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NANCY GRACE
Search Continues for Missing Maine 20-Month-Old
Aired December 28, 2011 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Maine. 8:00 PM, a 20-month-old baby girl goes to sleep in her own bed. 9:00 AM, She`s gone, snatched from her own home. Just hours before the baby disappears, Mommy secretly goes to court, fighting for full custody. She never sees her baby again.
Bombshell tonight. Cops working Christmas Eve and Christmas 24/7, wrapping yellow crime scene tape around the entire home. As the family vacates the family house, Daddy still in hiding. In the last hours, two state`s attorneys dressed in forensic crime scene gear go process that home themselves.
Cops following leads at a local airstrip, streams, ponds. With a thick blanket of snow on the ground, has the weather mired the search for the baby girl? A deserted boys` camp just miles away comes under scrutiny, as police refuse to admit they have a person of interest. As Mommy says, I blame Daddy, tonight, where is 20-month-old baby Ayla?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-month-old daughter, Ayla, still missing without a trace.
TRISTA REYNOLDS, MISSING CHILD`S MOTHER: Is she OK? Is she laying somewheres dead? Is she safe? Is she cold?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Ayla`s father, Justin DiPietro, was home.
RON REYNOLDS, MISSING GIRL`S GRANDFATHER: (INAUDIBLE) something. You cannot tell me you don`t know what happened to your little girl, to my granddaughter, to my daughter`s little girl. You can`t tell me that. You got -- you can`t tell me that you don`t know what happened to her, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father who reported his 20-month-old daughter missing from the home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he wasn`t alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I have no idea what happened to Ayla or who is responsible."
RON REYNOLDS: The statement that you made in the paper this morning, that was a crime. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) OK? Pardon my English, but that was wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I will not make accusations or insinuations towards anyone until the police have been able to prove who`s responsible for this."
TRISTA REYNOLDS: I trusted him to keep her safe. And now she is missing and I don`t know where she is. And I blame him right now because he did not protect her the way that he was supposed to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`d like to announce that a $30,000 reward is being offered for information that would lead investigators to Ayla. This is the largest reward that I can remember for a missing person case in Maine`s district (ph), $30,000.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. You`re seeing video from NBC`s "Today" show.
Bombshell tonight. We are live, Maine. 8:00 PM, a 20-month-old baby girl goes to sleep in her own bed. 9:00 AM, baby Ayla is gone. Cops working overtime, 24/7, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Christmas night, wrapping yellow crime scene around the family home. As the family vacates the house, Daddy`s still in hiding.
In the last hours, two state`s attorneys dressed in forensic crime scene gear process the home themselves, cops following local leads at airstrips, streams, ponds, a thick blanket of snow on the ground. And a deserted boys` camp just miles away comes under scrutiny, police refusing to admit tonight whether they`ve got a person of interest, as Mommy takes to the airwaves saying, I blame Daddy.
We are taking your calls. Straight out to WPRO host John DePetro. John, thank you for being with us. Tell me about two state`s attorneys dressing up in CSI crime scene gear and processing the home themselves.
That is unusual, John, when you bring in the lawyers before there`s even been a formal charging decision. There`s no indictment. There`s no arrest. According to cops, if you choose to believe them, they don`t even have a person of interest. So why are lawyers in on the search?
JOHN DEPETRO, WPRO RADIO (via telephone): Very significant, Nancy, and certainly highly unusual in a missing persons case. The police are tight-lipped, but they -- there was no mistaking that this missing person case is now moving into the house, treated as a crime scene, and they want to make sure that if, in fact, it is, that they have all the proper evidence in going forward.
GRACE: With me is talk show host John DePetro, WPRO. Also with us, Ken Altshuler, host, WGAB (SIC) "Morning News With Ken and Mike."
Ken, I just heard John DePetro say the house is being treated as a crime scene. And there`s corroboration for what DePetro said. They have wrapped yellow crime scene tape all around the house and the yard. The family is not living in the home. Daddy`s in hiding. The little girl with Daddy, visiting the night she goes missing from her own bed. A lot of circumstances I don`t like, Ken.
