Ayla Reynolds: Ten Years Later, part 1
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Go to knix.com and get 15% off with promo code TRY15. That's knix.com, promo code TRY15 for 15% off life-changing period underwear. That's knix.com. This is Murder, She Told. True crime stories from Maine, New England, and small-town USA. I'm Kristen Zevey.

You can connect with me at MurderSheTold.com or on Instagram at MurderSheToldPodcast. Trista Reynolds was groggy and sleep-deprived, sitting in the passenger seat on a long car ride to Machiasport, a coastal town in the heart of the Downeast region, just 50 miles from the Canadian border.

Her journey had begun that Saturday morning in Portland at 6 a.m. with her future father-in-law, Robert Fortier, and she was drifting in and out of sleep on their way to see her fiancé, Raymond, who had recently become an inmate at Downeast Correctional Facility. Robert got an alarming phone call from Trista's dad while she was asleep. He was panicked. Robert explained to him that Trista was out cold, and he said to keep driving for now.

but a short while later, he called back and said to pull over, wake her up, and put her on the phone. Robert stopped the car in a Dunkin Donuts parking lot in Ellsworth and roused Trista. Her dad was in hysterics, and although Trista was still waking up, she understood that something terrible had happened. Her 20-month-old daughter, Ayla, was gone.

Her father told her to head to Waterville. The police were involved, they were looking for her daughter, and they wanted to talk to Trista. It was strange, they had just passed so near Waterville, and Trista had thought to herself how nice it would be to go and see her daughter, who was staying with her father, Justin. She hadn't spoken on the phone with her for over a week, and she missed her badly.

As they backtracked, canceling their morning visit to see Raymond, the hour and a half drive from Ellsworth to Waterville seemed like an eternity. As they drove, she frantically called Justin, trying to figure out what had happened. There was no answer. Trista was terrified about her baby's well-being. I want to pick her up, and I want to hold her, and I just want to tell her she's going to be okay. I want to tell her I love her, and...

When they got to the station, they sat down with the police and both Trista and her fiancé's father, Robert, provided statements. About 30 minutes later, her own father, Ron, who Ayla called Papa, arrived at the Waterville PD as well, angry and distraught.

They learned some bare-bones facts. According to a transcript later released, Justin had called 911 that morning around 8.49 a.m. and reported Ayla missing. He was disconnected three times. Apparently, his cell and other cells in the house were all low on battery. He said that the last time anyone had seen Ayla was the previous night around 10 p.m. His sister, Alicia, had checked on her before going to bed.

They discovered that she was missing from her crib Saturday morning, but a time was not specified in the call. Just in story, she had been kidnapped by an unknown intruder. Ayla was last wearing a green onesie with polka dots and the words Daddy's Princess on the front. Also at the station were Justin, his sister Alicia, his then-girlfriend Courtney, and his mom, Phoebe.

Trista ran into his sister in the hallway, and Trista implored, Where is she, Alicia? But Alicia responded right back at her with her own words, Where is she, Trista? Evidently, Alicia, and perhaps Justin too, believed that Trista had something to do with Ayla's disappearance.

Though she knew that she had nothing to do with her disappearance, Trista tried to make sense of Alicia's suspicions. There was an ongoing conflict between Trista and Justin about the custody of Ayla. Though Justin and Trista had known each other for most of their lives, it was their brief romance in the summer of 2009 that resulted in Trista's pregnancy. Justin had no intentions of having a child with her, and Ayla was a surprise.

He refused to believe that he was even the father. On April 4th, 2010, Trista gave birth to little Ayla Bell Reynolds, and one of her first impressions was, "My God, she looks just like Justin." It wasn't until July of 2010 after a paternity test that Justin finally accepted that he was in fact Ayla's father.

and in December of 2010, he was ordered by Child Protective Services to pay back child support. Though there was no court-approved child custody agreement in place, the arrangement was that Trista had primary physical custody of Ayla in Portland. In fact, it wasn't until mid-2011, after Ayla was one, that he even started to have any visits with Ayla.

