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Windows broken at home of missing Maine toddler

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

February 05, 2012

WATERVILLE, Maine - Two windows were broken Friday night at the home where 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds was reported missing seven weeks ago, officials said yesterday.

The missing girl’s grandmother called police at about 11:15 p.m. to report that someone was throwing things through the windows at her Waterville home, police said in a prepared statement.

When officers arrived, they found that two windows had been broken. Police believe the windows were smashed by an object that was then carried away, since they didn’t find any rocks or other objects at the home.

Ayla was reported missing from the home on Dec. 17 by her father, Justin DiPietro, who lives there with his mother. DiPietro told police he last saw Ayla when he put her to bed the night before.

Police are calling the girl’s disappearance a crime and have said that DiPietro and two other adults in the home that night haven’t been totally forthcoming. Police have confirmed that Ayla’s blood was found in the partially finished basement that DiPietro used as his bedroom.

Relatives reported on a family-run website that they were told the blood was “more than a small cut would produce,’’ but police declined to say how much blood was discovered.

After the girl’s grandmother called police Friday night, a search of the surrounding area didn’t turn up anything, police said. A police dog followed a track that ended at a nearby street.

Nobody was hurt, but Police Chief Joseph Massey said somebody could have been injured by flying glass.

Earlier Friday, State Police and warden service divers searched stretches of the Kennebec River and a nearby stream as part of the ongoing investigation, but didn’t turn up anything.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said that area in the Kennebec River was last searched Jan. 11. He said divers also searched a stretch of the Messalonskee Stream.

Officials said Friday’s dive yielded a backpack and a knife, neither of which was connected to the case.