WATERVILLE, Maine — Law enforcement officials say the cost of the four-month search for missing Maine toddler Ayla Reynolds could be as much as half a million dollars.
Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey says his department has spent money on overtime, increased office supplies and even fiber-optic cable to support FBI transmissions and other data.
State police and the state Warden Service have also been intensely involved in the investigation.
Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing Dec. 17 by her father, who said he last saw his daughter when putting her to bed the night before.
Police have described the disappearance as a crime, but there have been no arrests.
A Department of Public Safety spokesman justified the costs, telling the Morning Sentinel “it’s what we do.”
Absolutely impossible to put a dollar amount on a child! Irregardless of the cost, I pray they find little Ayla.
I know this may sound nit picky but it’s my biggest pet peeve…”Irregardless” is not a word, it’s just “regardless.” At any rate, I too believe that you cannot put a dollar amount on a child. I hope they find her so that everyone can be at peace.
maybe the $500,000 is something you both can share the payment on? since money grows in your back yards. If there was no money involved this wouldn’t be a story..
Money is the root to all evil!!
Wet He —
To dispel you of your ignorance, you’d likely benefit from reading “Atlas Shrugged,” or at least the following excerpt therefrom:
http://capitalismmagazine.com/2002/08/franciscos-money-speech/
Okay you got me “People are the root to all evil” now I understand your thinking. money doesn’t rule the world its narrow minded people like you, I’d like to see how lfar you’ll get with no money!! maybe you’ll just understand evil!!
Might want to re-read that analect, Wet He, if that’s what you got out of it.
Sure hope you’re not a registered voter come November.
Do you have kids?
I agree also ..for That Poor little girl… But that family for not coming forward ,holding back what they know, Letting it reach that point…that’s what’s sad… Wonders… if the family didn’t realize just how much publicity would generate
Actually the insurance companies put “a dollar amount” on children and adults.
time to step up the interrogation of the dad, sister, and the girlfriend why is it that we haven’t heard from either of them and if we haven’t why?????
Agree 100% wit h you step up the questing and oh ya donlt forget grammy who was also there that night…
They have placed FBI and Maine’s top homicide investigators to this case, gamewarden’s and statepolice. Honestly, I thought that figure was at least doubled. Given the fact that Maine’s finest has been assigned to this case, and these men and women place their lives in harms way on a daily basis, wouldn’t one think that figure would be much higher then 500,000 dallors? I had to scroll back up to make sure I was reading it right, seems the gas used alone would cost that much!!! We have utalized planes for her search, gamewardens, statepolice and FBI just to name a tiny bit. I honestly can’t even comprehend all of what they have utalized for this search. I thought for a few days they had 75 game wardens on the ground searching the woods and water, did I dream that up? That must of had quite a price tag, with gas…..
There aren’t that many Game Wardens on the payroll.
That is what I thought, but I swear I saw that in an article, because at the time I joked with my husband and said, let’s head north and get us a Moose today, because every Game Warden in the state today is looking for Ayla!!! I wonder how many they had then? Any numbers out there? I know there are expert followers of this story….
I looked it up and according to wikianswers (not sure how credible they are) said there are 64 wardens in the state. That also doesn’t mean you didn’t see the 75 number considering how much research the BDN does on their articles. :-)
Someone knows where she is…… And it’s not the Bogeyman.
Not suprised by this dollar amount. Chances are she won’t be found. To much time has gone by and we don’t know when she actually disappeared. Chief Joseph Massey and Waterville Pd you did an awesome job and you worked long hours trying to locate Ayla. There has to be some way to make arrests, they did take a lot of evidence out of Justin’s home.
It may take a year or two, but someone will stumble upon her. They find little bodies all the time. Winter was on the killers side. Hikers, hunters and summer water lovers will be out and someone playing in or about will see her remains.
I wonder if she was put out of state.. New Hampshire is not that far of a distance to travel. Leave in the middle of the night and be back by morning.. Daddy’s momma knows a lot more then she is saying as well.. One minute she is in the house then next she was not.. hummmm
Chief Massey, and the WPD did not do an awesome job, they blew this investigation from day one; it should have been turned over to state police from the get go.
Where’s the Tea Party and Republicans now – after all, everything’s about money right? $500,000? It only costs $50,000 to kill an Afghani child – at least that’s what we as a nation pay. Too bad some of the $500,000 couldn’t be spent to give children a better start in life – but no, that’s welfare! Welfare is evil…expensive child searches that makes much more sense.
