ME ME - Ayla Reynolds, 20 mnths, Waterville, 17 December 2011 - # 2

[hambirg]

Ayla was in my sole custody at the time of her disappearance per agreement between her mother and I because she was temporarily unable to care for Ayla. I have shared every piece of information possible with the police. Contrary to some statements floating around out there, I have been in communication with Ayla's mother over the last couple of weeks. The Waterville police have the transcripts from my phone for verification of those communications.
It has always been my intention to have a shared parenting arrangement with Ayla's mother and I will continue to work towards that when Ayla is returned to us.

snipped and BBM

That is the thing that doesn't make sense to me. How could he be in the sole custody of Ayla when paternity hadn't even been established? He would be her putative father legally, and well, putative fathers generally don't have any rights. So while TR could have agreed to let Ayla stay with him while she was in rehab, I can't see how CPS could have placed her there. He's a legal stranger. There is something fishy about this whole situation. JMHO. . .MOO and all that.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

I think the poster means what if the person who took Ayla to her father was not really legit, i.e. what if he/she was someone posing as CPS? In a way, that would make more sense than what we are hearing so far...

Hi Madilu!
Clu explained it for me very well. Thank you, Clu. We haven't heard the specifics (or maybe I missed them) about the process that took place in which Ayla was actually taken from Ayla's mom (grandmother and aunt?) and delivered to Ayla's dad. Somehow the mom doesn't feel like there were any legal documents that were provided, signed, etc. at this juncture. So...in my "movies made for TV" mind my thought processes went to an outrageous, yet possible scenario to explain it.
Could someone posing as CPS have made this transfer?
Is there anyone in either family that has connections to CPS? I believe I have heard some vague references to this.
JMO

 

[askfornina]

NEW TODAY 12/23/2011 as of 10:20pmct
http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/45775493#45775493

TR: I just want her home and I'm hoping for..maybe my Christmas present, that'll be it, that she's gonna come home.
I trusted him to keep her safe, and now she is missing and I don't know where she is, and I blame him right now because he did not protect her the way that he was supposed to.
Q: What are police telling you about the investigation right now?
TR: Nothing. No clues, not at all. Everything I'm hearing I'm hearing from uh, news reporters, broadcastings, yeah. I'm just like everybody else out there right now. I'm not hearing from any detective, any state police, nothing. Just what I hear on the news.
Q: Let's go back to the last contact you had with Ayla's father, JD. He is cooperating with police, as you saw, he released that short statement and said he has no idea what happened to Ayla. But, you checked in with him a week ago when he was supposed to take Ayla to a doctor's appointment to check her broken arm. What happened?
TR: I uh, had reached out to him on Thursday, the 15th, to see if he was definitely still coming on Friday, and he told me he was definitely not coming, and that was the last that I had spoken with Justin.
Q: And then Ayla had disappeared, as you had found out, have you heard from Justin since?
TR: I have not.
Q: And Justin says he put Ayla to bed at 8pm that night, Thursday night, into Friday, and he checked her bed at 8am. Timeline, here, is very important as you know in a missing person's case. You have told us that Justin would apparently always check in on Ayla, before he would go to bed. Do you have any reason to believe that he didn't, in fact, do that?
TR: Uh, I don't know in this case right now, but yeah, he's told me numerous times before he'd go to bed he'd check on her. Why would this one time would you not check on her? So I'm not sure, like..
Q: There's a lot of questions and speculation about the custody situation, I know that Ayla was put into, by child protective services, into custody, uh, Justin got custody of Ayla in October...
TR: He did not get custody of Ayla.
Q:...temporary custody in October? He did not?
TR: No, he did not, no, he did not.
Q: Why was she in his care?
TR: Nothing stating..Because Department of Health and Human Services violated my rights. That is why she ended in Justin's care. There was no court order, there was no nothing that had to do with any custody at all. None, whatsoever.
Q: Did you file for sole custody though, the couple of days before she disappeared?
TR: On Thursday, yeah, I went to Portland courthouse and I filed for parental rights and responsibilities.
Q: And did you have any reason to believe that Justin was not being a caring parent to Ayla?
TR: Um, I don't think we was not a non-caring parent..I just..I just think the way he was going about things was just wrong, by lots of ways and I mean, just, after a while of not hearing from her and not being able to see her, a mother is going to get suspicious. And that's..I started getting very suspicious of um, what was going on.
TR: And uh, could I just uh, thank everyone out there for um, you know, especially the mothers, you know, mother to mother who's uh, out searching for my daughter and who has you know, been there, looking and not giving up and giving their prayers.