Justin lived about an hour and a half north in Waterville, and the visits were brief daytime sessions, nothing overnight.

On October 13th, 2011, two months before she was reported missing, Trista had a life-changing encounter with Child Protective Services. Although I don't know what precipitated the encounter, I know what the outcome was. Trista had a substance abuse problem, and CPS had an ultimatum. Kick the habit or lose the kids.

By this time, Trista had given birth to another child, Raymond Fortier Jr., and was in a relationship with his father, Raymond Fortier Sr. So there were two kids in her care, Ayla and Raymond. That same day, Trista admitted herself to an inpatient rehab program in Lewiston, and in the meantime, entrusted her children to her mom, Becca, and her sister, Jessica. She was determined not to lose her children. They were her world.

Four days into her treatment, on October 17th, Justin and his family decided that they wanted custody of Ayla. Justin's mother, Phoebe, called up Child Protective Services and somehow got the approval to take Ayla from her mother's child care arrangement with her family, Jessica and Becca.

Jessica got a call from CPS that afternoon and told her to surrender Ayla. And when she asked why, she was told that, quote, he's the father and he has the right to take her, and that the dad trumps the aunt any day. Though the DiPietro family had permission from the state to take Ayla, they didn't know where she was. Justin and his mom didn't know where Jessica lived, so CPS provided the address to Lewiston PD, and Justin and Phoebe went to the station.

Lewiston PD discussed the situation with CPS, and they confirmed that they had given authorization to remove Ayla from Jessica and Becca's care. So Officer Charles Weaver escorted Justin and Phoebe to Jessica's home to get Ayla. Phoebe waited in the car while Justin and Officer Weaver went to the door. Weaver did most of the talking while Justin waited in the background. The scene that unfolded was dramatic.

When Weaver knocked on the door, Jessica answered and pleaded with him. She said that Ayla's father was abusive, saying he had beaten her in the past. She said she wouldn't give up Ayla willingly. Weaver later recalled that Ayla was laughing, playing, and attempting to make conversation with him. In other words, in good spirits.

Jessica told Weaver to pay attention to how her demeanor would change when Justin appeared. Weaver said, "...I then had Justin come to the door. Upon seeing her father, Ayla immediately broke down crying and attempted to flee the kitchen. I picked up the child and handed her over to her father as she continued to cry uncontrollably."

Ayla was kicking and screaming and even tried to bite the officer as he placed her in Justin's arms. Jessica told Weaver that Ayla was terrified of him, and Weaver responded, if he had his way, he would not let Ayla go with Justin.

So how is it that this whole situation came to be? How is it that CPS approved this change in physical custody? I tried to learn a little bit about the legal process when child custody is disputed to understand if what happened was in fact legal. The answer to that appears to be no.

As you say, there's a lot of question and speculation about the custody situation. I know that Justin got custody of Ayla in October after... He did not get custody of Ayla. Temporary custody in October, he did not? No, he did not. No, he did not. Well, why was she in his care? Nothing stating...

Because Department of Health and Human Services violated my rights. That is why she ended in Justin's care. There was no court order. There was nothing that had to do with any custody at all. Just to be clear, Child Protective Services is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, or DHHS.

The best practice when it comes to child custody between separated parents is to have an official court-blessed child custody agreement in place. Justin and Trista didn't have one of these. In the absence of a formal agreement, the court considers whether there was a de facto agreement in place. In this case, there was.

Trista had primary physical custody of Ayla, and Justin, as of the previous few months leading up to this October incident, had been granted daytime visitation. He had seen Ayla five to ten times. Trista and he had agreed that he would take her at times, but he had never taken her overnight.

If Justin wanted primary physical custody, the way to get it would be through either mutual agreement, which he didn't have, or through the legal process.

He would have had to petition for custody in a courtroom, and ultimately a judge would have to approve it. There was no judge and no courtroom in this change of custody. The rationale that was provided by the CPS supervisor, he's the father and he has the right to take her, and the dad trumps the aunt any day, is simply false.

