nursebeeme
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This thread is for timeline and media links for the Ayla Reynolds case. This is a *no discussion* thread. Thanks so much
Police have denied a request by the Morning Sentinel for an audio recording and written transcript of the 911 call that reported 21-month-old Ayla Reynolds missing, saying it could get in the way of the investigation.
Maine State Police have now confirmed blood was found in the basement of the home at 29 Violette Ave.
State police spokesman Steve McCausland says the blood was found in the basement early in the investigation into Ayla Reynolds' disappearance from her father's home in Waterville.
Police said the adults told them "someone snuck into the house, went into the bedroom where Ayla was sleeping, and no one heard or saw anything." Yet "there is no evidence that we have found that would point to an abduction," said the state spokesman.
"Their story ... doesn't pass the 'straight-face' test in Maine," McCausland said.
"We don't know what happened other than we know Ayla didn't walk out on her own, and we have grave doubts she was abducted because there were three adults in the home that night (and) it's a very small house."
Steve McCausland said Sunday night said that testing has revealed that at least some of the blood samples that were found in the home during a December search belong to Ayla.
"The testing has not been completed and more work remains, but we have found samples of Ayla's blood," he said.
Whitney Raynor, her mothers stepsister, said Monday that welfare agents had placed Ayla with her father in November while the mother was in rehab for substance abuse. The girl had bruises after being in her fathers care, Raynor said, in addition to a broken arm three weeks ago.
Our biggest fear is that he lost his temper and something happened. Were trying not to think about that, but in the back of our minds its our biggest fear, Raynor said from Portland, where Aylas mother, Trista Reynolds, lives.
The toddler had lived in Portland with her mother and grandmother until mid-October, said Becca Hanson, Aylas grandmother. The grandparents, who are not married and have separate addresses, said Maines Department of Health and Human Services had removed Ayla from her mothers care in October. The maternal grandparents criticized the agency, although no details about the action were available Sunday.
Hanson was staying with Aylas mother, Trista Reynolds, in a South Portland motel Sunday as the search continued in Waterville.
This is the worst thing of all because she doesnt know where her daughter is at, Hanson said. Im hoping that they call us soon and say they found her.
Hanson said Trista Reynolds was not able to talk to the media. Trista Reynolds also has a 9-month-old son who is living with her at the South Portland motel, Hanson said.
Aylas grandparents described her as a bright, happy girl.
Ayla started walking when she was 10 months old, Hanson said. Shes a really outgoing child. She always had a smile on her face.
Ayla loves her little brother, Hanson said. She tries to give him his bottle and his binky. Theyre like two peas in a pod.
Welfare agents had placed Ayla with her father weeks ago while her mother, Trista Reynolds, was in rehab for substance abuse, Reynolds' stepsister Whitney Raynor said Monday. The toddler's maternal grandmother, Becka Hanson, told the Morning Sentinel newspaper it was the Department of Health and Human Services that took custody of the girl and turned her over to DiPietro.
After moving in with her father, the toddler suffered a broken arm, said Raynor, who serves as spokeswoman for the Portland family, which has sought to regain custody of the girl.
Reynolds and her older sister, Jessica, were staying in a hotel Tuesday to keep away from the media frenzy.
"I'm watching my sister fall to pieces," Jessica Reynolds said. "I don't think she has any tears left to cry."
Trista Reynolds told The Associated Press that she and DiPietro never lived together as a couple. But Reynolds said a drinking problem prompted her to enter rehabilitation in Lewiston for 10 days in October; she said that although her mother and older sister cared for Ayla during that time, child welfare agents intervened to place the girl with DiPietro.
Becca Hanson, Aylas grandmother, also asked that her daughter, Trista Reynolds, be left alone for a couple of days.
Shes really tired, Hanson said of Aylas mother, who gave interviews on several national news programs last week.
Hanson said she believed Reynolds was planning to do something special in Aylas honor on Christmas Day, but did not know what it was.
Its going to be a hard day for her, she said.
Tristas story of motherhood and Aylas story of daughterhood are not unique, or at least they werent until Dec. 17 when Ayla was reported missing by her father, Justin DiPietro. Twenty-seven days into the wrenching and captivating search for the girl, Trista said she tries to focus on Ayla the person, not Ayla the missing person.