http://www.watervillepolice.org/

Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey would like to announce that there will not be a press conference scheduled for today, December 23rd. The Waterville Police Department will issue informational releases regarding the search for Ayla Reynolds as appropriate and necessary today and through the weekend. In the event that future press conferences are scheduled, the Police Department will make the date, time and location available.

This morning's snowfall has hampered our ability to conduct large-scale search operations. Today, teams of Wardens from the Maine Warden Service will conduct searches targeted by detectives as necessary.

Detectives from the Waterville Police Department and Maine State Police, as well as Special Agents from the FBI will continue their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ayla's disappearance, to include the painstaking review of an unprecedented amount of information which has been gathered to date. During the weekend, investigators will continue to work on this case. Timely follow-up of any leads and any developments in the ongoing case will occur. We continue to encourage members of the public to contact our department with any information which may lead detectives to Ayla's location.

Ayla on America's Most Wanted tonight, 12/23:

http://www.amw.com/show_archive/tv_detail.cfm?id=1655&refresh=1

 

[LvsAMystry]

I feel like there is a lot more information in the background here that would provide a better idea which of several possibilities there are as to what happened to Ayla.

Clearly TR felt Ayla would be returned to her after completion of her rehab program and that didn't happened, so she filed not only for the return but also what appears to be preliminary steps for official support. Coinciding with all that is the injury to Ayla in JD care. All of this also happens to coincide with a falling out between TR and JD so they weren't talking. I'd be curious if the falling out was over his not returning Ayla to her or over the injury. It appears to be fairly acrimonious if they weren't even talking. But then, if they weren't really "talking" were they at least texting because there is info out there of a text JD sent saying Ayla would be "taken" two days before it happened. Not sure if that is verified. If so, then we have two days before some sort of discussion between the two where its said Ayla would be taken, one day before where TR is filing for custody and support, and then yes Ayla is taken. Something was brewing for sure and it culminated in her being missing, I don't think it was a momentary lapse where something unplanned happened.

kinda rambling sorry but I think you know what I mean!

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

Yikes...I'm confused!

The other day I heard RR (TR's brother?) say that TR and JD DID have an arrangement that he would look after Ayla while she was in rehab, but would return her when she was out and ready ~ they were angry that this did not happen.

I have read that TR has stated something along the same lines. Although why she would agree to allow him to take her for any length of time when she was battered and bruised every time she was returned from visits with him is mind boggling.

Then I hear TR saying that CPS removed Ayla and placed her 'illegally' with JD.

If Ayla lived with her maternal grandmother and TR (possibly TR's sister) ~ why would CPS even become involved? Why wouldn't the grandmother and/or aunt, who were helping take care of her originally, not be considered adequate? And where was TR's 9 month old son during this rehab? If with grandma, even more screwy that Ayla was taken away.

I've tried to keep up here as much as possible between work, shopping, family, visits, gift wrapping...well you get it ~ and I'm just wondering why most people seem to be 100% convinced that TR and/or her family had absolutely nothing to do with this? Not saying I think she did, but wondering why she seems to be ruled out totally by so many...please and thank you

Wow! I am impressed. You hit on many of the main controversial issues on this case, and you are multi-tasking at the same time!
Kudos to you! :seeya:

 

[katydid23]

I feel like there is a lot more information in the background here that would provide a better idea which of several possibilities there are as to what happened to Ayla.

Clearly TR felt Ayla would be returned to her after completion of her rehab program and that didn't happened, so she filed not only for the return but also what appears to be preliminary steps for official support. Coinciding with all that is the injury to Ayla in JD care. All of this also happens to coincide with a falling out between TR and JD so they weren't talking. I'd be curious if the falling out was over his not returning Ayla to her or over the injury. It appears to be fairly acrimonious if they weren't even talking. But then, if they weren't really "talking" were they at least texting because there is info out there of a text JD sent saying Ayla would be "taken" two days before it happened. Not sure if that is verified. If so, then we have two days before some sort of discussion between the two where its said Ayla would be taken, one day before where TR is filing for custody and support, and then yes Ayla is taken. Something was brewing for sure and it culminated in her being missing, I don't think it was a momentary lapse where something unplanned happened.

kinda rambling sorry but I think you know what I mean!

