The FBI on Tuesday joined the investigation into the disappearance of a 20-year-old Maine woman whose car and toddler were found in New Hampshire, as family members held out hope that she will turn up alive.
This undated picture made available by Conway, N.H. Police shows 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer, of Portland, Maine. Police said Sunday, April 24, 2011 they have no reason to believe that the Maine woman voluntarily abandoned her car with her infant daughter inside in a New Hampshire parking lot. The baby is in good condition and has been turned over to family members. Dittmeyer lives in Portland and has ties to Bridgton, Maine. (AP Photo/Conway Police)CONWAY, N.H. (AP) — The FBI on Tuesday joined the investigation into the disappearance of a 20-year-old Maine woman whose car and toddler were found in New Hampshire, as family members held out hope that she will turn up alive.
Conway police believe Krista Dittmeyer was a crime victim and did not voluntarily leave her car at the Cranmore Mountain ski area parking lot with her 14-month-old daughter, Aliyah, inside. When police responded to a report of Dittmeyer's car idling with its hazard lights blinking at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, they found the infant unharmed and asleep but no trace of Dittmeyer.
The FBI offered three agents from its New Hampshire office to help in the investigation, said Conway police Lt. Chris Perley.
"We now have a conduit to federal resources we didn't have before, as well as three trained professional investigators," Perley said.
Perley declined to comment on a news report of blood being found in the car. He said the sheriff who released that information is not involved in the investigation.
This Saturday, April 23, 2011 photo released by the Conway, N.H., Police Department, as part of a reward poster, shows the car of Krista Dittmeyer of Portland, Maine, found Saturday in Conway with its engine running and hazard lights flashing in the parking lot of the Cranmore Mountain ski area. Dittmeyer was missing but her daughter was found safe inside the car. (AP Photo/Conway Police Department)Dittmeyer grew up in Bridgton, Maine, about 25 miles from where her car was found. She moved to Portland shortly after her 2008 high school graduation and has been working as a waitress at a South Portland restaurant, according to her older sister, Kayla Dittmeyer.
Kayla Dittmeyer, who is 22 and lives in Colorado, said the family remains hopeful that Kristen will turn up alive. The family is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts and has planned a candlelight vigil for Thursday night in Bridgton. Aliyah is now staying with Krista's mother in Bridgton.
"We don't know where she is, we don't know if she's OK, we don't know if she's hurt," Kayla Dittmeyer said. "For some reason somebody was after her, but we don't know who or why."
Lt. Chris Perley, of the Conway Police Department talks Tuesday, April 26, 2011 in Conway, N.H. about the investigation of Krista Dittmeyer, a missing mother who's car was found Saturday in a parking lot at the base of Mount Cranmore ski area with her baby inside the car. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)She declined to comment when asked about the father of her sister's daughter and his whereabouts during the ordeal. The father is not considered a suspect and police know he was not in the Conway area at the time of her disappearance, Perley said.
Perley said investigators have a good idea of when the car arrived at the Cranmore Mountain parking lot, but he wouldn't reveal the time, saying that kind of information will help police judge the credibility of potential witnesses.
The ski area closed in early April, but the resort is popular among joggers and those walking dogs. It also has a fitness center that is open year-round, but it was not yet open for the day at the time police got the report of Dittmeyer's car.