WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) The mother of a toddler who went missing more than a decade ago wants to expand her wrongful death lawsuit following a review of newly obtained police evidence.
Trista Reynolds, the mother of Ayla Reynolds, filed a wrongful death suit against Justin DiPietro in 2018. Ayla was 22 months old when she went missing in 2011 from a home in Waterville; a judge declared her legally dead six years later.
William Childs, the lawyer for Trista Reynolds, wants the complaint amended based on reports and photographs from the office of the state attorney general and Maine State Police, the Morning Sentinel reported.
An expert who reviewed the evidence concluded there was a “distribution of bloodstains of Ayla’s blood” in the Waterville home where she lived, Childs wrote. The expert also found “evidence that a person or persons attempted to ‘clean up’ Ayla’s blood before investigating authorities arrived to document the scene,” the attorney wrote.
There have been no criminal charges after the largest and most expensive criminal investigation in state history. Maine State Police have said the case is still open and active.
DiPietro’s attorney, Michael Waxman, said he’s waiting to receive the expert report. He also said he’s “a little bit shocked that at this late juncture we’re now receiving these new allegations.”
Ayla was living with her father in Waterville when she disappeared. The father and two other adults were in the home on the night she was last seen, and state police have said they know more than what they’ve told investigators.
When she disappeared, the blond, blue-eyed toddler was wearing pajamas with the words “Daddy’s Princess” on the front. One of her arms was in a soft cast on her broken arm.