Also, she said tonight, in the interview above, that she spoke to him on THURSDAY NIGHT, asking about her doctor's appt on Friday, and he apparently told her he was not taking the baby to it that night. So I wonder if she might have let it slip then that she was suing him for full custody and child support in court.

 

[LvsAMystry]

Also, she said tonight, in the interview above, that she spoke to him on THURSDAY NIGHT, asking about her doctor's appt on Friday, and he apparently told her he was not taking the baby to it that night. So I wonder if she might have let it slip then that she was suing him for full custody and child support in court.

I agree. There's no doubt this was brewing and building, it was escalating from the sounds of it and that in itself breeds irrational behavior. A few scenarios of how irrationality could've played out here. On either side.

 

[katydid23]

I uh, had reached out to him on Thursday, the 15th, to see if he was definitely still coming on Friday, and he told me he was definitely not coming, and that was the last that I had spoken with Justin.

Q: And Justin says he put Ayla to bed at 8pm that night, Thursday night, into Friday, and he checked her bed at 8am. Timeline, here, is very important as you know in a missing person's case. You have told us that Justin would apparently always check in on Ayla, before he would go to bed. Do you have any reason to believe that he didn't, in fact, do that?
TR: Uh, I don't know in this case right now, but yeah, he's told me numerous times before he'd go to bed he'd check on her. Why would this one time would you not check on her? So I'm not sure, like..
Q: There's a lot of questions and speculation about the custody situation, I know that Ayla was put into, by child protective services, into custody, uh, Justin got custody of Ayla in October...
TR: He did not get custody of Ayla.
Q:...temporary custody in October? He did not?
TR: No, he did not, no, he did not.
Q: Why was she in his care?
TR: Nothing stating..Because Department of Health and Human Services violated my rights. That is why she ended in Justin's care. There was no court order, there was no nothing that had to do with any custody at all. None, whatsoever.
Q: Did you file for sole custody though, the couple of days before she disappeared?
TR: On Thursday, yeah, I went to Portland courthouse and I filed for parental rights and responsibilities.
===================================================

Ok, so does this say that she actually spoke to him on the night that the baby went missing? And the same night that she had gone to court to sue for full custody and child support?

 

[Dee10]

Does anyone think LE is on the wrong track taping off the house, searching the yard in proper suits, processing the house, collecting evidence? Personally, I don't & believe they have a good reason for doing it.

I wish when a child under ?? say 10 years old, it becomes automatic when a child goes missing the family home is sealed immediately. Doesn't have to mean they bring in the crime van, just means the family is locked out until the child is found. The child may have been out a friend's house, etc. I believe the house should be sealed until the child is FOUND. Lose your child...lose access to your house, etc. the CHILD COMES FIRST! Where the child was last scene is a crime scene at that point, until proven otherwise...not a week later etc. IMO.

 

[cluciano63]

I am so confused...didn't this happen Friday night, into Saturday morning? The latest interview indicates it was Thursday into Friday?

 

[LvsAMystry]

Does anyone think LE is on the wrong track taping off the house, searching the yard in proper suits, processing the house, collecting evidence? Personally, I don't & believe they have a good reason for doing it.

I wish when a child under ?? say 10 years old, it becomes automatic when a child goes missing the family home is sealed immediately. Doesn't have to mean they bring in the crime van, just means the family is locked out until the child is found. The child may have been out a friend's house, etc. I believe the house should be sealed until the child is FOUND. Lose your child...lose access to your house, etc. the CHILD COMES FIRST! Where the child was last scene is a crime scene at that point, until proven otherwise...not a week later etc. IMO.

Absolutely, because honestly a child missing, especially under a certain age as you say, is always a crime isn't it no matter who's responsible.

 

[menmo]

BBM

http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/tod...75493#45775493

TR: Uh, I don't know in this case right now, but yeah, he's told me numerus times before he'd go to bed he'd check on her. Why would this one time would you not check on her? So i'm not sure, like..