I used to tell her she was going to be mommys star, but this isnt how I wanted her to become a star, said Trista. Shes got to come home. I cant imagine the rest of my life without her.
For the past week or two Ive found myself lashing out at everyone, she said Wednesday during a lengthy interview with the Bangor Daily News. Whenever I see her on the front page or on television, I think theres no way thats my little girl. Sometimes I have to pretend its not going on. If I dont tell myself that sometimes, I dont know how I could function.
The mother of Ayla Reynolds said reports last week that Aylas father, Justin DiPietro, took a polygraph test administered by investigators has heightened her doubt about whether DiPietro is telling the truth. Trista Reynolds also said she and others in her family are arranging with investigators to take their own polygraph tests.
An account of events that transpired prior to the disappearance of Ayla Bell Reynolds on 12/16/2011 as remembered by Trista Reynolds, her Mother Becca Hanson, her Sister Jessica Reynolds and her Brother Ronnie Reynolds.
August 27th 2011 - Justin took Ayla for the day to see the Navy's Blue Angels in Brunswick and nothing was amiss with the visit aside from Ayla had a slight sunburn.
About Mid-September - Justin took Ayla to Chucky Cheese and she was returned with black and blue bruises the right side of her face and ear, photographs were taken. Justin said that he had put her in the "Ball Pit" and she got into a fight with two little boys.
About the end of September - Justin took Ayla on a Thursday and brought her back Friday. Later that evening, Becca noticed that she could not walk without difficulty and after a few days she was not getting any better, favoring her left foot as she walked. Trista asked Justin what had happen and he said they were," horsing around". The subsequent visit to the doctor found it to be a pulled leg muscle... and it took three weeks before she could walk normally again.
October 12, 2011 - Trista becoming increasing more dependent on alcohol relating to her personal life and the stresses of being a single mom with two babies had an altercation with her sister Jessica, resulting in the police being called. No charges were filed and The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was notified.
October 13, 2011 - DHHS gave Trista two choices: kick the alcohol, or lose the kids. Realizing the adverse affect alcohol was having on herself and her children she admitted herself into a substance abuse treatment facility in Lewiston that afternoon. Justin was never given sole custody of Ayla . No complaints were filed with any courts or agencies. Trista never went to court and never saw a judge. DHHS had put Ayla in the joint care of Becca and Jessica while she was undergoing treatment.
October 17th, 2011, 3pm - DHHS case worker and supervisor for child protection services (CPS), called Jessica demanding that she turn Ayla over Justin. When Jessica asked," Why now?" she was told that, "he's the father and he has the right to take her" and went on to say that "dad trumps the aunt - any day". Jessica refused to give Ayla to Justin.
October 17th 2011, 7pm - Lewiston Police and Justin (who waited downstairs) arrived at Jessica's apartment and demanded on behalf of DHHS that they turn Ayla over to them. After Ayla was turned over to Justin by the police, it was revealed to Jessica (via phone) that the CPS supervisor had given the police authorization (and Jessica's address) to retrieve Ayla. Ayla was kicking and screaming when turned over to Justin. While that may qualify as without incident on a police log it was traumatic for everyone else involved.
October 20th 2011, 2pm - A "family team meeting" was held. Among those present were; Trista, Jessica, Justin (via phone), Jessica's attorney, two doctors, two DHHS case workers, and the CPS supervisor. At the end of the meeting, all parties agreed (including Justin) that Ayla would be returned to Trista after completion of her seven day evaluation. Justin was also ordered by DHHS to bring Ayla to the treatment facility the following day for a visit with Trista, and to release her into the care of Trista (at Jessica's Apartment) on October 22nd or according to the CPS supervisor "there would be consequences". Justin never showed up with Ayla at the treatment facility. Justin also did not release Ayla into Tristas care on 10/22/11. Trista called DHHS numerous times, only to be stone-walled by the chain of command. Trista, at wits end, eventually agrees to leave Ayla with Justin provided she receives regular visits with Ayla.
November 5th 2011 - Justin calls Trista and says that they (he and his mom) were getting ready to take Ayla to the emergency room. When asked why, Justin told Trista that he was coming home from shopping the day before and had "fallen up the stairs" on Ayla while carrying her and a bag of groceries. Later it was reported that Ayla's left forearm was broken and had been put into a splint and ace bandage.
