In many ways solving crimes is easier today than ever before.
It’s not as easy as it appears to be on TV shows such as “CSI” and “Criminal Minds,” where complicated tests are run and data are received within minutes, but certainly science and technology have advanced the business of solving crimes.
But there are two very basic factors — and they aren’t scientific or technical — that, if missing, can grind a homicide investigation to a halt: a body and a cooperating witness.
In the case of Ayla Reynolds, the baby missing from her Waterville home since December, investigators have neither.
Just last week, with the snow mostly melted away, dozens of searchers again combed the banks of the Kennebec River and other area locations in search of Ayla’s body.
The three adults who were in the home the night she disappeared no longer are cooperating with the investigation, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland.
Common sense, of course, may indicate one thing, but common sense alone is not enough to make an arrest or prosecute a case.
Police have indicated they are extremely doubtful that a stranger snuck into the Waterville home and took Ayla. If the baby had wandered off on her own, common sense would tell you that she would have been found by now. She was only 20 months old. How far would she get?
Her father, Justin DiPietro, his sister Elisha DiPietro and his girlfriend, Courtney Roberts, were in the house that night. When they were talking to investigators their stories didn’t add up, police say, and now they aren’t talking at all.
It’s nearly beyond comprehension to think it possible for no one to be held accountable for this baby’s disappearance.
Or is it?
Let me remind you of 8-month-old Aisha Dickson, who was beaten to death at her home on Bald Mountain Drive in Bangor on Jan. 6, 1995.
Investigators did have Aisha’s broken body, but much like the Ayla Reynolds case, they had three adults who were home at the time and none of them cooperated with police.
Every bone in Aisha’s body, except for her spine, was broken. Her autopsy revealed injuries that had occurred when she was just 2 months old.
In the house with her that cold January night? Her father, DeShawn Dickson; her mother, Sarah Johnson; and Sarah’s mother, June Johnson.
Common sense indicates that someone in that house most likely was responsible for her brutal death.
But which one?
No one was ever charged. Dickson and Sarah Johnson went on to have more babies. Two at least were taken away from them by the Department of Health and Human Services and later adopted.
They moved away from Bangor and Aisha’s grandmother June Johnson returned to her native Honduras.
Aisha’s case remains one of the state’s unsolved homicides.
While discussing Ayla Reynold’s case the other day, someone said, “That guilt will eat someone alive. At some point someone will talk.”
Perhaps.
In the meantime searchers will search, hoping, of course, to find something and at the same time hoping they do not.
As sad as it may be, when and if they do find Ayla’s body, it could go a long way toward helping ensure that her case does not end up on that unsolved list.
While common sense can’t prove a case and a person’s conscience can’t be counted on, science and technology can and they have come a long way since Aisha Dickson was murdered.
A vigil is scheduled for Ayla Reynolds on Wednesday, April 4, in Monument Square in Portland.
Are you suggesting that Dad knows what happened? Every single time I made that post or suggestion it was pulled from the comments but they let you write a story about it? I guess. I do enjoy your stories at times. Sometimes your stories have all kinds of information if people choose to read between the lines. It is clear you have to very good confidential informants. I also believe you got those by keeping them Confidential. More reporters should embrace that.
Ms. Ordway, I agree with your assumptions. I find it really discouraging that because they no longer want to cooperate, the PD can’t get thm to talk. That to me is the real shame, we all know they know more then they are saying. It seems we should be able to get them to talk somehow. You have been around a while (no offense, I’m older), any idea on the best way to get them to spill it?
The dad is holding information, he will come forward soon ask for a plea deal which i hope he wont get
No one in his right mind asks for a plea deal when there are no charges pending.
No one in his right mind holds back information from the police about the disappearance and probable murder of his own daughter.
Just sayin’
Unless he is the murderer. Just sayin
Yeah… That was my point.
No one in their right mind would murder their 1 year old daughter…just sayin.
Detective Dwyer Ladies and Gentleman.
Highly doubt the guilty person or persons is “in his (remember maybe a her) right mind”.
