The mother of a toddler whose disappearance prompted the biggest criminal investigation in Maine history, broke down in an emotional news conference Monday as she announced she is suing the girl’s father for wrongful death.
Trista Reynolds’ tearful speech in Portland came on the seventh anniversary of the date 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds was reported missing by her dad Justin DiPietro in Waterville.
Although the body was never found and no charges have been filed, a judge declared her legally dead in 2017 and the mom is hoping to unearth more details about what happened when she vanished.
‘As we hit Ayla’s anniversary, I wonder if this is haunting you, Justin,’ Reynolds said in front of media as she held the outdoor gathering in snowfall. ‘I wonder if our daughter haunts your dreams or if you see her blue eyes when you close your eyes at night. I wonder if you even think about that night — that night you murdered her.’
Trista Reynolds holds a picture of Justin DiPietro, estranged father of her missing daughter Ayla Reynolds, during a news conference, Monday
Ayla Reynolds went missing in December 2011 from her father Justin DiPietro’s home in Waterville, Maine
The little girl’s blood was found in DiPietro’s home and car and law enforcement have said he is withholding information about her disappearance.
Although no version of the story has been offered in the lawsuit, Reynolds is suing the father for ‘intentional wrongful actions’ and subjecting Ayla to ‘pre-death pain, fright, terror and physical injuries’.
As she vowed to ‘live inside a courtroom until the day I get justice for her’, the mother said to reporters she often wondered if her daughter cried out for her or if she ‘stayed strong’.
DiPietro claims she must have wandered away from the property or been abducted but law enforcement ruled it out saying foul play was involved.
Reynolds is determined to find out his whereabouts to serve him the lawsuit. His last known address was in California according to Reynolds’ pro bono lawyer.
The legal representative said they had tried previously to serve him regarding other matters but a man who looked ‘remarkably’ like DiPietro, claimed he was not him.
Mother Trista Reynolds filed a wrongful death lawsuit seven years to the day the toddler vanished
Attorney William Childs (left) said the lawsuit is about ‘trying to find out how Ayla was killed’, Also pictured are Reynolds, Jeff Hanson (second from left) Trista Reynold’s stepfather, and Kevin Cady (right) a private investigator working on the case
She hopes depositions related to the suit will help solve the case and although the filing also seeks a monetary award from DiPietro, the mother suspects he probably has no money to provide.
Her attorney William Childs said that the lawsuit is more about ‘trying to find out how Ayla was killed, why Ayla was killed, and where Ayla was killed’.
Detectives have said in the past that adults in the home where Ayla was last seen alive know more than they have shared with authorities.
The little girl’s blood was found in Justin DiPietro’s home and car and law enforcement have said he is withholding information
The home belonged to Phoebe DiPietro – Justin’s mother and Ayla’s grandmother – and the present adults include Justin’s sister Elisha DiPietro, and his then-girlfriend Courtney Roberts.
According to a GoFundMe page launched last week to help raise funds for civil action, Ayla had lived with her father for 59 days when she vanished.
The baby had broken her arm during that time which according to Justin was due to him dropping her while carrying her.
Reynolds’ attorney also said the child was scared of her father and the child’s aunt, Trista’s sister, warned authorities when they took the baby to live with her dad that it was a bad idea.
He added that Justin’s mother admitted she lied to police to cover for her son when initially questioned by law enforcement and the women in the house at the time of Ayla’s death declined to take a polygraph test.
The crowdfunding page, that raised $1,500 of a $25,000 goal in the first four days, noted that Justin took out insurance on Ayla’s life in the time she lived with him.
Reynolds’ attorney hopes the money will pay for blood splatter experts, criminologists, polygraphers, private investigators, interrogatories, depositions, body language experts, and statement analyses.
Reynolds read from a statement on Monday: ‘Justin, I promise you, wherever you are, one day you will have to face me and tell me the truth of what really happened to Ayla. You can’t hide from this forever.’
Sworn testimony from DiPietro and others who were in the house, who could potentially be served subpoenas, could help shed light on exactly what happened that night. Reynolds said she hopes it builds groundwork for eventual criminal charges.
Phoebe DiPietro (left), grandmother of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds, is comforted by an unidentified woman during a vigil for Reynolds in downtown Waterville on March 3, 2012. Ayla was living in her home for 59 days when she died
Justin’s sister Elisha DiPietro, and his then-girlfriend Courtney Roberts were present at the home the night Ayla went missing
The investigation remains open and Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said Monday that police ‘remain as committed today as we were seven years ago’ to solving it.
Ayla was last seen wearing pajamas with the words ‘Daddy’s Princess’ on them.
Trista Reynolds now lives in South Portland and has two young children. She said she lights a pink candle every December in Ayla’s name.
‘We’ve been at this for seven years,’ she said before the news conference, ‘so I’ve got to have hope somewhere.’
DiPietro did not return phone calls to the Associated Press. An email to an address listed under his name was returned by a user who declined to comment.