November 21, 2011 2 pm- Trista went with Ayla and Justin to a doctors appointment with her bone specialist, that was the last time Trista, Ronnie, and Becca saw Ayla.
December 15th 2011, 12 pm - Due to her growing concerns of infrequent visitations, lack of communication from Justin, missing doctor visits and Ayla's injuries while under Justin's care (documented with doctors and DHHS) Trista petitioned the Cumberland County Courthouse for parental rights and responsibilities.
December 17, 2011 8:51 am - Ayla Bell Reynolds is reported missing from 29 Violette Avenue Waterville, Maine.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
From the start Justin did not want Trista to have Ayla. It has been stated that he never had the chance to be there when she was born, for good reason; Justin didnt want Trista to bring Ayla to term if "it was going to be his". Trista told Justin that it was not his at that time because she did not want him to pressure her into an abortion. Justin was ordered by DHHS to pay back child support in December 2010 after having a paternity test, so it could be said that he did not know he was the father until then but it is false to say he wasnt aware of Aylas existence until then. While living in the same city Justin had a total of five visits with Ayla since December 2010, Phoebe Aylas paternal grandmother only visited once. On two of those visits, Ayla came home with visible bruises and Justin would only come and visit with Ayla if no one else was in Trista's Apartment.
We would like to have clarification on whether or not Phoebe has friends or relatives in DHHS, it has been widely rumored online, but we have not heard from Phoebe on this subject.
Justin was well aware that Ayla was with Jessica while Trista was in treatment and even told Jessica over the phone that Aylas fine there. Why then was it four days later that DHHS contacted Jessica about turning over Ayla to Justin?
Becca and Jessica were always in Ayla's life and seemed to be much more mature loving care givers than Justin was. Why place Ayla with practical strangers? Is "dad trumps the aunt" standard DHHS policy? Why did DHHS give Trista a kick the booze or lose your kids ultimatum only to then take one of her two children when she was undergoing treatment?
Did DHHS do background checks on the DiPietros before placing Ayla with them? Was the DHHS's required house inspection done (check for proper fire detectors, safety, heating system, running water) by a state official? Was Aylas custody fast tracked to Justin by someone in DHHS? What is their policy on handing down ultimatums and then reneging on the terms?
CONCLUSION
Justin may not be guilty of anything more than being an unsatisfactory role model but it seems that he has been influenced by someone to participate in Aylas life.
Hanson said the decision to have the family members take the exam was a mutual one between themselves and police.
"They asked and we offered," she said.
Trista Reynolds' father said the family was told late Saturday by McCausland that blood found in the home was determined to be Ayla's.
"It was a surprise," Ronald Reynolds said.
He said police did not give any indication what the discovery means.
Ronald Reynolds said he is convinced the family in DiPietro's house has more information than they have shared.
"Every day, it gets hotter and hotter," he said. "I hope they pull them back in, set them down and give them the opportunity to say something."
"It's not right. Whoever has my daughter that person had no right to take her. She should be with her parents. This is where Ayla belongs."
"Ayla probably thinks this is some sort kind of a game. She adapts real well. I have to believe she is being cared for. And I'm sure she has adapted to this situation."
I hope that whoever had the courage to come into this house and take her has the courage to bring her back. Its gone on long enough, DiPietro said during a Monday interview with the Morning Sentinel.
There was no party, he said.
Phoebe DiPietro nodded in agreement. She also offered a simple plea to anyone who might know about Aylas whereabouts.
I just want her back, she said, tearfully.
DiPietro said he wanted to thank the community for posting a $30,000 reward for information that leads investigators to Ayla.
Its amazing, he said. I dont know John Nale or any of the people involved in raising money for the reward. To think that they would do something like that for people they dont know is just overwhelming.
"I will publicly invite Nancy Grace to come spend a day with me," DiPietro said Thursday afternoon during an exclusive interview with the Morning Sentinel. "Nancy Grace, please come see me. Do you want to spend a day with me? Do you want to see what I'm going through? Do you want to see the ins and outs of it? I invite you to."