Ugghh. You know, not only have you and I actually *agreed* upon almost everything posted in the past several months, but I’ve even made a point of giving you kudos when you post something I find important and well said. Can we just quit it with the name calling and provoking?
You and I don’t always agree, but there are few posters on this news site who I believe share your level of intelligence and thoughtfulness. If there’s anyone I would expect I could have a not-entirely-useless real life conversation with about serious issues, I think that person would be you. I’m pretty sure we’d even get along quite well in person. So why do you feel the need to poke me with a stick every time you see I’m online?
I hope your beliefs are correct if that means getting answers about Ayla. I get the sense he is a long way away from a “plea deal”. It takes a minimum of 2 to negotiate any deal and when one party mums up it is pretty hard to agree on anything.
This column makes no reference to confidential sources. In fact, it merely rehashes what has already been reported, with a personal perspective added.
Well said. And it’s a great question.
Assuming hypothetically that one or more of the three were involved in or knows the circumstances of the child’s disappearance, there may come a time when there are some disagreements, grudges, and a parting of the ways. If that happens, it’s more likely that one of them will be willing to break her/his silence and cooperate with the authorities in exchange for immunity from prosecution. If that person holds the key to the case, the state may have to make a deal.
i know a way
I enjoyed the same treatment when commenting about the child molester Carlson. Often when I post I get a message “you post needs to be moderated before posting” and I never see it again, nor am I contacted about my alleged transgressions. I do not believe I have ever violated the tenants of this venue. I see them violated unabated on a daily basis with no repercussions.
The use of certain words will trigger that. I learned that a common nickname for Richard will trigger it. The BDN will respond if you email a question to them aboutthe post but they do not have 24/7 moderators that review and approve. If you get that message you are 99.9% certain your post will never appear. From my personal experience, if you change a few words and post again it normally will post.
Thank you my friend. I would’ve never guessed that! Again, I do not feel I have violated any of the tenants set forth in the T.O.S. I believe what you are saying is that the T.O.S. really does not matter, just avoid certain words and they really don’t care what else you post (2nd part my observation).
The BDN has been know to ban posters that repeatedly violate the terms of service and they do assign employees to moderate certain topics/stories that will have “emotional” posts (you mentioned one above that was assigned to an editor to moderate).
Your welcome
The DiPietro’s may be completely innocent…BUT their actions indicate that one or all of them are knowledgeable about the circumstances of Ayla’s disappearance.
Apparently they can “live with themselves’ and the fact that Ayla is missing. Most of us would not rest until she was found. Seems like they don’t have a lot of interest in her disappearance and would just as soon move on with their pathetic lives.
When they go down…hope they go down hard.
Rob Kelley: I suggested water-boarding a couple of months ago. I know we can’t do that. But the liberals in this forum went ballistic. It was only a comment that meant a lot of pressure should be put on the DiPietro’s to get information and cooperation.
ptkitty you can waterboard them, you can beat them with rubber hoses, you can whack them with saps, you can do all sorts of things to extract information or confessions. The problem is coerced confessions get tossed and the person walks. And to make matters worse all information obtained from the coerced confession becomes inadmissible in court.
And we, the people, would be paying big money in the resulting lawsuits.
Do you mean to say that only liberals object to waterboarding suspects?
………//
Spill it? They can throw them in jail for impeding an investigation. Take the two children away from the sister and girlfriend. I guarantee they spill it.
Invoking one’s right to remain silent is not “impeding an investigation.”
Have they been read their “Rights”as in being silent? Thought that only happened if arrested. Just asking not being arugumentive.
I’ve said the same thing! See how those mothers like not having their child and not knowing where the state put them. They’d crack
Well stated.
They have 30 yr old murders with a body, with DNA that the mother of the child raised the funds herself to have done, and the Maine Police still haven’t found her killer. There is a pattern here just some are blind to the blatent facts! Here’s your first clue – botched investigation!
