WATERVILLE — It has been 14 years since toddler Ayla Bell Reynolds disappeared from her father’s home, just eight days before Christmas.

She was never found, no one has been charged in the case and a judge in 2017 declared Ayla legally dead.

As December approaches each year, Ayla’s mother, Trista Reynolds, finds herself immersed in a cloud of sadness. She hasn’t been able to celebrate holidays and birthdays with her daughter or watch her grow up. Ayla would be 15 and in high school now.

“Next year she would be sweet 16 and I won’t get to spend that time with her,” she said. “It hurts like a ton of bricks.”

Ayla’s father, Justin DiPietro, reported Ayla missing from his mother’s home at 29 Violette Ave., where he and the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Ayla were staying.

Trista, who at the time was hospitalized, had authorized her sister to care for Ayla, but DiPietro collected the child from her sister’s home and brought Ayla to Waterville.

The child’s disappearance launched one of the largest and most costly Maine State Police investigations in the state’s history at that time.

A civil lawsuit alleging wrongful death by DiPietro, his mother and sister, Phoebe and Elisha DiPietro, respectively, was settled last year. Elisha DiPietro was living at the Violette Avenue house when Ayla disappeared and Justin’s then-girlfriend also was there, but Phoebe was reportedly not home the night before he reported Ayla missing.

Police have long said they believe those who were in the home when Ayla disappeared know more than they are saying. Justin DiPietro has long maintained that someone must have abducted her from the house, but a state police spokesman said after it happened that his claim didn’t pass the “straight-face test” and officials found no evidence to support she was taken during the night.

Trista Reynolds filed the wrongful death suit in 2018 against Justin DiPietro and in 2022, a judge approved her request to include his mother and sister in the suit. They faced civil counts of wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering and wrongful interference with the body of a deceased person. Justin DiPietro also faced a count of breach of parent’s duty of care to a minor child.

The suit alleged there was sufficient evidence that he and his mother and sister, individually or together with him, had the opportunity and means to participate in causing severe injury to Ayla that led to her death. The suit also alleged that all three participated in an unsuccessful attempt to clean up and conceal blood stains found in multiple locations before authorities arrived at the house, which Phoebe owns.

Trista Reynold’s lawyer, William H. Childs of Portland, said Wednesday the details of the civil settlement remain confidential (parties signed nondisclosure agreements), so he can’t say a lot about the case. But he remains involved, he said.

“We are still actively pursuing any and all leads that come to our attention,” he said.

POLICE STAY ON THE CASE

Maine State Police continue with the criminal investigation, which would be prosecuted by the state attorney general’s office if and when adequate evidence is presented to that office.

Detective Sgt. Ryan B. Brockway, the lead investigator in the case for many years, says his office has received four tips this year from people throughout Maine.

“These tips have been followed up on and are currently being followed up on by detectives in our other Major Crimes Units, members of other law enforcement agencies, and me,” Brockway said Thursday in an email. “This past year, we did not conduct any physical land or property searches. The tips that continue to come year after year reaffirm for me that the citizens of Maine are still very supportive of this case and willing to help out by providing us with information.”

Brockway, who heads Maine State Police’s Major Crimes Unit Central, said police remain open to communicating with Trista Reynolds and Justin DiPietro, whether it’s by phone or if they decide to stop by his office.

“The Attorney General’s Office and we at the Maine State Police remain resolved to see a positive resolution in the Ayla Reynolds case,” he said. 

Brockway said people with information not already shared with the Maine State Police who believe the information could be important should call the Augusta Regional Communication Center at 207-624-7076, ext. 9, and leave a message for Brockway.

ANOTHER CHRISTMAS WITHOUT AYLA

Reynolds, now 38, is a general manager for Five Guys restaurants. She moved this year to a new home about an hour from Portland that is peaceful and quiet, she said. Her boys, Raymond and Anthony, are now 14 and 12, respectively, and keep her busy.

“I’d be so lost without my boys,” she said.

As she has done for years at Christmas, Reynolds shines pink lights on her porch from Dec. 1 to 31 to honor Ayla, who loved the color pink. She also puts special ornaments to honor her on the family Christmas tree. Friends and neighbors who have supported her over the years also light their homes in pink.

“I think it’s great that people are still shining pink lights,” she said. “We’ve got to light up the porch until we get justice.”

She said she is having a tough time this holiday season. Last year at this time, Reynolds said she believed the case would be solved and Ayla would eventually get justice, but this year, she feels differently.

While the civil suit was settled, she said, she feels disappointed the case hasn’t been solved and believes it never will be.

“I think I’m going to my grave not knowing what happened to Ayla,” she said. “It’s really sad to say.”

Asked if there’s anything else she wanted to say, Reynolds offered this:

“Just a big ‘Merry Christmas’ to Ayla, and that we love her and we just hope the lights will guide her home.”