Trista had made childcare arrangements due to her absence in the rehab program, but she technically retained full custody. In other words, Jessica and Becca were providing a service for Trista: look after her kids while she was gone. The supervisor created a false dichotomy: maternal aunt versus father. The true dichotomy was mother versus father.

Before a court would ever grant a father sole physical custody of a child, they would also do a background check and a home visit, both of which were not done in Ayla's case. One of the common refrains in child custody law is "best interest for the child," which considers stability and continuity. The status quo was that Ayla was under Trista's care, and her retaining that would be in the best interest of the child.

The only thing that could trump this concern is if the child was in immediate danger. It is possible that CPS found this to be the case, but I could find no report of it. Here are some examples of reasons for emergency removal that might be relevant to Ayla. A parent was hospitalized, they abandoned a child for a lengthy period of time, or illegal drugs were found in the child's home.

But even if we assume that the reason that CPS approved the custody change was due to imminent harm, what doesn't make sense is why they would have left young Raymond and only taken Ayla. If there was potential harm to one child, surely the same risk existed for the other. Justin took Ayla with him to Waterville, where he moved back into his childhood home on Violet Ave, with his mother, Phoebe, his sister Alicia, and her daughter, Gabriella.

Justin was 25 years old at the time, Alicia was 24, and their mom was 47. Gabriela was around Ayla's age, just a baby. Justin lived in the partially finished basement, a large single room, and the rest of the family lived upstairs. While Trista was in rehab, she called Justin every day, asking to talk to Ayla, keeping tabs on her. She didn't sense that anything was amiss.

On October 20th, the eighth day of Trista's 10-day treatment, CPS conducted a family team meeting to discuss Ayla. Present were three CPS representatives, two doctors, Trista's sister Jessica and her attorney, and Trista. Justin called in by phone.

By the end of the meeting, there was an agreement as to what should happen. Ayla would be returned to Trista on October 22nd as she completed the program. Also agreed was that Justin would bring Ayla to the treatment facility on the 21st to visit with her mom. Neither of these things happened. Justin kept Ayla from Trista.

In the weeks that followed, Trista called CPS repeatedly to ask for help in enforcing their agreement. She wanted Ayla back as promised, but couldn't seem to get anywhere with CPS. Eventually, she and Justin came to a temporary agreement that he would continue to keep her and she would get regular visitation. But Trista had some concerns about Justin's parenting. Have you been critical of Justin's parenting? Do you worry that she was not safe in his care? Yeah.

For what reason? Just, you know, just for the reasons like he would never let me see her. I would call to talk to her and he'd get mad about it. I mean, like, if I did see her and I would notice something on her, like a bruise or just something, he, instead of, like, reacting in a calm manner, he would lash out about it or kind of, like, go into defense.

A major accident happened while Ayla was in Justin's care, and on Saturday, November 12, he took her to the emergency room. The medical records from the ER indicate that they took x-rays and determined that she had a broken bone in her upper arm, right at the elbow joint.

Justin told the doctor that the accident had happened the night before, on Friday the 11th. He said that it was raining and that when he was on the porch with Ayla in his arms, he slipped and he fell on her, hurting her. Although she had cried, he said that she didn't seem to be badly injured, and it wasn't obvious until the next morning that she might need emergency medical attention. Ayla's arm was put into a soft cast.

On Monday, the orthopedic specialist thought that surgery wouldn't be necessary, believing that she would likely heal on her own. The following week, on Monday, November 21st, at her third doctor's appointment, he said that things were going to plan. Her body was healing well. This was the last date that Trista saw Ayla in person before she went missing 26 days later.

In the meantime, Trista and Justin continued to argue about custody, visitation, and simply talking to Ayla on the phone. Trista had had enough, and on Thursday, December 15th, two days before she went missing, Trista filed paperwork with the court to begin the legal process to obtain full physical custody of Ayla.