But shed some light on the home being treated as a crime scene.
KEN ALTSHULER, WGAN (via telephone): Well, Nancy, you and John have it right. They have the attorney general`s office. They`re the leading criminal investigator on the scene. Yet the police continue to say this is a missing person and not a homicide investigation. It`s a mystery to us, Nancy.
GRACE: You know, Woodrow Tripp, former police commander, you got cops working 24/7 Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, even now. To me, that says that they think the trail is still at least warm, if not hot.
WOODROW TRIPP, FMR. POLICE COMMANDER: Oh, it absolutely is. And all of these are indicators that they certainly are seeing things. They`re feeling things. And you know, Nancy, nowadays, we involve assistant district attorneys, prosecutors, in our searches now. We`ve realized that we prepare this case, we get it to it the prosecutor, and then we dump it in their laps.
GRACE: Hold on.
TRIPP: So there`s been a lot more of that.
GRACE: Hold on, big guy. Hold on. "We" -- you`re talking about a very busy inner-city high-volume crime area, where I prosecuted, where you were a cop, inner-city Atlanta. Here I`m talking about Maine.
It`s my understanding -- and let me go out to you, Pat Brown -- there hasn`t been a murder, a homicide in this jurisdiction in about 10 years. So they don`t, I don`t believe, typically have, as we do in inner-city urban areas -- you don`t have the chief state`s attorney tromping through a house over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, all right? That doesn`t happen.
There`s no arrest. According to cops, there`s not even a person of interest. So why are they there and why is yellow crime scene tape wrapped around the home?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, I`m very happy with this, Nancy, because this is what we should see always happening when a child goes missing out of a house because we know one thing. We know that the child left the house. We don`t know if somebody came into the house and took the child away, but we know the child was removed from the house. That makes it a crime scene right up front.
So the fact that they`re going to designate it as a crime scene is advantageous for, if the father is involved -- if -- they`re right there, getting the evidence that will put him away. If he`s not involved, they`re there getting the evidence to find a stranger, to exonerate the father so he doesn`t have to have that hanging over his head the rest of his life. They`re doing the right thing.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Eleanor Odom, senior attorney, National District Attorneys Association, death penalty-qualified, Alan Ripka New York, Pilar Prinz, Atlanta.
Eleanor, when you and I -- you or I -- would go to a felony crime scene, we`d go take photos, we`d look around, but it depends on where you`re at in the investigation as to whether you`re going to wear protective gear, crime scene gloves, crime scene shoes. Both of these guys fully decked out CSI. That speaks volumes to me, Eleanor.
ELEANOR ODOM, NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOC.: I Agree, Nancy. I don`t see that, and I go out to every child homicide in my jurisdiction. I don`t suit up. When you`re suiting up, you`re preparing to collect evidence, to not leave any trace of yourself, to not disturb a potential crime scene. So that is very unusual for this situation. It makes me think the cops know more than they`re saying and they`re being very tight- lipped about it.
GRACE: As they should be. And El, I also think that Pat Brown is correct, as was Woody. Before you take a case to trial, you need to see the crime scene. All the lawyers involved need to see the crime scene. It always gave me such an advantage over the defense that I would actually go to the crime scene because you know -- you know it like the back of your hand because you`ve been there.
And I`ll never forget when a defense witness claimed have seen what happened, and I knew for a fact from having been at the scene that there was a giant bush and trees between what he claimed he saw and where he claimed he was standing at the time of the murder. So going to the crime scene is something you got to do if you want to win your case. So I`m glad they`re out there. But the presence of crime scene booties and crime scene gloves is a whole `nother can of worms.
We are taking your calls. Back to Ken Altshuler, WGAN, "Morning News With Ken and Mike" -- Ken, another issue regarding what`s happening right now. There is a Camp Kennebeck, which is a few miles away, dense, dense woodage (ph). It was closed down in about `91. It became something else. How far away is that from this home?
