The lawyer for missing toddler Ayla Reynolds’ mother says he plans to hold a news conference Monday in Portland to talk about what he plans to do next in the case.
William Childs, of the law firm Childs Rundlett Fifield & Altshuler, in Portland, said he and Ayla’s mother, Trista Reynolds, will make brief statements and then take questions.
The news conference will be held at 10 a.m. outside the Cumberland County Superior Courthouse, on the Federal Street side of the building.
Last year, a judge officially declared Ayla dead, opening the way for a civil suit to be brought against those she believes are responsible for the child’s death, though a suit was not filed.
Monday, Dec. 17, will be the seventh anniversary of when the 20-month-old child was reported missing by her father, Justin DiPietro, from his mother’s house at 29 Violette Ave. in Waterville.
The report prompted what would become the largest and most costly police investigation in Maine history. No one has ever been charged in the case.
Ayla had been staying with DiPietro at the house in late 2011. On Dec.16, the night before he reported her missing, others, including his then-girlfriend, Courtney Roberts; his sister, Elisha DiPietro; and Elisha DiPietro’s child were also at the house. Justin DiPietro’s mother, Phoebe DiPietro, was not there that night.
Justin DiPietro called police the morning of Dec. 17, 2011, to report Ayla missing.
Police scoured the house, the area and rivers and streams, finding no sign of the child.
Police have since said they believe Ayla is dead. They say they think she met with foul play and that the people who were in the house the night before she was reported missing know more than they have said.
Justin DiPietro’s last known address was in California.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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