What exactly was botched? You, of course, must know exactly what is going on to have come to this conclusive opinion. It is a good thing we have your expertise to show us the errors the police are committing. If only they had you as lead investigator, this would be wrapped up….
yep millinocket comes to mind
Two problems with your theory of a “botched investigation”.
1) DNA is great evidence but you have to match it to someone. As far as I know, it hasn’t been matched to anyone, and
2) I am not even sure that DNA evidence that is obtained by third party would be admissible as evidence in a court of law. Something to do with “chain of custody”.
well, my comment was deleted for some unknown reason. Considering it’s been done for less reason I’d be all for it. having experienced the practice myself it would really get to the bottom of it with no permanent damage. I personally have no compassion for someone who’s done something of this nature to an innocent child.
This makes me ill. I think if three people are in the house, then someone knows what happened. If no one talks, arrest them all. The 1995 case was horrible. That baby was killed in her home and the father, mother and grandmother were all there. Someone has to be held responsible…
You can’t arrest them all.
Yes you can.
You must have missed civics class in high school — or you’ve watched too many episodes of “CSI: Miami.” The Constitution says “no.”
Why not?? If you drive the get away car you get arrested so if you watch a crime and kept your mouth shut you should be arrested!!
What criminal charge would you arrest them for?
And you would arrest them on what charges?
Its so sad .. But in their little world. They have done nothing wrong. There will be no judgment for them, as they really have no scruples so therefore they
Will get away with it while we continue to provide for them.
Through all the welfare programs
While i agree with the reporter in most of her commentary, here is where i differ completely. There is one way that Justin can be taken into custody and charged with a crime even without a body and even without cooperation and that is on the charge of intentional neglect. Blood from Ayla was found in the same room where he sleeps, the child is gone. He has a responsibility to care for that child and with her going missing her is obviously neglectful. His responsibility as a parent is to provide a safe environment for his child. In many cases where children are removed from the home, parents are cited on neglect charges. Why is this case any different? For someone to have come into the home with no signs of a break-in does not seem possible with even three of the deepest sleepers. Someone should have heard something. SO put him behind bars, get him ready for trial and see if he cracks….The Casey Anthony trial didnt work, but maybe that strategy would here because most of America realizes that a murderer got away with Casey.
Agreed, well said. These idiots lawyered up fast evidently. This case sickens me beyond words.
And what would be your evidence that the father “recklessly” failed to protect Ayla? Is there any evidence that the other two adults in the home had ever abused Ayla or that they were responsible for injuries that resulted in her blood being found in the home? Is there any evidence that the father was aware of such abuse?
What you’re suggesting is that a parent of any assaulted or abducted child can be held criminally responsible for the acts of another. That’s absurd.
I’m pretty sure it’s a crime if you fail to protect your child from being abused.
To be guilty, you would have to be reckless in the failure to protect your child. At this point, the authorities don’t feel they have enough evidence to charge anybody with abuse. Therefore, how could the father be charged with being reckless in a failure to protect Ayla? What if one of the other two adults in the house that night assaulted and kidnapped Ayla while Ayla’s father slept? How could you convict him of being “reckless”?
Ryan, we all realize you are a lawyer wannabe, but what i was eluding to is that there was no evidence of a BREAK-IN, meaning he did not have the door locked. Even if you can allow your imagination to believe that the blood was a simple cut(evidence has not said one way or the other but the police know) or even if you can completely go out there and believe that Ayla quietly got up in the middle of the night, walked to the door and opened it up and wandered off…I have huge doubt that she would have known HOW to unlock a door, and we are taught to keep our children safely locked into the house, expecially if we are such sound sleepers that we cannot hear when something is happening to our children at night.
OK so let’s go with your theory for the moment. The police arrest him, throw him in jail and prepare him for trial. As part of that trial the DA has to turn over every piece of evidence related to the charge they have so the defense can prepare a case. That means the defense attorney and the defendant gets to see just what the DA and police have.
It would be irresponsible for the police and DA to do this if the purpose of the arrest and jailing is to put pressure on him.