ALTSHULER: Well, Nancy, it`s about five or six miles away. Of course, there`s many camps in Maine, but that is the one closest to Waterville. It`s been (INAUDIBLE) desolated and abandoned. And police searching it is certainly another red flag.
GRACE: You know, we`re hearing a lot about the weather conditions. To John DePetro, WPRO talk show host. What about it, John? Is that hindering the police search?
DEPETRO: Well, that`s the question, Nancy, and whether or not the snow that is now on the ground -- if that`s having an effect, CSI effect, if you will, on whatever evidence they may be looking for.
And Nancy, make no mistake about that house. It is sealed tight like a tomb -- windows sealed, doors sealed. They want to make sure that if, in fact, they have some evidence inside that house, it will not be contaminated by the snow outside.
GRACE: I`m hearing in my ear, joining me right now is 20-month-old baby Ayla`s grandfather, Ron Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds has been kind enough to be with us since Ayla went missing, as has his daughter, Ayla`s mom, and has her grandmother.
Ron Reynolds, thank you for being with us. Ron, if I were in your shoes, I`d be happy that the lawyers were involved, but also sad because the fact that they are coming in with crime scene get-up on, decked out in the booties, the gloves -- that tells me that they truly believe this is a crime scene. Now, the good part is maybe they think it`s just a kidnapping. The bad part is they could be looking for forensic evidence relating to her disappearance.
Ron, on your end, tell me what happened over the Christmas break. The cops worked through the break, right?
RONALD REYNOLDS, GRANDFATHER OF MISSING CHILD (via telephone): Yes, ma`am, they did. They continued working through it. Christmas was not good for us. It was -- Ayla was not with us and she was in our thoughts and prayers, like she always has been. And I, again, say thank to you everybody, as well as me and the family and everybody else, for everybody doing out there doing what they need to do. I`m very grateful. I`m so grateful for what they`re doing. I understand that "America`s Most Wanted" is involved in this now, so that`s a big help right there.
GRACE: Ron, let`s just cut to the facts. Police insisting this is still a missing child investigation, yet these two guys are two of the state`s top homicide prosecutors. They didn`t go in there to go through the fridge, all right, have a sit-down, have a cup of coffee. What are cops telling you?
RON REYNOLDS: All we know right now is that they are involved again. They have to dress up to make sure that they don`t ruin anything, and that`s the key thing. But right now, we`re still waiting to hear.
GRACE: What`s the daddy saying? What is he telling you guys?
RON REYNOLDS: Nothing. Nothing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Messalonski (ph) stream, which is less than a mile from where Ayla was reported missing, is now drained to the point where the wardens service can easily see the bottom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I have been in communication with Ayla`s mother over the last couple of weeks."
GRACE: Have you talked to the father?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Justin and I have had no contact.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) feet, 9 inches tall. She was wearing -- last seen wearing green pajamas with white polka dots.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Ayla`s father, Justin DiPietro, was home, and he wasn`t alone. They aren`t saying who else was in the house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Ayla was in my sole custody at the time of her disappearance."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police in Maine are searching frantically for a 20-month-old girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Cops working 24/7, even over the Christmas holiday, in the search for this 20-month-old baby girl, Ayla, with her father and his family, sleeping through the night, allegedly another infant in the room with her. But nobody checked on them all night long to notice the child was missing until 9:00 o`clock the next morning? Well, that`s some kind of a record for two infants, to go through the whole night. What is that, 13 straight hours with wet dipe, nobody wants a bottle, nobody wants anything?
We are taking your calls. With me right now, Ayla`s grandfather, Ron Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds, thank`s for being with us. I don`t understand -- I just don`t -- I`m not able comprehend what you`re telling me. Since the father was the last one with Ayla, why hasn`t -- why haven`t the two families been in touch to nail down what exactly happened that night? And where is he, anyway?
RON REYNOLDS: Nobody wants to communicate. You know, he hasn`t come out. He hasn`t said anything. My daughter tried a couple of times to get up (ph) with him, but no return or anything like that. So I don`t know.
GRACE: What about his family? What about the other people that were in the home that night?
RON REYNOLDS: Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
GRACE: Do you know where they are? Can you go to them and ask them?
