Trista Reynolds, photographed Friday in Portland, says she believes there will be some justice in the disappearance of her daughter Ayla, who has been missing since December 2011. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

Trista Reynolds says she feels a little bit of closure since a civil case against the father of her missing child, Ayla Bell Reynolds, and his mother and sister, was settled earlier this year.

Ayla Reynolds in the photograph that was distributed after she disappeared from a Waterville house in December 2011. She was 20 months old at the time and was declared legally dead in 2017. She would have been 14 years old today. Courtesy photo

But she won’t find peace until she knows exactly what happened to her daughter, who was just a toddler in December 2011 when she disappeared. On Dec. 17, eight days before Christmas, Trista Reynolds learned that her 20-month-old, blonde-haired, blue-eyed daughter had been reported missing by Ayla’s father, Justin DiPietro, from his mother’s home at 29 Violette Ave. in Waterville.

The case launched one of the largest and most costly Maine State Police investigations in the state’s history, although Ayla has never been found and no one has been charged criminally in the case. A judge in 2017 officially declared Ayla dead. She would be 14 today.

Though the civil lawsuit alleging wrongful death by DiPietro, his mother and sister, Phoebe and Elisha DiPietro, respectively, has been settled, Maine State Police continue with the criminal investigation which would be prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s Office if and when adequate evidence is presented to that office to proceed.

“I do believe they’re trying really hard,” Trista Reynolds, now 37, said Thursday of police. “I do believe that Ayla’s going to get her justice. It’s just a matter of when.”

The settlement in the civil case enabled Trista Reynolds to buy a house for her and her sons, Raymond, now 13, and Anthony, 11, and the signing will be two days before Christmas, she said. That has helped to raise her spirits, but still, it doesn’t feel right that Ayla is not with them to experience it, she said.

“It bothers me that I don’t get to share that with her,” she said. “I know she’s with me. I just wish I could share all this excitement with her. I don’t have Christmas spirit this year. I don’t know why. I’m coming up to 13 years and it makes 14 years without a Christmas with Ayla.”

Her attorney, William H. Childs of Portland, also said he couldn’t disclose information about the wrongful death suit but he continues to assist in the state’s case.

“The civil case has been resolved and the criminal investigation continues,” Childs said Thursday. “We are hoping to obtain indictments.”

Trista Reynolds continues working in her job as a general manager for the restaurant, Five Guys. Her young boys also keep her busy, she said, and are growing fast. They look forward to moving from their home near Portland to their new house about an hour away, according to their mother.

“They’re doing great in school,” she said. “They’re excited for the move.”

Trista says she continues to grieve for Ayla, but is in a different spot since the civil case was settled.

“I believe that she’s guided me through all of this,” she said.

THE LAWSUIT

Trista Reynolds filed the wrongful death suit in 2018 against Justin DiPietro and in 2022, a judge approved Trista Reynolds’ request to include his mother and sister in the suit. They faced civil counts of wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering and wrongful interference with the body of a deceased person. Justin DiPietro also faced a count of breach of parent’s duty of care to a minor child.

Justin DiPietro enters a courtroom Sept. 25, 2013, with his mother, Phoebe DiPietro, to appear before the judge on an assault charge unrelated to his missing daughter, Ayla Reynolds. Gordon Chibroski/Portland Press Herald file

The civil lawsuit alleged there was sufficient evidence that Justin DiPietro’s mother and sister, individually or together with him, had the opportunity and means to participate in causing severe injury to Ayla that led to her death. The lawsuit also alleged that all three participated in an unsuccessful attempt to clean up and conceal blood stains found in multiple locations before authorities arrived at the house, which Phoebe owns.

Trista Reynolds said there is a lot she can’t disclose about the settlement which provided a little relief, emotionally.

“I feel I proved a lot about what happened that night,” she said.

DiPietro has for years denied he had anything to do with Ayla’s disappearance and has long maintained that someone must have abducted her from the house. DiPietro, his then-girlfriend, and sister, Elisha, were the only adults at the home the night Ayla reportedly disappeared. Phoebe DiPietro reportedly was not in the house Dec. 16, 2011, the night before Ayla was reported missing, according to court records.

A state police spokesman said after Ayla’s disappearance that Justin DiPietro’s explanation that she must have been abducted didn’t pass the “straight-face test” and officials found no evidence to support she was taken during the night. Police have long maintained that those in the Violette Avenue house when Ayla disappeared know more than they are saying.

STATE POLICE PROBE

Police have conducted many searches for Ayla by land and air over the last 13 years, with no success.

The lead investigator in the case, Detective Sgt. Ryan Brockway of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit Central, said that this past year, officials received 10 leads in the case and most came from people in Maine, although some came from other states.

“The leads that originated here in Maine have been investigated by me and others in the State Police Major Crimes Units,” Brockway said Wednesday in an email. “In some instances, regarding the out-of-state leads we have relied on our out-of-state law enforcement partners to investigate them. We continue to leverage the most modern technology and advancements in science and apply it to the evidence in this case.”

Brockway said police didn’t conduct any physical searches this year.

“We continue to stay in touch with the maternal side of Ayla’s family and provide them updates regarding information learned from some of the leads,” he said. “The Attorney General’s Office and we at the State Police Major Crimes Unit remain committed to a positive resolution in this case.”

In December 2023, Brockway said police received 13 leads. Those who think they have information that would help police in the case, he said, are encouraged to call 207-624-7076.

HONORING AYLA

Trista Reynolds and her boys continue to honor Ayla by shining a pink light on their porch, as Ayla loved the color pink, according to her mother.

During December, the month she went missing, they keep the light on 24 hours a day. They also hang special ornaments on their Christmas tree in honor of her.

Trista said some of her friends and neighbors also shine pink lights during December in support of Ayla and the search for justice.

“Anyone can light any kind of pink light in honor of Ayla,” she said. “I’m still doing her pink light the first of December to the 31st of December. It still shines to show her way home. It’s really a big message to Ayla Bell her family loves her.”