So you’re saying that it can be a crime for the parents not to lock the doors and windows at all times? Once again, that’s absurd. It doesn’t rise to the level of “reckless,” which the child endangerment statute requires.
You would still have to prove that the father didn’t simply forget to lock something.
Renee – you missed a major point – the Waterville PD, who searched an already picked over area last weekend ended up finding a body they also failed to locate about 7 years ago. This means that they missed the body at least twice before they happened upon it. I’m not sure why this obvious blunder doesn’t get more attention in the press, but it doesn’t bode well for the case of missing Ayla.
What crime? The body discovered was of a man reported missing in 2004. The police said they did not suspect any foul play in the man’s disappearance.
I am confused by lollipopaddict’s comment……lollipopaddict can you explain for me a little more your comment? As for the other case in the article it is repulsive listening to the specifics of how badly she was beaten and no one was charged?????!!!!!?????? NO ONE WAS CHARGED?????? WHAT?????
You don’t throw out charges and pray that they stick. You have to have evidence that a specific person committed a specific act that violated a specific law.
in defense of the police if the arrest a suspect and charge them with a crime with no more than what we are aware they have, and it goes to trial,the likely chance is reasonable doubt will cause a not guilty verdict.Then because od double jeopardy he walks free even if the body tirns up in his hip pocket no one wants to risk this!
Justin and his little groupies think they can get away with it. They are forgetting one thing… there was an experienced crime unit in the home. They are waiting for more evidence to come back from the lab. Just a matter of time Jason!
Who is Jason??
Well we hope. We have to follows laws if we do not in this case it leads up down a slippery sl0pe. The system is not perfect but it is the only one we have.
The police aren’t required to read a suspect Miranda rights unless the suspect is in custody. However, the right to remain silent is absolute, regardless of whether one is in custody.
I did not know that. Thanks.
I suspect her death may have been a total accident and thats how they are able to ignore their conscience and get everyone to cooperate, that plus they are all convinced, they are all going to jail if anyone spills it.
So now we’re going to be concerned about the constitution? We don’t care when the corporations take over the running of this country or that despite it’s safety guards the wealthy elites manage to control the masses but when it comes to a baby missing we’re going to worry about the constitution. Yep Ryan you’ve just managed to depict life in America
That’s right maine girl, we have a Constitution that affords certain rights to the accused.
I’ve seen CPS take a child on less grounds then what they have here to take the children of the two women involved. Oh but right Auntie Karen works for CPS. Of course they won’t take these kids. Just one question? Why hasn’t Auntie Karen been fired from DHHS already?
New show Odway PI. or just slow news day to bad that she had to pick on a small child. I pray that this little girl is ok or with the Lord.
I still say that all three of the adults in both cases should have been locked up! One or more people did the crime and the other one or two helped even if it was only by their silence!! If they won’t tell who did it or what happened then they are just as guilty!!
And what would you have charged them with?
Obstruction of Justice. No one ,who was in that house that night, can say they heard nothing and know nothing.
Well a review of Maine Law didn’t show a “Obstruction of Justice” statute. The closet I could find were the following Class D crimes “FALSIFYING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE” and “FALSE PUBLIC ALARM OR REPORT”.
Class D crimes are punishable with inprisonment for up to 364 days and a fine of up to $2,000.00.
Of course that means you would have to have evidence to support the charge and evidence to bring it to trial. Not sure if they have enough to do that or not. The other issue is you have multiple agencies involved and both a local DA and AG office that is involved.
There are many, many moving parts to this investigation and the police and DA/AG want enough evidence to make a charge “stick” and not have a “not guilty/acquitted of all charges” come back that would allow Double Jeopardy to prevent a retrial if additional evidence came to light.
They — just as you do — have the right to remain silent. Exercising that right is not obstruction of justice.
Everyone is very protective of their OWN rights, not so much the rights of others. If there was “proof” there would be an arrest. There is none (at this point0 which will hold up in court, and it is against the law (in this country) to torture a confessing out of a suspect.
