Ayla Reynolds was born on April 4, 2010, in Waterville, Maine, to Trista Reynolds and Justin DiPietro. In December 2011, she was placed temporarily in her father's home by a Maine Department of Human Services employee, Karen Small, after Small reportedly decided to forgo a home visit prior to the placement. Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds, was in the area at the time and has said she was on her way to rehabilitation for heroin addiction.
Ayla was last seen at 8:00 p.m. on December 16, 2011, in her bed by a family member, and was reported missing on December 17, 2011, when her father discovered she was not there. According to DiPietro's statement to police, Ayla was last seen wearing green polka dot pajamas reading "Daddy's Princess," along with a soft cast on her left arm. Besides DiPietro, two other people were in the house that night: his girlfriend Courtney Roberts and his sister Elisha DiPietro.
In May 2012, Maine State Police held a press conference disclosing that more than a cupful of blood — confirmed to be Ayla's — had been found in the house adjacent to DiPietro's bed. Investigators stated only that it was "more blood than a small cut would produce." DiPietro has not been charged in connection with the case; however, state investigators and Trista Reynolds have both said they believe he has not been forthcoming about his knowledge of Ayla's disappearance.
Following the disappearance, Waterville businesses offered a $30,000 reward, generating roughly 1,200 leads, many from psychics, none of which led to information about Ayla's whereabouts. DiPietro, his brother Lance, and a friend worked with the Laura Recovery Center on awareness materials. DiPietro did not publicly discuss the case for nearly three weeks, prompting Trista Reynolds to accuse him of concealing information. In October 2012, police searched Messalonskee Stream a second time after construction work lowered water levels; nothing was found.
At the one-year mark, Maine State Police, the Maine Warden Service, and Waterville Police said they would continue searching. Earlier searches that month in southern New Hampshire and in Mayfield found nothing. Trista Reynolds organized "Eyes Open" awareness walks in Waterville and Portland in 2012.
In 2015, an unidentified toddler's body found on Deer Island, Massachusetts, was initially suspected by some to be Ayla, but she was excluded as a possible identity; the remains were identified in September 2015 as Bella Bond.
On May 17, 2017, the State of Maine declared Ayla dead. On December 17, 2018, Trista Reynolds filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Justin DiPietro, alleging he caused Ayla's death through intentional wrongful actions and caused her pre-death pain and terror; DiPietro's whereabouts were unknown at the time of filing. In February 2022, Reynolds sought to amend and expand the lawsuit based on newly discovered evidence.
Ayla Reynolds, a 19-month-old girl from Waterville, Maine, disappeared from her father's home overnight on December 16–17, 2011, triggering the largest criminal investigation in state history; she was declared legally dead in 2017 and remains missing.