RON REYNOLDS: No, I can`t. I can`t. I don`t want to -- I don`t want to ruin the investigation that they have going on right now. No. I want justice. I want justice. And they will find it.
GRACE: OK. That makes sense. Have you tried to contact his family, the grandmother or others that were there in the home that evening?
RON REYNOLDS: No, ma`am. Again, I`m not going to ruin in this case. I mean, I`m not going to do it. I`m not going to have someone say that I called, or you know, did anything wrong. No, I`m going to let the law do their job. I am -- I`ll let them do their job.
GRACE: OK. With me is Ayla`s grandfather. We`re taking your phone calls. Out to Joe in Florida. Hi, Joe. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, there, Nancy. Happy holidays.
GRACE: You, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. There`s a curious aspect to this case. The mother had been told by the police to go -- to get out of town. And she went, I think, to Portland, which maybe is some 80 miles away. Is there any update on that? And isn`t that sort of...
GRACE: Hold on, Joe in Florida. Don`t move. To Ron Reynolds. I recall Ayla`s mom, Trista, stating cops said, Don`t go back to Waterville, stay where you are. I don`t recall them telling her to leave town.
RON REYNOLDS: They never told her to leave town. They didn`t want us up there to get involved in the investigation. People need to stop here (ph) questions or whatever. This is about a little girl, our little girl that is missing, that we need to find, all right?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a missing child.
TRISTA REYNOLDS: My biggest fear is that she`s all alone and she`s scared and she ain`t got nobody to turn to!
GRACE: What happens when Daddy gets the baby?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wasn`t watching her.
TRISTA REYNOLDS: I`m her mother! I am supposed to be protecting her!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While Ayla`s mother, Trista Reynolds, has spoken publicly, the father, Justin DiPietro, has not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I have no idea what happened to Ayla or who is responsible."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Right now, yellow crime scene tape has been wrapped around the entire home. The search goes to local streams, ponds, even a now closed boys` camp, Camp Kennebeck, not far away.
We are taking your calls. To Joe in Florida. Joe, now, what was -- your question was why did they tell Mommy to get out of town? They did not tell her to get out of town. They told her to stay where she was, to stay put. She`s about 80 miles away, is my understanding, from Waterville -- Waterville, Maine. That`s where she lives.
OK, what was your other question, Joe in Florida?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It revolves around the father. It is at all possible that if no one else knows where he is, the police might because they might have a GPS on his car, they might be surveilling him? You know, there is an explanation for that. The police are not going to let him leave the country, you know, because he is someone of interest in this case.
GRACE: Tonight, police telling us they do not have a person of interest, but our sources tell us that there is, in fact, a person of interest.
Let`s throw that question back to Ayla`s grandfather, her maternal grandfather. Ron Reynolds with us, and he is taking your calls live. Do you have any idea where the father is? Do the police know where he is, Ron?
RON REYNOLDS: All I know is that they`re working on this case, and I would say that, yes, they probably do have an idea where he is. They`re not telling anybody. It`s probably best not to tell anybody where he is right now. Just let the police do their job. Let the FBI and everybody else do their job.
And let me clarify something right now. The fact is that, again, Waterville police and the state police have asked us not to go up there due to the investigation. So we are respecting what the law is telling us.
GRACE: You`re right. Ron Reynolds, you`re absolutely correct and wise in not confronting them. Now, the police say the dad has been cooperative.
You are seeing right now a 20-month-old baby girl. Out to the lines. Janet in Florida. This baby girl missing. Janet, what`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Nancy. I haven`t danced in 25 years, but watching you on "Dancing With the Stars" inspired me. (INAUDIBLE) dancing.
GRACE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anyway, Nancy, does anybody know why the child was wearing a splint?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A 20-month-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Twenty-month-old Ayla Reynolds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just want to like -- I want to pick her up and I want to hold her. I just want to tell her like she`s going to be OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From a father who reported his 20-month-old daughter missing from the home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m really starting to believe that he has done something with my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is our primary focus, folks, is to find a 20- month-year-old little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s got a broken arm. She`s ended up missing.