"I came up the stairs and slipped. It happened so fast, I don't know exactly how I fell on her, but I fell on her," he said. "It's burned into my brain."
His mother, Phoebe DiPietro, 47, was in the next room.
"I was sitting in the living room with my daughter, and we heard a big thump," she recalled Thursday. "I immediately went to the kitchen and Ayla was scared, obviously. I picked her up."
"I walked out of my house to go down to the station to give statements, and all of a sudden we were homeless on top of everything else," recalled Phoebe DiPietro, the 21-month-old child's grandmother. "We walked out with the clothes on our back and weren't allowed in for 14 days."
"I'm sure that eventually they will be able to let us know how someone go into the house whether it was an unlocked window, an unlocked door, I don't know," DiPietro said. 'If I knew, it wouldn't have happened," she added.
Ayla's grandmother, Phoebe DiPietro, who first spoke exclusively with CNN on Friday, said she now wants to clarify a detail about her interview.
DiPietro now tells CNN she was not among the adults at the home from which Ayla disappeared that night but instead was at another location that she wouldn't publicly disclose.
Justin DiPietro, Ayla's father, said he learned about the river search on Tuesday.
"I spoke with investigators last night. They said, 'Don't be alarmed,'" DiPietro told the Morning Sentinel in a brief conversation.
I asked for a polygraph on day one, DiPietro said today during an interview with the Morning Sentinel. Ive taken one, and the results, I was never allowed to see them. Its something youre going to have to ask law enforcement about.
Justin DiPietro wouldn't comment on what he thought the discovery meant.
"I'm not going to answer any questions about it, but I will say this: If there was something there, I don't think I'd be standing here with you right now," he said.
Ayla's grandmother, Phoebe DiPietro, also wouldn't discuss the discovery.
"Personally, I do not believe anything happened to Ayla other than she was taken," she said. She owns the Violette Avenue house, but was not there the night Ayla disappeared.
Justin DiPietro's mother contacted News 13 Monday morning, referring all questions to the family's attorney. Our calls to the attorney went unreturned.
Assistant Attorney General Bill Stokes and the Maine State Police mobile unit were at Ayla's home in Waterville, while cadaver dogs were searching an area in the woods near the Waterville airport.
Dec.23rd2011 Ayla on America's Most WantedAyla's family and friends sent out hopeful messages, saying the more attention that remains on the case the more likely it is that someone will come forward with information that will bring Ayla back to her family.
Trista Reynolds put out a plea for anyone who has any information that they think might be helpful in the search to please come forward.
"I will get her home. Ayla, I love you," said Reynolds. "I'm not going nowhere."
Police on Thursday confirmed that two vehicles seized from the driveway by police Dec. 19 have been returned to their owners.
McCausland said Massachusetts detectives offered special investigative equipment to aid in the investigation.
"DiPietro said he was going to ... retrieve his daughter and wanted police to go," Cornelio said. "He explained that he and the mother had an agreement that if she went into treatment, he would take custody."
According to Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland, Maine State Police "released the house back to the occupants" late Saturday afternoon.
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/...fter-seizure-of-cocaine-1000-oxycodone-pills/Texas Center Helping Justin DiPietro Find Ayla
The Laura Recovery Center based in Texas is helping Ayla Reynold's Father Justin DiPietro find his daughter. Part of their advice was to speak to the media.
http://www.kjonline.com/news/Divers-searching-Kennebec-for-missing-toddler.htmlBriana Roberts, 23, is facing a charge of aggravated trafficking in oxycodone after drug enforcement agents executed a search warrant at her Pine Street residence, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said.
State police and the Maine Warden Search conducted an extensive search of the river for signs of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds on Wednesday.
WATERVILLE -- A new website dedicated to 21-month-old Ayla Reynolds offers fresh details about the day the toddler was reported missing more than a month ago, describing "instant panic" as people awoke to find the toddler had vanished from her bedroom.
The author of a website dedicated to missing toddler Ayla Reynolds said she anticipated controversy when she launched the site last week.
"I expected there would be a firestorm. I just didn't expect that I would give them so much material to work with," Angela Harry said Monday during a phone interview.
Hope is fading among investigators who have spent six weeks looking for 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds and they have intensified their search for a body, law enforcement sources told Newscenter 5 Monday.