So when Alicia DiPietro threw her words back at her at the police station, "Where is she, Trista?" things became more clear. The DiPietro family believed that Trista had snuck into their home and snatched Ayla. While the family members were being questioned at the station, a massive search was just getting started to find Ayla. An automated system was utilized to call and alert everyone within a one-mile radius of the house of Ayla's disappearance.

According to the police dispatch log, within 10 minutes of the call, two officers arrived at the DiPietro home. Within an hour and a half, two more officers, two detectives, and three units from the Waterville Fire Department had arrived. Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey, who was off duty, arrived by 10.30 a.m. that morning with Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey.

Throughout the day, the state police, the Maine Warden Service, two more detectives, and three more officers from Waterville PD arrived. And this was just day one.

Around this time, the police decided to remove the DiPietros from their home. It's strange to think that in the blink of an eye, if you're caught up in an investigation, the police can temporarily or even permanently take your stuff. In this case, the police took an entire house and everything in it. Phoebe, Justin, Alicia, and her daughter Gabriela were out of their home. Fortunately, they found a temporary place to stay with some friends.

Although it may be the right thing for the investigation, it can have quite an impact on the people involved. Phoebe said, I walked out of my house to go down to the station and give statements, and all of a sudden we were homeless on top of everything else. We walked out with the clothes on our back and weren't allowed back in for 14 days.

On day two, Sunday, December 18th, a cadaver dog from Maine State Police and a dog from Maine Game Warden Service were brought in to assist, and nearby Messolonsky Stream was searched. Trista, her son, and her mom Becca were all staying in a motel in South Portland. Police had told the Reynolds family to give them space to conduct their investigation and their search. There was nothing that they could do but wait.

Trista's father said, it's just so hard for me to sit back and not do anything. I'm crawling out of my skin right now. She's the apple of my eye.

On day three, Monday, December 19th, the FBI was brought in to assist with the search. Between the different agencies involved, 75 people were searching for Ayla. The Maine State Police seized two vehicles from the DiPietro home. One was owned by Justin, a 1996 Ford Explorer, and the other was owned by Justin's girlfriend, Courtney Roberts, who was also there the night of the disappearance with her young son, Aiden.

Her vehicle was a silver four-door sedan, reported to be a 2002 Hyundai. The Waterville City Council chambers were used to set up a temporary command center for the search operation. A spokesman for the Department of Public Safety for the state of Maine, Steve McCausland, described the nerve center.

That's where everything is being assigned. Phones are ringing. Assignments are being handed out. The wardens are there. The FBI. State police. Waterville police. All working together. It's a central focal point where the investigation is today. Even temporary fiber optic cables had been run in order to increase their bandwidth.

The news of the missing toddler spread like wildfire. Local newspapers had picked up the story even on day one. It was in print by day two. And by day three, Trista Reynolds was sitting down for interviews with local news. I just want her home and I'm hoping for maybe my Christmas present. That will be it, that she's going to come home.

By later that week, it was picked up by the largest morning news show in America, reaching an audience of over 5 million people, NBC's Today Show. The amount of news media coverage, in print and in video, on this case is overwhelming.

It's been 13 days since Ayla disappeared here from her father's house. Dive teams were back in the water today searching for any sign. For the 12th consecutive day, police searched in and around the home of missing 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds. Our research turned up a thousand articles that were written about Ayla Reynolds, many of which were published in just the first week. Nationally syndicated shows like Nancy Grace, America's Most Wanted, and CNN news programs have all aired video segments on it.

The possibility that a little girl, 20 months old, vulnerable, and beautiful, was taken from her crib in a quiet suburban home ignited something primal in the hearts of parents across America. When people looked at Ayla's face staring back at them on the TV, they saw their own child. When they saw Trista's passionate interviews filled with hope and sorrow, they saw their own fears about losing a child.

And together, they shouted one message. Bring Ayla home. On the evening of day four, Justin released his first statement to the media, which was issued through the Waterville Police Department. This is what he said.