I am still wondering why no one has said anything about his lie detector test that Justin lied about. I dont know what they ask for questions but I am sure one would of been do you know the whereabouts of your daughter Ayla Reynold? He probably failed that!
Polygraph tests are not admissible.
Daddy daringly siphons a response through his attorney – I suspect – denying Steve McCausland’s claim that his non-cooperation with police is incorrect.
Daddy knows what happened to his daughter. But not only does daddy know, so does his gal pal and his sister.
The question that daddy can’t answer, without first consulting his attorney, is naturally the one everyone wants an answer to, and only he knows.
.
Take the to the state prison for an adult version of scared straight. Show them what its like there and what the prisoners there wont hesitate to do to those convicted of crimes against children. I bet after the first day all kinds of info comes out.
And anything learned would be excluded as being “coerced” and since they were taken unwillingly (and who would go willingly in a criminal case) those taking them would be charged with false arrest and false imprisonment (kidnapping).
Someone’s blowing smoke to the public. After all how many people have been involed with this investergation. I thought the FBI could solve anything??
While they are terrific I think that it’s naive to think they can solve anything or everything.
THATS TRUE
I’d check with the Lindbergh heirs on that.
Something, someday, is going to click into place, and this mystery will unravel. In the meantime, I take some comfort from the reputation of the Maine State Police. They are well regarded within the state, and also enjoy a national reputation for high clearance rates. I am quite sure that the detectives working this case will never let it go cold, and will never stop looking for answers.
Yes, I think Maine State Police are pretty smart, and they have the advantage, too, of dealing with some stupid criminals up here. After all, what suspect/target with any brains would take a law-enforcement agency administered polygraph?
One who is planning to have the evidence thrown out if the results are not to their liking.
It never becomes evidence to be thrown out even if the suspect likes the results (polygraph results are inadmissable in criminal cases), and if he doesn’t like the results it will only heighten police interest in a case against him. If evidence points to his criminal involvement, a non-deceptive test result will not stop police and prosecutors from pressing ahead. They know the polygraph isn’t infallible. Furthermore, the police often use polygraph test results as an interrogation tool.
Not necessarily. When I was a child (and dinosaurs roamed the earth) a little girl went missing. Her parents, grandparents, and older brother are now all deceased. The truth died with them.
LE does not need a body to convict. They have and are collecting a boatload of evidence.
This is so sad that people keep getting away with murder simply because there is no video tape and the killer/kidnapper is so good at what they do that they get away with it time and time again. It’s hard but there are circumstantial cases that do result in convictions – even without a body, or sometimes with a body that is so badly decomposed that it yields no clues. I don’t know why no one ever charges the adults with lesser crimes such as child neglect, child endangerment or even with murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, etc… just to get them talking and pointing the finger at each other. More information would surely surface in this event. But… it’s never going to happen if the people are left alone with the hopes that one of them one day will grow a conscience. That isn’t going to happen. They need to feel afraid of of very serious repercussions for their part in the disappearance of a child – even if just that jail time for involvement in the disappearance of a child becomes a punishable crime. I don’t know… what we have now isn’t saving children and other victims so we’ve got to dig deeper and find better solutions.
Before you can charge someone with a crime, you have to have evidence to support the charge. Otherwise, the charge gets tossed. So no, you can’t just cook up a charge in hopes that the suspect will talk.
I know this… if you read what I said you would know I said it was too bad there aren’t laws against failing to sufficiently care for a child in your custody.
Too many people are killing kids, often their own kids, disposing of them and claiming they don’t know anything. This is too easy of a murder to get away with – particularly since there is no resistance from a helpless child. Anymore as long as you hide the dead child well enough you’re good to go.
What I said was that I think there should be laws or better laws that hold people accountable for children who go missing while in their care provided that there is no evidence of a kidnapping. Even if a baby wanders off while in the care of someone they are neglecting the child and not taking proper precautions to secure a safe environment for a baby of age to “escape” on their own. I’m not even sympathetic to the parent who falls asleep, or is playing video games and lets their baby/toddler wander out into the road… it’s irresponsible and I think we need laws to protect babies from irresponsible behaviors of their caretakers.
