WATERVILLE — Dive teams found nothing Wednesday as they searched in the icy Kennebec River and Messalonskee Stream for a toddler who has been missing for nearly four weeks.
Nineteen divers participated in the daylong search for Ayla Reynolds, working in rotation.
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One dive team from the Maine Warden Service and one from the Maine State Police searched a stretch of the Kennebec River below Waterville’s Hathaway Creative Center to the Carter Memorial Bridge, as well as portions of Messalonskee Stream, said Lt. Kevin Adam of the warden service.
Adam said the search was not prompted by any tip about the girl’s whereabouts.
“This is just us expanding our search area,” he said, “trying to think of scenarios and doing what we can do to find Ayla.”
He said Wednesday’s bright sun helped divers peer into the water. Adam wouldn’t say if the water search will continue today.
“We’ll see what we learn and we’ll reassess again,” he said.
Ayla’s father, Justin DiPietro, said he learned Tuesday about the plan for the search.
“I spoke with investigators last night,” DiPietro told the Morning Sentinel early Wednesday. “They said, ‘Don’t be alarmed.’“
Police said they have received about 600 tips during the investigation into the 21-month-old girl’s disappearance. DiPietro reported her missing from their home on Dec. 17.
“All leads have been followed, and we’re looking for more,” Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve ruled out no scenarios, and ruled out no one.”
McCausland would not discuss details of the investigation. He said Ayla’s family has been cooperative throughout the investigation, but declined to say whether any members have been asked to take polygraph exams.
McCausland said he wanted to clarify a misunderstanding between police and the DiPietro family. Police are no longer asking the DiPietros to avoid media appearances.
“Very early on in the investigation, in the first couple of days, we asked the principals involved not to speak to the media until we had a chance to talk to them firsthand,” McCausland said. “Then I think there was a misunderstanding on their part, that there was a permanent ban on media. There is not.”
On Tuesday, police told DiPietro and his mother, Phoebe DiPietro, that they should talk publicly about Ayla’s disappearance.
“We are encouraging all family members, both here in Waterville and southern Maine, to keep her story in the forefront and to keep her name in the headlines,” McCausland said.
He said investigators are making progress but their expectations have been tempered.
“As the days go on, our concern grows, as it has been 26 days” since Ayla was last seen, he said. “But I can also tell you that we remain hopeful that we’ll bring her back to her home.
“This is the most intense investigation we have been involved in during the last two decades in Maine,” he said. “It has had a huge effect on the investigators.”
A $30,000 reward has been offered for information that leads investigators to Ayla. State police are asking that tips be directed to them at 624-7076.
Morning Sentinel Staff Writer Ben McCanna can be contacted at 861-9239 or at:
bmccanna@centralmaine.com
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