I have no idea what happened to Ayla or who is responsible. I will not make accusations or insinuations towards anyone until the police have been able to prove who's responsible for this. We will do everything we can to assist in the investigation and get Ayla back home. I've shared every piece of information with the police.

Ayla was in my sole custody at the time of her disappearance per agreement between her mother and me because she was unable to care for Ayla. It has always been my intention to have a shared parenting agreement with Ayla's mother, and I will continue to work towards that when Ayla is returned.

Missing child experts were weighing in on the odds of Ayla's safe return, and things were not looking good. Scott Bernstein, founder of Child Recovery International in New York City, when asked about Ayla's odds, said, "'1% hope, but I'll go for that 1% hope.'" As time passes in a missing person's case, the probability of a safe return decreases.

Van Zandt, another expert, told the Associated Press, If you don't get this child back real quickly, you know that it gets harder and harder. There was a race against time.

The search efforts expanded. The water level of the stream near Justin's home, Messolonsky Stream, was lowered so that searchers could see if the water had hidden anything. The team from the FBI was a specialized unit called the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team. They canvassed the neighborhood, knocking on every door and interviewing and re-interviewing everyone with the hope that some key detail would be uncovered.

Chief Massey, brimming with pride, said this about the efforts of law enforcement. When I walk into the briefing room at 8 every morning and I look out at 75 officers, I see nothing but commitment, determination, energy, and an attitude of let's get it done. That's optimism, that's inspiration, and that's law enforcement at its best.

In addition to all the professionals, about 50 civilian volunteers from the main association for search and rescue also joined the effort, and local businesses chipped in to help as well. About a dozen restaurants and grocery stores donated food, and a local hotel provided facilities to serve the food. A VP of a local trash disposal company said this.

Four truck drivers inspected all trash receptacles owned by the company, nearly 600 in all, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Their inspections included ripping open every trash bag for a close look at the contents. We searched every can that we dumped, and every load that has gone to the landfill has been searched as well.

One of the workers responsible for the search said, quote, The work is grim. I'd like to get a phone call saying that she's alive someplace. But doing a search like this, it's really hard to be optimistic.

On day nine, a group of local businesses pooled their resources and offered a $30,000 reward to anyone with a tip leading to Ayla's recovery. By day 10, Chief Massey estimated that 5,000 hours of man time had been expended in the search so far, and they were following up on 330 tips that had been made to date.

Meanwhile, Trista was working with allies and support groups to organize vigils, walks, and memorials for Ayla. News cameras were always present, and in the absence of information from law enforcement, it gave journalists new things to report on, keeping the story on the front page and in the nation's mind. I hope she's okay, but my biggest fear is that she's all alone and she's scared.

And she ain't got nobody to turn to. Trista's perseverance and media presence was constant. Though she couldn't help directly with the search, she helped indirectly by keeping the world focused on the case.

Ayla was easy to focus on. Her wispy blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and gap-toothed grin were irresistible. Trista said that she was born with that smirk on her face. She said, "I don't think Ayla has ever had a bad day." In a personal interview, Trista opened up about Ayla and her personality. "I used to tell her that she was going to be Mommy's star, but this isn't how I wanted her to become a star.

When looking in a book of baby names, the name Ayla struck her and her fiancé Raymond immediately. The name means "forever flower."

Trista said Ayla's favorite time of day was around 6 a.m. when she awoke, jumping up and down in her crib, in her Tinkerbell-themed nursery, and reaching out for mommy. Trista would bring Ayla into her bed along with her son Raymond, who is 11 months younger than his sister, for cuddling. Then they'd dance and sing with the radio while they made breakfast.

Trista's brother said that Ayla loved music and that whenever he would turn on the radio, she would dance. Her favorite song? "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5. Ayla liked being the center of attention. She'd spin around in circles and intentionally fall on the floor, looking up to make sure that everyone was laughing. And if there was a camera around, she'd put herself in front of it.

