 20 months, he looks just like her.
REYNOLDS: He likes to pull his clothes out of his drawer now like she did, and he`ll give me that look. And there was just one day that he was doing it, I just looked at him, and it was just, like, her face right there. And I was, like, Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Trista knows guilt and blame won`t bring Ayla home. And she`s proud of her sobriety. All she wants is for someone to give police that tip they`ve been waiting for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To this date, baby Ayla has never been found.
END