Have you served? The men & women serving their commander in chief (that would be Mr. Obama) are not there killing children.
And to think one man and/or two women could have saved the family and the community the terrible anguish of not knowing what has happened to this little toddler. Plus saved the taxpayers a ton of money, never mind the authorities who could have spent their time working other cases!
the mother also…. P
When a hiker goes missing or gets lost, he or she is charged for search and resque….Lets send the bill to the person who was in care, custody and control of the little girl.
that would be daddy!!!!!!!!!!!
So like the Obama health care system, we are going to put a price on someones life.. Sad and Sick.
Obama’s health reform doesn’t put a price on someones life, but the GOP plan puts a price on the elders of this country, their plan, let them die.
I’m an “elder” and I’m OK with that. I see absolutely NO reason why my neighbors should pay my end-of-life medical bills. How much is six months of suffering and eventual death anyway worth?
Rather heartless aren’t you?
No, lakes, he is very realistic … I’m an “elder” who agrees with him!
Why is this “Obama’s” fault. Insurance Companies judges, juries and lawyers have been putting a price on life since the dawn of English law.
It’s called wergeld, and it’s as old as the basis for all of our laws.
Read some history for a change.
why can’t they get Equusearch from TX to come and help? They use drones, and I’m not sure, but alot of it is volunteer?
Unless Alya is carrying a cell phone, is implanted with a GPS, or some informer gave coordinates for her whereabouts, Equsearch will not find anything.
There are many reasons why this isn’t a good idea.
First, even though Texas Equusearch is a volunteer organization, it still would be extremely costly to bring up several of that team. There are searchers here that have done the same thing. As far as drones, there isn’t much use of that resource on this case. Maine has a SAR team that uses aerial imagery … What wasn’t used was a trailing K9 unit that can work older and contaminated trails.
Send the bill to Ayla’s father or just have him give in
They are just counting down the days until they find poor little Ayla. This story has gone long enough and justice needs to be served, what kind of world do we live in to hide your child? were talking about a 20 month child not a 30-40 year old person
After only reading the headline, I wonder why some resources which were offered to law enforcement officials, were not utilized. If there is a possibility of new evidence being garnered; questions being answered, etc., why would you not use help that is offered, especially when there is nothing to lose, only something to gain? Just think about the funds that could be (have been) saved! Think about all of the heartache that the family’s have been going through. Think about the immense time that too, could be saved, including time that volunteer’s have also lend during the searches. It is almost ‘criminal-in-nature’ that those responsible, did not and still are not, using independent, legitimate and thoroughly credentialed resources.
The DIPS (paternal family) think LE needs a body to convict. Wrong. The approximate 250 ml of blood evidence from Luminol enhancement will be enough to convict at least on a manslaughter charge if not murder. That’s if the crime lab can say with absolute certainty there was a 25% volume of blood loss and it almost entirely was Ayla Reynolds. The amount would be considered at or near fatal for an infant without medical attention. There is no hospital record of Ayla being treated for any severe blood loss injury. Consequently, there is no reasonable defense to why she went untreated.
This is an obvious case of domestic abuse with fatal consequences. Certainly, LE is looking for other key pieces of evidence like a witness who can testify to exactly who caused the injury leading to the alarming blood loss.
Prosecutors may very well have to play the blood card along with a grant of immunity to someone like Courtney Roberts who was one of the three adults in the house the night Ayla went missing. Even that as being the actual date she went missing is subject to speculation.
One thing is certain. We the public will insist on someone facing justice for the harm they brought to Ayla Bell Reynolds. We will never ever forget her. Never.
With the amount of blood found, why can’t they atleast charge him with child abuse and neglect until they can find more evidence?
Because cps is to busy taking incocent kids from there parents thats why they canlt be bothereed with these jokers
Would Ayla’s father just please tell us with which relative he stashed his daughter, so we can stop the monetary hemorrhaging and return the little girl to her dysfunctional mother?
I think the reason they have spent this amount has something to do with LePage being the former Mayor of Waterville. Just arrest all who were in that house the night she disappeared and hold them till they cough up the truth.
100% corect littry kid ive said that right from the begining.
I cant imagine this even being spoken.
The search is great field exsperience and real life interaction for our law enforcment. We are not up to date to begin with if we invested money in equipment.
Stop waisting your funds with the pot busts.
BRING AYLA HOME, put some pressure on the father and his family.