When she was up to mischief, like one time she emptied her aunt's purse, she'd flash Trista a sly smile and then scurry away giggling.

Trista and Ayla would take frequent walks in Portland, and if you could hear music from a passing car, Ayla would start dancing. Perfect strangers would stop and take notice, saying, Your daughter is so amazing. She's so funny and so full of life. Cars would honk their horns. Ayla would try and help her younger brother. If he started to cry, she would come charging across the house to be with him.

She would help with everything. Even if Trista was changing his diaper, Ayla would try to push her out of the way. As she grew older, Ayla began picking up words, like "mama," which she usually pronounced "mama" at the top of her lungs, "baba," "dada," "nanny," and "thank you." More recently, she began winning laughs by saying "k-k-k-k-kick your butt," which she learned from her older cousins.

But Trista held on to some memories for herself. Memories, she feared, might be all that she had left of Ayla.

The police, per usual, were very careful and restrained in the language that they used in the media, generally keeping their soundbites focused on the extraordinary manpower involved, the number of tips received, and the goal of the mission, to bring Ayla home. But their message evolved, becoming more sinister as the search went on.

At first, Chief Massey said, everything is open, everything is on the table. But the optics changed as the house and the land it sat on were cordoned off with crime scene tape and the cars parked there were impounded. Journalists also reported seeing William Stokes, top brass of Maine's criminal prosecutors, on scene.

Waterville Chief Massey insisted, though, that the investigation was considered a missing persons case, not a homicide investigation. By day 10 of the search, police publicly ruled out the possibility that Ayla had somehow left on her own accord. Massey said,

Based on our knowledge of the interior of the house and the sequence of events that would have needed to occur for her to make it outside on her own, we feel comfortable that we can eliminate that possibility and focus on other possibilities.

On day 13, Chief Massey turned over the reins to the Maine State Major Crimes Unit, making an announcement. At this point, we believe that foul play has occurred in connection with Ayla's disappearance. The case has evolved from the search for a missing child to a criminal investigation.

At the end of January, a little over a month into the investigation, police revealed that Ayla's blood had been found in the home. This is a reporter speaking with Steve McCausland, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety. In the early days of the investigation, detectives collected hundreds of pieces of potential evidence from the home, including blood in the basement. News 8 first reported last night that blood was Ayla's.

Police wouldn't say how much blood they found or if they believe the toddler is dead. We still hold our hope that this little girl is alive. But we can tell you that as the days turn into weeks, our concern grows. But we are still hopeful that we'll find her. And that they had suspicions about the three adults in the home, Justin, Courtney, and Alicia. We think that those three individuals know more than they're telling us.

Are they lying?

I'm telling you that they're not telling us the full story. The next day, McCausland said, their version of events is not backed up by any forensic evidence that we have located. That someone slipped into the home in the middle of the night while three adults are there. That someone went into the bedroom where Ayla was sleeping alone, removed her, and vanished into the night. And that the three adults did not see or hear anything doesn't pass the straight face test.

And finally, six months later, on May 30th, McCausland said this. The searches, the dives, and the evidence gathered at this point, we think it is highly unlikely that Ayla Reynolds will be found alive. Nothing points in that direction. Hearing the unspoken words, Ayla is dead, devastated the Reynolds family. I still want to, like, hold her and love her.

and care for her and watch her grow up. I don't get to. I don't get to do any of that. I don't even get to like, I don't get to share birthdays with her anymore.

Though Justin had stayed out of the media initially, after about two weeks, he started making more appearances, even appearing on the Today Show, where he weighed in on the change of message from law enforcement. And Justin, as you just heard in the piece, police are now saying that they believe foul play is involved. What are investigators telling you about what happened, what they believe may have happened here?

As far as I know, that's just been a change in terminology. As far as I know, we're at the same place that we were at on day one with this. Justin insisted that someone had abducted Ayla, saying, quote, I hope that whoever had the courage to come into this house and take her has the courage to bring her back. It's gone on long enough.