A State Police spokesman said they "hope" to find the little girl, but investigators grow "more concerned as time passes."
A Maine State Police spokesman reacted angrily Monday to what he called an “unattributed, irresponsible and inaccurate” report on the Ayla Reynolds case that aired on Boston television station WCVB.
WCVB reporter Michele McPhee is credited with a story that appeared Monday night on the Boston ABC affiliate as well as an article online under the headline “Police Believe Missing Maine Toddler Dead."
"We have searched that home and we have found not one piece of evidence to lead us to believe Ayla was abducted," Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety said. "We think one or all three of the adults have info they haven't told us and we need that info in order to find Ayla."
"We think there are still people out there that have specific information that they haven't told us. Not only the three individuals in the home, but there may be others. One call can crack this case wide-open and we're waiting for that call," McCausland said.
Police say new leads continue to come in the search for Ayla. They also say they plan to tell the public "more" about the case in hopes that someone will come forward with new information. Ayla's family is doing the same.
A defiant Trista Reynolds yesterday defended her decision to announce that police have found her missing daughter’s blood in the home where the toddler went missing six weeks ago.
“It’s the truth, and why would we hold back the truth?” Reynolds told the Herald about weekend reports that investigators found her blue-eyed toddler Ayla’s blood in the little girl’s father’s basement. Police confirmed it to reporters only after Reynolds revealed it on a website dedicated to finding her daughter.
Yesterday at his home, where despairing people keep adding to the pile of frozen teddy bears and angel figurines, DiPietro’s sister directed the Herald to an attorney in Augusta, who could not be reached for comment last night.
The liquid, luminol, can be used to detect trace amounts of blood that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. Even when blood is cleaned up from a surface, traces remain that can't be seen. When luminol comes into contact with blood it glows.
11:48 a.m., criminal trespass was reported on Violette Avenue.
Investigators said Friday that their determination to find missing toddler Ayla Reynolds has not weakened even as the number of tips coming in from the public has begun to taper off.
Underwater searches of the Kennebec River and Messalonskee Stream throughout the day Friday turned up no new evidence in the case.
McCausland prefaced all remarks by saying he wouldn't disclose any investigative details about the case, but he confirmed that police have recently been in contact with the three adults who were in 29 Violette Ave. the night before Ayla was reported missing from the home: Justin DiPietro, Ayla's father; his girlfriend Courtney Roberts; and sister Elisha DiPietro.
Asked if they were cooperating with the investigation, McCausland stopped short of a direct answer.
"There has been contact, and we hope that contact will continue," he said.
McCausland also confirmed that Ayla's paternal grandmother, Phoebe DiPietro, was not in the home the night before the toddler was reported missing.
After the vandalism, Reynolds and her family released a statement saying Trista feels that it is none of her business but thinks it to be ignorant and rude.
Two windows were broken at the home where a toddler was reported missing seven weeks ago, officials said Saturday.
The missing girls grandmother, Phoebe DiPietro, called police at about 11:15 p.m. Friday to report that someone was throwing things through the windows at her Waterville home, police said in a statement.'
Waterville Police say the father of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds, Justin DiPietro, and his older brother, 27-year-old Lance DiPietro, were involved in a fight Monday that landed another man in the hospital.
The uncle, Lance A. DiPietro, 27, allegedly kicked Justin Linnell, 22, in the face after a brief scuffle in a parking lot off College Avenue.
LostNMissing and Laura Recovery Center have teamed up to sponsor Ayla's billboards in NJ accross from Meadowland Stadium and seven other locations in the Philadelphia area. Thank you to Interstate Outdoors Advertising and Steen Advertising.
Lance DiPietro, of 19 Ash St., was driven to and from the scene by Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, according to Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey, who described the incident as follows:
About noon Monday, the DiPietro brothers were driving north on College Avenue near Hazelwood Avenue. Across the street, they saw Linnell walking north. Justin DiPietro drove his SUV into a nearby parking lot and stopped. Next, Lance DiPietro climbed out of the passenger side carrying a wooden novelty baseball bat and confronted the man.
"DiPietro confronted him and said, 'You've been saying stuff about my family. Knock it off,'" Massey said.
DiPietro then dropped the bat and stepped toward Linnell, and there was a short struggle.