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: The last thing somebody would want to do is take a baby with a broken arm.
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: At this home did she have a crib or was she sleeping on a bed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s actually sleeping in like a toddler bed.
I want to see her face. I want to see her eyes. I want to feel her touch. I want to -- I want to tell her I love her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are confident that Ayla did not walk out of the house by herself. We believe that someone was involved in taking her out of the house. And that`s where the focus of this investigation has turned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she OK? Is she laying somewhere dead? Is she safe? Is she cold ? UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say Ayla`s father Justin DiPietro was home.
RONALD REYNOLDS, AYLA`S GRANDFATHER: He`s done something. You cannot tell me that you don`t know what happened to your little girl, to my granddaughter, to my daughter`s little girl. You can`t tell me that. You can`t tell me that you don`t know what happened to her. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father who reported his 20-month-year-old daughter missing from the home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And he wasn`t alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea what happened to Ayla or who is responsible.
REYNOLDS: The statement that you made in the paper this morning that was a crime. (EXPLETIVE DELETED), OK. And pardon my English. But that was wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will not make accusations or insinuations towards anyone until the police have been able to prove who`s responsible for this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I trusted him to keep her safe. And now she is missing and I don`t know where she is. And I blame him right now because he did not protect her the way that he was supposed to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is video from NBC "Today." Mommy says I blame daddy. Daddy has 20-month-old baby Ayla. He says that she goes to bed around 8:00 p.m. Around 9:00 a.m. they realize that the baby is gone. Not only that another infant sleeping in the room with her. What, nobody checked on them all night long? Are there facts we don`t know about?
Back to Janet in Florida. Janet, what is your question, dear?
JANET, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: My question is, does anybody know why the child was wearing a splint?
GRACE: Yes. We do. I`m going to throw that to John Depetro, WPRO. What do we know about the child`s splint?
JOHN DEPETRO, HOST, WPRO RADIO: Nancy, the child had a soft cast on.
GRACE: To Dr. Bill Lloyd, board certified surgeon and pathologist, joining us from Winter Park.
Dr. Lloyd, what do you make of that story?
DR. BILL LLOYD, BOARD CERTIFIED SURGEON AND PATHOLOGIST: Good evening, Nancy. Any time there`s a disconnect between somebody`s story and the facts there`s a secret.
GRACE: Is there a difference between a fracture and a break, Dr. Lloyd?
LLOYD: A fracture is a break or a separation of the bone. It can be very miniscule. In children these kinds of fractures can heal very, very quickly.
GRACE: With us, Dr. Bill Lloyd, board certified surgeon and pathologist out of Winter Park.
To Dr. Helen Morrison, psychiatrist, author of "My Life Among the Serial Killers," Dr. Morrison, thank you for being with us. I`m concerned that these two sides of the family are not communicating at all.
Maybe I`m projecting, Doctor, but I recall when my fiancee was murdered, I spent months there at his home after his murder with his family, his sisters, his brothers, mother, father. Here the dad who had her last when she went missing isn`t even speaking to her mom or maternal grandparents. Why?
DR. HELEN MORRISON, M.D., FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST, AUTHOR OF "MY LIFE AMONG THE SERIAL KILLERS": Well, obviously there`s such a rift between these two families and it`s been existent for quite a period of time.
GRACE: But it`s hurting the investigation.
MORRISON: Well, it is. But, you know, most people are so self- centered that they don`t care about each other. They just want to protect themselves. And it seems that there is a lot of anger on one side towards the other side. And perhaps they are afraid that somebody is going to say something that they don`t want known.
I mean there -- you know, everybody has skeletons in their closet. Everybody. We just don`t know what the skeletons are in both of these families.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Unleash the lawyers. Eleanor Odom, Alan Ripka, Pilar Prinz.
Pilar, nobody even knows where the daddy is tonight. Our word is that police do have a person of interest. They are saying Justin DiPietro is being cooperative. What do you think, Pilar?