When asked about what happened that night, this is what he had to say. Can you tell us about the last time that you saw your little daughter? I know it was now more than two weeks ago. She was wearing, as it was described, pajamas, polka dot pajamas, or Top said, daddy's little princess. Tell us about that night. It was just a normal night. There was nothing. I put her to bed and just a normal night.

He continued, "I'm here to help in any way I can. By coming on here, it's in hopes of reaching the person who has my daughter, to let them know that what you're doing isn't right. You may think what you're doing is right for Ayla, but it's not. You have no right. You're not her parent. She belongs home with her family." When asked about why he'd been silent up to this point, Justin acknowledged that his efforts to reach out were delayed,

Getting in touch with people from the Laura Recovery Center was a big step. You can say I was sort of naive for the first few weeks. I just thought that Ayla was going to be home.

He also said that at first, he was coached by law enforcement to stay out of the press, which McCausland later admitted was true, but that there was a misinterpretation that the initial embargo was permanent. It was not. In fact, police encouraged both him and Trista to stay in the public's eye.

He also responded directly to the insinuations that had been leveled at him by Nancy Grace and Trista's appearance on the show. I publicly invite Nancy Grace to come spend a day with me. Nancy Grace, please come see me. Do you want to spend a day with me? Do you want to see what I'm going through? Do you want to see the ins and outs of it? I invite you to. He also said that, while uncomfortable at times, he was complimentary of the efforts from police.

Some of the techniques and tactics that they had to use, without going into specifics, hasn't been fun, but it's about bringing my daughter home. Whether it's being asked the same question 25 times and you've got someone yelling in your face telling you you're a liar, the truth is the truth. It can't be said enough. The truth is patient, and it will come out.

Justin also had an emotional plea to make to his would-be captor, but it fell a little flat. A lot has been said about you, obviously, in the last couple weeks before we had a chance to speak to you directly. What do you think people should know about you and about your relationship to your little girl? All I can tell you is what I'm not. I love my daughter. I would never do anything to harm my daughter. She's the world to me.

Can you tell us specifically then about your daughter? Tell us what makes your daughter so special. She's my daughter. She's my child. She's my world. She's everything to me. Justin said that he asked for a polygraph examination one day, and by January 14th, he said that he'd taken one. When asked about his results, at first he said, I smoked it.

Steve McCausland responded, saying he was baffled by Justin's statement. He said that the state police told him his results and that his claim was simply untrue. When journalists returned to Justin, he said, "'That's all irrelevant. I wanted to see the results myself. They're not letting me see them. Why don't they let the public see them?'

To answer back, Trista insisted on being polygraphed as well. The police, although they were satisfied with her candor, indulged in her request and set up a testing date.

Unfortunately, the examiner that administered her test determined that Trista, due to an undisclosed medical condition, wouldn't be able to achieve reliable results. Trista was disappointed and admitted as much publicly. She said that she would seek medical help to try and become healthy to get retested. I found no news of her being retested though.

Grand jury proceedings are always done in secret, so although we have no official report from law enforcement, it has been reported that one of these meetings was held on February 9th. Generally, at a grand jury hearing, prosecutors present their case and call witnesses before a group of citizens to get their blessing to indict someone, compel witness testimony, or secure evidence.

It wasn't reported what this hearing was about, but the list of witnesses who testified was provided. On the DiPietro side, it was Phoebe.

Alicia, Justin's older brother, Lance, and Justin's girlfriend, Courtney. On the Reynolds side, it was Trista and her father, Ron. The outcome of the hearing wasn't reported, but based on the fact that Justin wasn't called to testify, one might infer that the hearing was about whether or not to indict him. Though, if that were the aim of the prosecutors, I

I suspect that they would have succeeded, since 99% of indictments proposed to a grand jury are given the green light. It's not clear what this all means, but I found it interesting.

On March 14th, another missing persons case was inadvertently solved. Volunteer searchers working on Ayla's case found the skeletal remains of a man on the banks of the Messolonsky stream, a half mile from the Violet Ave house where Ayla went missing.