Q: There's a lot of questions and speculation about the custody situation, I know that Ayla was put into, by child protective services, into custody, uh, Justin got custody of Ayla in October...

TR: He did not get custody of Ayla.

Q:...temporary custody in October? He did not?

TR: No, he did not, no, he did not.

Q: Why was she in his care?

TR: Nothing stating..Because Department of Health and Human Services violated my rights. That is why she ended in Justin's care. There was no court order, there was no nothing that had to do with any custody at all. None, whatsoever.

Q: Did you file for sole custody though, the couple of days before she disappeared?

TR: On Thursday, yeah, I went to Portland courthouse and I filed for parental rights and responsibilites.
===================================================

I am sorry, but every time mom speaks about this issue, I find myself very confused.

IMO, if CPS took custody away from her family and handed the child over to the father, then he must have had some kind of temporary custody order. CPS does not take a child out of the bio mom's care and give them over to someone else withoput some kind of legal paperwork.

And I do not believe their story that it was because CPS did not 'like' the mom's family.

eta: I do not believe that Mom had anything to do with the baby going missing, but I do think that she had some parental issues going on as well. And i am not jumping to conclusions that the father was the perp , not yet anyway.

Here's what I'm thinking and wondering about ...
I think that Dad probably does know, or his family does, someone in DFS and I think they probably do have some pull, or at least have convinced TR they do. I'll bet that TR was probably asking Dad to help with some of the money issues with raising Ayla and he got to thinking it would be cheaper if he had custody of her. I think he led TR to believe that he would have Ayla taken away from her if she didn't go to rehab and that he'd care for their child if she did, and return her back to Mom upon completion of rehab. I also think he or his family probably called DFS on this mom and scared/bullied her into placing Ayla with the dad until she could get herself together, as in rehab. When that time came to give Ayla back he wouldn't do it and for some reason I can't figure out she didn't just call the police and file a report and get her daughter back. Left wondering if they did a temporary custody thing where maybe the mom or dad wrote it out and then took to a notary. Would that be legal enough to keep the police from just coming and returning the child back to her mom? I really think that TR was just trying to keep her daughter out of the foster care system.

In my personal experience, it would surprise me exactly 0% to find that CPS did in fact violate rights and place a child in a more dangerous situation because of personal feelings about people in the case. IMO, they do that quite often because so much is left to worker discretion.

That said, I do think that maybe there are some things that Mom hasn't said. I am noticing a distinct lack of responsibility taking from the mother, just from her media interviews. Most parents would be blaming themselves, even if it was in no way their fault. That's just the way parents are. I am not saying that she had anything to do with Ayla's disappearance, I don't think she did, but I do have a hard time accepting her statements at face value.

I agree and if dad did have someone on the inside at DFS then scare tactics could become very real fear for the mom.
I think she probably is blaming herself every night and every day. I imagine her telling herself that if she hadn't done this or that, this would not have happened as she would have made sure her daughter was safe. I don't blame her for blaming the dad, though. I know I'd probably do the same, if what she said about the text is true. I think dad was trying to mess with her mind and I hope and pray she still has that text.

Personally I kept hoping that dad and family hid Ayla to torment the mom. I'm losing faith on that the more time passes.

MOO

 

[hambirg]

I uh, had reached out to him on Thursday, the 15th, to see if he was definitely still coming on Friday, and he told me he was definitely not coming, and that was the last that I had spoken with Justin.

Q: And Justin says he put Ayla to bed at 8pm that night, Thursday night, into Friday, and he checked her bed at 8am. Timeline, here, is very important as you know in a missing person's case. You have told us that Justin would apparently always check in on Ayla, before he would go to bed. Do you have any reason to believe that he didn't, in fact, do that?
TR: Uh, I don't know in this case right now, but yeah, he's told me numerous times before he'd go to bed he'd check on her. Why would this one time would you not check on her? So I'm not sure, like..
Q: There's a lot of questions and speculation about the custody situation, I know that Ayla was put into, by child protective services, into custody, uh, Justin got custody of Ayla in October...
TR: He did not get custody of Ayla.
Q:...temporary custody in October? He did not?
TR: No, he did not, no, he did not.
Q: Why was she in his care?
TR: Nothing stating..Because Department of Health and Human Services violated my rights. That is why she ended in Justin's care. There was no court order, there was no nothing that had to do with any custody at all. None, whatsoever.
Q: Did you file for sole custody though, the couple of days before she disappeared?
TR: On Thursday, yeah, I went to Portland courthouse and I filed for parental rights and responsibilities.
===================================================

Ok, so does this say that she actually spoke to him on the night that the baby went missing? And the same night that she had gone to court to sue for full custody and child support?