PILAR PRINZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, here`s what I`m going to say. I know that it upsets mom that dad is not talking to her but in my experience that means nothing. These people are in a custody battle. They`re not going to talk to each other. I`m much less interested if dad is talking to mom than if dad is talking to the police.
GRACE: You know what, Pilar, you`re right. That`s an excellent point.
Alan Ripka, what about the possibility of cops having a GPS detector on daddy`s car up under the hood, under where the tires are? Is that constitutional?
ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Sure, it is. I think they can follow him wherever they want. And there`s no the right privacy where he drives that automobile. And I`m sure they are following him and watching out for him. If he`s running they`re going to know they have a person of interest.
GRACE: You know, Eleanor Odom, Ripka is absolutely right regarding no privacy interest in the car. Explain.
ELEANOR ODOM, FELONY PROSECUTOR, DEATH PENALTY QUALIFIED: Well, you know, you don`t have a privilege or right to drive just like you don`t have a right to a driver`s license. So -- and because you`re out there in the open you should be able to get a GPS on it.
There are -- there are some states that say no, you can`t do it so you just have to be a little bit careful. Maine, it probably would be OK. But more importantly you can surveil somebody in a couple of other ways, Nancy. Their cell phones, for example. We all know you can track people by their cell phones. That`s pretty easy to do with a search warrant.
Also just plain old surveillance, Nancy. Just watching them. In that way that makes a person nervous because they know the cops are on their tail.
GRACE: You know, interesting regarding right to privacy as it is called under the Fourth Amendment or the interpretation of the Constitution Fourth Amendment. What we are talking about is this. Cops, police, investigators have a right to observe anything that the general public can observe.
So if a neighbor can observe his car and where it`s going cops don`t need a search warrant for that. They can look in the window of the car. But if you go beyond that, there may be requirement for a search warrant, which you get from a judge. For instance if they want to open up the trunk. If they want to open up a box in the trunk. That requires additional OK from a judge in the form of a search warrant.
We`ve seen in many, many cases where GPS trackers are put on suspects` vehicles to see where they go. In this case again I repeat daddy has not been named a suspect.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Twenty-month-old daughter Ayla still missing without a trace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she OK? Is she laying somewhere dead? Is she safe? Is she cold?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There`s still no sign of the 20-month-old toddler.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s something very strange about it all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she being fed? Is someone watching her? Is she somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Poor little thing so helpless, so defenseless.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The toddler vanished from her father`s Waterville home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They seem to think that all of the evidence is right here in this home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why didn`t anyone check on her throughout the night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putting all these resources that we have in play and making sure that we don`t miss anything.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The FBI is now joining in the investigation. Used this plane to search for Ayla, and also search Messalonskee Stream near the home where Ayla went missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The focus obviously is to bring Ayla home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring her home. Just bring her home to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight where is baby Ayla? The search has now taken police to a local airport, an airstrip.
What can you tell us -- out to Ken Altshuler, WGAN?
KAN ALTSHULER, RADIO HOST, WGAN, MORNING NEWS WITH KEN AND MIKE: The police have searched this airfield with two cadaver dogs, Nancy, and it`s a mystery why we`re calling this a missing person case when they`re bringing cadaver dogs to the local airport.
GRACE: You know, to John Depetro, WPRO, we very often see parallel investigations going, one missing persons case, one a homicide case. Where is it pointing to, in your mind, John?
DEPETRO: Right now, Nancy, this seems to be more of a homicide. Chief Massey, he was very methodical saying that a big part of the investigation is where you eliminate different possibilities. Although they are calling it a missing persons case, all signs of the investigation point to that they are looking at this as a homicide.
GRACE: OK. To Ron Reynolds, this is Ayla`s grandfather, joining us from the Portland. What about the poly? Do we know if the father has taken a polygraph?
REYNOLDS: Not my knowledge, ma`am.
GRACE: Has he been asked?
REYNOLDS: I do not know, ma`am.
GRACE: Now it`s my understanding, we were told at the end of last week that no one at this point has taken a lie detector test. What about the use of psychics, Ron? Have they been called in?
