Where's Ayla?

Somewhere, somebody knows. And right now, they're not telling. Yes, I live in THAT town-the one where Ayla Bell Reynolds went missing in Mid-December and is still missing as of today.

Whenever a small child is missing it makes National news, and this hasn't been an exception. Traces of her gone missing are all over town: from the Missing posters put up in various businesses to the candlelight vigils, from the news trucks to the searches along (and in) the river close to where I live and work.

Facebook pages and news comments on our local newspaper are full of speculation, rumors, and heck, maybe even a few comments with some truth as well. The thing is... nobody really knows what happened to her. Except the person or persons that took her out of that home, and right now even with a $30,000.00 reward put up by local businesses and concerned individuals even the lure of a fast buck isn't loosening any lips.

Is she alive? Perhaps sold for drugs or to someone who wanted a baby but couldn't afford the outrageous adoption fees? Is she dead? A victim of parental abuse or an accident after a night gone horribly wrong? Was she hidden by the father because he had heard the mother was going to file for primary custody the day she disappeared?

I've seen comments defending both the mother, and others defending the father online. So, the mother used drugs and was in rehab cleaning up so that she could get her child back-after she was placed in the father's home supposedly temporarily by DHHS. Or was it an agreement between the parents that he'd care for her until she got out of rehab? And what WERE they doing the night she disappeared? People have said the parents didn't even have a relationship-that Ayla was the result of a one night stand and that her father didn't even know he was a father until months later.

To me, it seems like they were two young adults that hooked up a few times after partying. It happens all the time, check out the Facebook pages of some young adults you know-partying and hooking up are common things nowadays. I see way too many young adults pushing around baby carriages and wonder why on Earth they'd have young children if they were unwilling or just not ready to care for them. Yes, there are some that have done well-but others that maybe needed a little time to grow up, enjoy life (and party some more if that's what they do best) without the pitter patter of little feet running around. But those are my opinions, and your own may differ.

Recent comments in the last week or two indicate blood, Ayla's blood, was found in the basement of the home where she was living. No specific amounts of blood have been mentioned, only that it was apparently more than a small cut would have provided according to comments made by those that have been told that by our police investigators. That, of course makes it sound like the child met with foul play that terrible evening back in December. Investigators have gone as far to say that they have no evidence she was abducted by an unknown person from the home-as the father and those present in the home have claimed-and that those that were in the home that night know more than they are saying.

The natives are getting restless... we want to know what has happened to Ayla. Of course, we all hope that she is found alive, but as time goes on the prospect of that is indeed quite grim. A few nights ago, that restlessness reared its ugly face when someone busted out the windows at the father's home-the home little Ayla disappeared from.

It's terribly sad when such a young child goes missing... worse when there is a fear that he/she has met with foul play. I don't leave my doors unlocked at night anymore-Waterville is not the small town it used to be, it's changed. I don't live in the best area of town, most consider it to be the worst area to be honest-but I am lucky to have been surrounded by a good group of neighbors who watch out for each other. However that is not to say that there haven't been instances in our own neighborhood where things have gotten a bit crazy.

In addition to alcohol and marijuana, there are other harder drugs out there now-drugs like bath salts which are more prevalent here in Maine and are making people batshit crazy. Users are finding whatever they can and creating new drugs made of common household stuff to get their high. I don't know about you, but it is a pain in the ass to go to the drugstore to get some cold meds and have to take a little card up to the pharmacy area, whip out my drivers license and have them write out all my info and have me sign a paper before I can get what are supposed to be over the counter cold medicines. And gosh, if I get sick after picking up that pack or two for hubby I am shit out of luck for the month because they might think I am using it in my basement to cook up some evil potion of crack cocaine. For someone who likes to use coupons and stock up on those meds when I can get them on sale, with a coupon, cheap-and be told I can only get one, well that sucks.

But back to Ayla... daily I see her little face on the news, on the posters, in my dreams-and she haunts me. I pray that she is fine, but my gut has that sinking feeling knowing that something unfortunate (whether by accident or on purpose) has happened to her. I, like everyone else I have spoken to about this, hope for someone to talk soon. The news, whether good or bad-will give us and the family closure. Wherever she may be... it's time to bring Ayla home.