That’s what I said – I absolutely didn’t say anyone should cook up a charge against anyone.
“I said it was too bad there aren’t laws against failing to sufficiently care for a child in your custody.”
There are such laws, they just do not apply in this case. You can not beat, starve, emotionally abuse or neglect a child in your care. The details ar left to prosecutors. In this case there is no evidence that a child was abused or neglected. Losing a child is not a crime.
Losing a child in your own home in the middle of the night with no signs of kidnapping and no evidence or signs that the child wandered away on it’s own and a parent just shrugging his/her shoulders claiming they don’t know where the baby went should count as neglect – but it doesn’t. Parents and caretakers are charged (not in the legal sense) with caring for their children. They can be legally charged with neglect if the child is not fed, clothed properly or housed properly but nothing can be done if they simply disappear the child. When a baby goes missing from his/her home, it’s fairly obvious that the parents or other caretakers are not feeding, clothing or properly caring for the child – but somehow because the baby is no longer visible it becomes acceptable under the law. I understand that it’s difficult to change laws… I understand that there are laws to protect children but in my opinion they need to take another look at those laws and find a way to better protect babies. I agree that you may not know where teens or preteens may go – they run away, etc… but babies don’t just disappear from a parent’s care unless the parent isn’t paying attention or properly securing the safety of the child. My point isn’t so much about about the law as it is about the cracks in the laws that currently allow parents or other care takers to get away without consequence when their child goes missing in their care. It seems odd that there is a consequence if they don’t provide your child with boots or a coat in the winter but no consequences if the child just goes missing. The cracks in the laws allow this to happen. I think it’s time to take a second look at the laws and see if we can do something to better better protect young babies.
I may be wrong but I’d like to think that most people are compassionate enough to think of the missing babies first rather than defend the caretaker and be willing to stand by and watch babies go missing without consequence while taking the attitude that it’s okay because there are no laws against it and there is nothing that can be done. There is always something that can be done… laws are not written in stone and they can always be changed or fine tuned. THAT is my point.
How about after getting the inadmissable confession hypothetically if they are taken out back and somebody just puts them down? Would CSI BDN be cancelled?
We would be just as evil as whoever may have murdered Ayla.
This makes me sick!
it is a very simple solution.. put all 3 of them in jail. simple as that.. they are not cooperating with the police.. we put people in jail for years simply for getting caught with some pot… but yet we do not put murderers in there???? WTF????
Simple? Just put them all in jail? Perhaps you’d enjoy the system they use in China, I’m kinda partial to the Constitution
No one is required to cooperate with the police for anything.
There are some people that have no natural feelings of any kind , therefore, no guilt! Someone that could harm a little child has nothing much working for them as far as feelings go. So no one should hold their breath waiting for someone’s guilty feelings to “get ‘the best of them”!
For one it doesnt seem to matter what evidense you have anymore….and what if your the mother of a 12 year old that PROTECTED her child to the end for NOTHING….I had it all on my computer about a a man being sexual and way inappropriate of what his intentions were and what he has done to her and three witnesses….Thats not even the worst part, we set him up to pick my daughter up, cops in my home and eveything and sure enough he shows up. The man was never arrested and he plea bargained his way out of everything….and doesnt even have to have his name in registry after pleading guilty to three counts.
Sorry for all the typos
It’s funny how certain people clamor about the overreach of big government, and how we need to shrink government, government is not the solution to the problem, it IS the problem, get government under control, stop government intrusion, get government off our back, drown government in the bathtub, etc, etc… but these same people would willingly concede all our constitutional rights and give government all the power in the world in order to try to solve one mystery in Waterville.
arest all the three that were in the house and someone will spill the beans of course they are not going to talk now they are afraid, what is wrong with the law enforcement?
This case just lets other abusers know that they can get away with murder. I do not think that they feel bad about it just want the press to go away.