(Reuters) – Authorities have found blood at the Waterville, Maine, home where a missing 20-month-old girl vanished six weeks ago and have serious doubts she was abducted, police said on Saturday.
Toddler Ayla Reynolds of Waterville was last seen when her father, Justin DiPietro, put her to bed on December 16, according to police reports at the time.
DiPietro reported Ayla as missing from the house early the next morning, and hundreds of police officers and local residents searched the area for the girl.
But authorities have since said that they suspect foul play.
“We find it troubling,” Maine state police spokesman Stephen McCausland said of the blood, found in the basement of DiPietro’s home. “We have serious doubts that she was abducted.”
The blood is still being analyzed at the crime lab, McCausland said. He would not say how much blood was found or whose it might be.
The Waterville community held a memorial service on Saturday to mark the six week anniversary of her disappearance, McCausland said.
Authorities say they have interviewed numerous family members in Waterville and outside the area.
DiPietro said Ayla, who