Linnell fell to the ground and suffered a large cut on the back of his head. While he was on the ground, DiPietro kicked him in the face, Massey said. Police photos of the facial injury are consistent with a kick, he added.
Citing anonymous sources at the Maine State Police, Ayla Reynolds' maternal family released a statement Monday that the child's father, Justin DiPietro, failed a police polygraph test, bought life insurance on the child after taking custody of her and sought termination of child support payments after he had custody of her.
The statement was released on the website www.aylareynolds.com, which is run by Trista Reynolds' step-father Jeff Hanson.
Maine Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland said Monday that he was aware of the Reynolds' statement, but wouldn't offer new information on the investigation.
As the search for Ayla Reynolds approaches two months in length, investigators continue to sift through tips and leads that now number more than 900, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine State Police. McCausland said he expected the investigation to continue “quietly” this week, as opposed to very public searches in the Waterville area and press conferences that have punctuated the search for Ayla.
McCausland, who is the only law enforcement official making public statements about the case, has said that no one, including Trista Reynolds, has been ruled out as a suspect in Ayla’s disappearance. However, McCausland has said that investigators believe the three adults who were with Ayla on Dec.16 — Ayla’s father, Justin DiPietro; his sister, Elisha DiPietro; and his girlfriend, Courtney Roberts — know more about her disappearance than they have told police, including how Ayla’s blood wound up in the basement of the DiPietro home at 29 Violette Avenue.
State police spokesman Steve McCausland said Thursday that the paternal family of missing child Ayla Reynolds could be doing more to help investigators.
He said detectives are encouraging the DiPietro family to keep Ayla's name in the public, something the family of Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds, has been doing through a website, billboards and interviews with the news media.
"We continue to encourage the immediate family to keep Ayla in the headlines and to talk about her," McCausland said. "One side is doing that, and the other side is not."
McCausland says investigators have contact with the three adults who were the last to see Ayla, but that's about it. "The circumstances under their first version that the child was abducted, we dispelled weeks ago because it just doesn't hold water," McCausland said.
Nearly two months after Ayla Reynolds was reported missing from her Waterville home, the toddler's mother, Trista Reynolds, says she's considering filing a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services.
Reynolds claims DHHS workers didn't ensure Ayla's safety by conducting necessary checks and reviews, and says her daughter's disappearance may have been avoided altogether if they had.
"DHHS just didn't do their job," Reynolds told The Portland Daily Sun late last week.
Ron Reynolds said Thursday his family is being torn apart because the father, Justin DiPietro, and others in the Waterville home won’t explain what happened before Ayla Reynolds was reported missing on Dec. 17.
“That eats me up every day,” an emotional Reynolds said from Portland, where he lives. “Why didn’t they protect her? Why didn’t he protect her? He was responsible for her safety and welfare.”
"I just wanted to confront him and maybe have a war of words. It's pretty unfortunate that things escalated the way they did," Lance DiPietro said.
A short fight ensued. DiPietro knocked Linnell to the ground and kicked him in the face, according to police. DiPietro then got back into his brother's car and they continued toward Fairfield.
Justin DiPietro said he was unaware of the fight.
"I didn't see anything that happened," he said. "We didn't discuss what had happened."
A lawyer representing the grandmother and aunt of missing child Ayla Reynolds said Monday his clients do not know the circumstances behind her disappearance.
Steve Bourget, a general practice attorney in Augusta, said Phoebe DiPietro, 47, and Elisha DiPietro, 23, retained his services in early January, a few weeks after Ayla was reported missing from their home at 29 Violette Ave. The DiPietros approached him to serve as "a buffer between the press and their personal lives," Bourget said during a phone interview with the Morning Sentinel.
A source told The Sun that Maine State Police contacted the overnight store clerk at the Cumberland Farms, located on Pine Street in Portland's West End, saying that a credit card under the name of Justin DiPietro was used to purchase cigarettes at the store around 2 a.m. on Dec. 15, 2011.
Police were told that DiPietro was at the store with two other men, only one of which police were able to identify. The store clerk was asked to describe the men and the clothing they were wearing when they made the cigarette purchase and according to the source, the clerk was told the third man was a person of interest to the investigation.