REYNOLDS: No, ma`am. Not to my knowledge. But I`ve thought about that. And not only that, but I understand that "America`s Most Wanted" is also involved in this, too.
GRACE: Would you be open to psychics getting involved in the case?
REYNOLDS: Absolutely. Absolutely. If they could find my Ayla and bring her home to us, absolutely. I welcome them aboard, too. I mean anything to help, to bring her home, absolutely. And let me clarify this right now. I must. I heard the -- that woman say about how families right now were not communicating.
Do you really think it`s a wise idea to me as her grandfather to communicate with this individual? No, I don`t think it`s a good idea. I don`t think it would be smart for me to do this because, you know, I probably would end up in jail, you know, because of the way I feel right now towards what`s going on.
And no, I don`t think it`s a good idea for us to talk to the family right now. I mean, we`ll let the FBI and everybody else do their job and we`ll go from there. But I personally, I don`t think it`s a good idea if I talk to this man.
GRACE: Ron, why do you say if you spoke to the family, to Ayla`s biological father and his family members that were there in the home that night, that you`d end up in jail?
REYNOLDS: I just would because I mean think about it. I mean here we have a little girl out here somewhere we don`t know about and you`re telling me as the father you don`t know what happened to your child? Which is my granddaughter? You got to be kidding me.
GRACE: You know another thing I don`t understand, Ron, is who was the other infant in the room with baby Ayla? Who slept in that room with her that night?
REYNOLDS: I think it was -- I think it was his daughter or someone else`s little girl, a family member, I think.
GRACE: And nobody checked on them all night long? Nobody had a wet diaper, wanted a bottle, nothing?
REYNOLDS: That`s the thing I don`t understand either because I know my granddaughter gets up in the middle of the night and she always likes to have a bottle to fall back to sleep with. So I don`t understand this. He was responsible for my granddaughter. And now he`s in hiding or not coming out talking to anybody.
I mean, look. I`m going to say this. This is about Ayla. I want the police to do their job. But I want Ayla home. I just want answers. Tell me right now where my grand daughter is and I will go and get her. I don`t care. I will risk my life for her to bring her home because that`s what -- it`s just me. It`s what I would do for anybody.
GRACE: With me, Gaetane Borders, president of Peas in Their Pods. Gaetane, what do you think?
GAETANE BORDERS, PRESIDENT, PEAS IN THEIR PODS, MISSING CHILD ADVOCATE: Good evening, Nancy. Look, I`ve said it before and I will say it again. This father`s actions are suspect to me. An innocent father would not go into hiding. What are you hiding for? And an innocent father wouldn`t beg for privacy from the media. It just doesn`t add up, it doesn`t make sense.
And I understand the grandfather`s passion and outrage. I definitely understand where he`s coming from.
GRACE: Gaetane Borders with us from Peas in Their Pods, child advocate. Repeat, the father has not been named parent of interest or a suspect.
To Christie in Florida, hi, dear, what`s your question?
CHRISTIE, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear.
CHRISTIE: Happy holidays. I love your twins. They are very cute, by the way.
GRACE: Thank you. Thank you so much.
CHRISTIE: They are so adorable. My question is -- well, I have two of them. First of all, what -- I mean what natural person believes that a 2-year-old is going to sleep until 9:00 in the morning when they go to bed at 8:00 at night? I`ve never known a 2-year-old to sleep that late.
GRACE: Agree. Next.
CHRISTIE: And secondly, does the father have a criminal background of any kind? Has he ever been in any kind of trouble?
GRACE: Good question. Pat Brown, what do we know, Pat?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "THE PROFILER": I have not heard anything about that. But let me tell you, I look at three people. I see the grandfather here, Mr. Reynolds, and he comes off totally natural to me. When people say what should people act like when somebody goes missing, that`s the way they should act. He`s distraught, he`s angry, he`s concerned, he`s doing all the right things.