It's surprising that with the magnitude of the search efforts, with the extensive use of scent dogs, that it took three months to identify an adult man's remains a short half mile away from the crime scene.

Investigators later identified the remains as Stephen Brandon. He had been missing for eight years. On February 16, 2004, Brandon left his home on foot without his cell phone and said nothing to his family or girlfriend. Police believe that he died by suicide.

The conversation online about the case between friends, family, and interested members of the public was constant. When you look back at archived snapshots from that time, you find comment threads hundreds of posts long with dozens of contributors. There were at least eight websites and blogs that had been published, dedicated solely to Ayla's case.

Jeff Hansen, Trista's stepfather, was behind one of the biggest ones, Ayla Reynolds.com. Jeff recalled that he was looking at a child while he was out and about, and caught himself staring, realizing that he was trying to determine if it was missing Ayla. He said that at that moment, he realized he was obsessing over it. He was seeing her everywhere.

He knew that he needed to do something, so he locked himself in a room and for three days worked on creating the website that went live on January 1st. There was some rivalry amongst the sites. Some of the sites were published by friends and family of the DiPietros, and others were published by friends and family of the Reynolds. One time, when Trista confronted the DiPietros at the courthouse, the anger boiled over and there was a sharp exchange of words between her and Phoebe.

I'm Kayla's grandmother and I believe she's alive. And I am her mother. Yes, do you believe that she's alive? And tell us what you did with her. Mainstream media paid attention to the sites and would reference them in their news reports.

The constant churn of commentary led to hundreds of tips being submitted to the police. Most of them were well-meaning, but some of them were a little extraordinary. Police admitted that of the roughly 1,300 tips that they had received, over 300 of them came from psychics. They dutifully looked into all the tips, but said that not one of the psychic tips had any credibility.

In December of 2012, a year after Ayla went missing, McCausland had made up his mind and said, we don't want any more psychics calling us. It had been a year since Ayla had disappeared, and after the white-hot spotlight of the media cooled, investigators decided it was time to sit down with Trista and reveal some details of the investigation to her.

Back in January of 2012, just a month after the incident, investigators had told the world that Ayla's blood was found at the house. What I didn't say before is that one of the investigators let it slip to Trista's family at a vigil, the amount. More than a cup. A cup of blood is an enormous amount, especially for a toddler. Eight ounces of blood would be about a quarter of all the blood in Ayla's body.

In January of 2013, Trista met with the Maine State Police detectives, and in an unassuming conference room, they showed her a slideshow presentation of forensic evidence. It was photograph after photograph of Ayla's blood.

As they clicked through slide after slide, Trista was overcome with emotion. It ended shortly after it had begun. It was too much for Trista to bear. She fled the room, believing for herself what the police had long said. Her little girl, Ayla Bell Reynolds, was dead.

Tune in next week to the conclusion of the Ayla Reynolds story. I'll walk through the blood evidence found in the house, dig into the latest on the case through Trista's legal pursuit for truth and justice, and explore other topics like why Ayla had a $25,000 life insurance policy purchased weeks before her disappearance. I want to thank you so much for listening. I'm so grateful that you chose to tune in and I couldn't be here without you. Thank you for watching.

Thank you for one year of Murder, She Told. If you want to support and contribute to the show, there's a link in the show notes with options. Leaving a nice review or telling a friend is a great way to support too. You can connect with me on Facebook or Instagram at Murder, She Told Podcast.

A detailed list of sources for this case can be found on the blog at MurderSheTold.com. Thank you to Byron Willis for his research and writing support. If you're a friend or a family member for the victim, you are more than welcome to reach out to me at [email protected]. If you have a story that needs to be told or would like to suggest one, or if you have a correction, I would love to hear from you. My only hope is that I've honored your stories in keeping the names of your family and friends alive.

I'm Kristen Sevey, and this is Murder, She Told. Thank you for listening.

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