BBM and my highlights in red

Just to be clear, it is the interviewer saying that JD put Ayla to bed and checked on her at 8pm.

JR responds that she doesn't know, but that it what he normally told her he did.

So, she didn't speak to him that night.

 

[menmo]

Another thing..
I know so many people that work at our county courthouse. Literally someone in every office, and more than one in many. I'm just wondering if dad and/or family had someone they knew that worked there and could have found out that TR filed the paperwork for full custody.
When my DIL filed for divorce from my son all of us were shocked when I got a call at home one night to make sure I knew that she filed. She was smooth and not one of us had any idea, even my son.
I'm betting a gazillion dollars I don't have that they were given the heads up by someone in the know, or that TR in fact spilled her guts about going for custody to him the night before.

MOO

 

[Sparklin]

snipped and BBM

That is the thing that doesn't make sense to me. How could he be in the sole custody of Ayla when paternity hadn't even been established? He would be her putative father legally, and well, putative fathers generally don't have any rights. So while TR could have agreed to let Ayla stay with him while she was in rehab, I can't see how CPS could have placed her there. He's a legal stranger. There is something fishy about this whole situation. JMHO. . .MOO and all that.

I wonder if TR signed anything with CPS allowing him to take care of her with the promise that Ayla would be returned to her when she could manage better! I guess that would make both of her statements true.

 

[cluciano63]

Why does mom say Thursday night??? Didn't she go missing on Friday night, after missing her appointment that day? And they discovered her gone on Saturday, supposedly?

 

[Sparklin]

jumping off your post. (Hi Sparklin! :seeya

here is most of the statements made by TR or family members about custody, i might be missing some, let me know.

You are amazing and I <3 you! That seems to cover just about everything that has me sooo confused

 

[katydid23]

Another thing..
I know so many people that work at our county courthouse. Literally someone in every office, and more than one in many. I'm just wondering if dad and/or family had someone they knew that worked there and could have found out that TR filed the paperwork for full custody.
When my DIL filed for divorce from my son all of us were shocked when I got a call at home one night to make sure I knew that she filed. She was smooth and not one of us had any idea, even my son.
I'm betting a gazillion dollars I don't have that they were given the heads up by someone in the know, or that TR in fact spilled her guts about going for custody to him the night before.

MOO

BBM
I agree about the possibility they were given a heads up by a friend or family member.
But also, I think she told him the night before. She said that she called him to ask if he were going to come for the bone specialist appt. And apparently he told her NO, we was not. I am sure that really angered her. She has already said that it did.

So she is talking to him, the night she filed for sole custody, ans he rudely tells her that he is not taking their baby to an important doctor's appt, one needed because she was injured under his watch/

What better time to tell him off by describing her productive day in court?

 

[LvsAMystry]

Another thing..
I know so many people that work at our county courthouse. Literally someone in every office, and more than one in many. I'm just wondering if dad and/or family had someone they knew that worked there and could have found out that TR filed the paperwork for full custody.
When my DIL filed for divorce from my son all of us were shocked when I got a call at home one night to make sure I knew that she filed. She was smooth and not one of us had any idea, even my son.
I'm betting a gazillion dollars I don't have that they were given the heads up by someone in the know, or that TR in fact spilled her guts about going for custody to him the night before.

MOO

I was wondering the same, particularly since theres some thinking that they JD family knew someone in CPS. More than likely it could be in the same public building if she had to go there to file locally where he was. I also don't understand if there was no order for her to be with him and he isn't "legally" her father, wouldn't there be more immediate processes to force the return right away? I get the filing for long term issues of support and establishing custody definitively, but in the immediate timeframe none of that was established as I understand it so it's strange.

 

[Isabelle]

Has the paternal grandmother had anything to say about this situation?