The mother, she`s also distraught, although I think she feels a lot of guilt because of her own personal issues with -- that she`s been, you know, getting rehab for. Now the father, he said something very interesting. He doesn`t want to have anything to do with anybody. He wants to step back and he says I don`t -- basically saying he doesn`t want to point fingers at anyone until the police can prove who did it. Who is guilty. Now, you know, I think that`s kind of an interesting statement.
GRACE: In the last hours Waterville PD, police department, announcing a $30,000 reward in the search for this baby girl, the search now moving on to a local airport as well as streams and ponds.
To Donna in Florida, hi, Donna, what`s your question, dear?
DONNA, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, Nancy, it`s great to talking to.
GRACE: Likewise.
DONNA: Thank you. You answered one of the questions about who was the other baby in the house with baby Ayla. But if this was a kidnapping, why didn`t they take both babies for one, and another question is there life insurance on the baby by anybody? I haven`t heard that yet. I don`t know if it`s been brought out or not. But I was just curious about that.
GRACE: Let me go to Ken Altshuler, WGAN. Is there a life insurance policy on the child?
ALTSHULER: Nancy, they`ve not said but it would be highly unlikely. These two parents were very poor. Didn`t have the money to have a life insurance policy. I would think that would lead them to be the immediate suspect if they did.
GRACE: And John Depetro, WPRO, do we see other than the mother`s family speaking out, have we heard about the father`s family, looking for the child? Posting flyers? Making public pressers? Just in the last hours cops have come out with a $30,000 reward.
DEPETRO: We have not, Nancy, and that`s a very significant development because we also haven`t heard exactly who was everyone in and out of the house that night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From a father who reported his 20-month-year-old daughter missing from the home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Search parties still looking for 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not successful in finding little Ayla. And that is our primary focus, folks, is to find 20-month-year-old little girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Where is baby Ayla? Out to the lines. To Jason. Hi, Jason, what`s your question?
JASON, CALLER: Hi, Nancy. How are you tonight?
GRACE: I`m good, dear.
JASON: That`s good. Why have they waited so long to take a polygraph?
GRACE: Interesting question. Woody Tripp, former police commander, polygraph expert. What about it, Woody? Wouldn`t it be better to take the poly closer to the time of the incident?
WOODY TRIPP, FORMER POLICE COMMANDER, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: Absolutely in this case, Nancy, because we have a life that we`re thinking about here. You know, the question that begs to be answered is, one, was he or anyone else asked to take one. And no one can clarify that. Two, we also have a searching point of tension test. Everybody`s familiar with a polygraph where we want to see if a person`s involved. But what about to locate that item or body or person or whatever it may be? There`s a separate test for that. And it would be very helpful in this case.
GRACE: Police chief now saying, quote, "We are confident Ayla did not walk out of the house by herself." They believe someone was involved, taking her from the home, and that is where the focus is now. Say police.
Eleanor Odom, what does that mean?
ODOM: You know, Nancy, they have to focus their attention on that. They`ve got to do everything they can right now with the search. Because remember, this crime scene isn`t fresh anymore. And there`s been bad weather. So they`ve got to do what they can to collect the evidence now.
GRACE: Casey in Maine, what`s your question?
CASEY, CALLER FROM MAINE: When is the last time anybody other than the father saw baby Ayla? Is there any time frame for that?
GRACE: Excellent question. What do we know? To Ron Reynolds, Ayla`s grandfather. When was the last sighting of Ayla other than by her father?
REYNOLDS: I saw my granddaughter, which was on a Sunday, when my daughter was in rehab. We hung out together. We walked up to see her mother. We laughed and played. That was the last time that I saw her.
GRACE: Got it.
REYNOLDS: Because I knew from pictures that I got sent to me through cameras is when I would see my granddaughter when she was with her father.
GRACE: Tip line, 207-680-4700.
Let`s stop and remember Air Force Senior Airman Adam Survais, 23, Alaska, Wisconsin, killed Afghanistan. Second tour. Awarded Bronze Star, Purple Heart. Loved hockey, football, his `64 Ford pickup. A street at an Air Force base named in his honor. Leaves behind parents Pete and Sue, sister Laura.
Adam Survais, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
