Ayla Reynolds

(CBS/AP) WATERVILLE, Maine - For the first time in the ongoing investigation of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds, police have said they believe she has been kidnapped. Investigators said Monday the 20-month-old was taken away and did not walk out on 

on her own.Police Chief Joseph Massey said at a news conference, "At this point in the investigation, we are confident that Ayla did not walk out of the house by herself."

CBS Boston reports Massey would not hypothesize on whether her abductor was a family member, someone who lived in her father's house, or a stranger.

"We believe that someone removed Ayla from the house and that is where our investigation is focusing," says Massey. "I don't want to speculate beyond that, because we do not know who took Ayla out of that house and under what circumstances she was removed."

At a press conference on Monday, police announced the largest reward ever offered in the state to help find a missing person -- a $30,000 reward for information leading to the return of the 20-month-old. Massey says the reward is the result of an initiative by private citizens who want to encourage anyone with knowledge of her whereabouts to come forward.

Law enforcement officials say the search for the toddler is ongoing, but lately, tips have dried up.

Ayla Reynolds was last seen on Dec. 17. Her father awoke to find her bed empty the next morning and reported her missing.

In the days since her disappearance, police have conducted an extensive search of the area around Ayla's father's home and followed up on the many tips they received. The recent Maine show hindered search efforts over the weekend, but police continue to say they will not rest until she is found.

A day prior to Ayla's disappearance, her mother Trista Reynolds had filed for sole custody of the toddler. Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, was said to be unaware of that.

DiPietro has said he has "no idea what happened to Ayla or who is responsible." He said last week his family and friends would do "everything we can to assist in this investigation and get Ayla back home." 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/missing-maine-toddler-ayla-reynolds-was-kidnapped-police-say/

Kaylah Hunter and baby Kristian Justice.

DETROIT (WJBK) -- Detroit Police has announced it has joined forces with Michigan State Police and the FBI to find two missing children after their mother was found dead Monday.

The Michigan State Police earlier denied a Detroit police request for an Amber Alert to be issued.

"What I'm told is [The Amber Alert] didn't meet the criteria. The lapse of time initially, as you know, there was no sense of urgency based on what we knew about the missing," Detroit Police Chief James Craig said in a media briefing Tuesday afternoon. 

Detroit Police are looking for 6-year-old Kaylah Hunter and baby Kristian Justice. The body of their mother, 26-year-old Alicia Fox, was found Monday in an abandoned home on Detroit's west side.

Fox's uncle says he found the body wrapped in a blanket in the basement of an abandoned house on Penrod Street near Tireman Avenue. 

The Wayne Co. Medical Examiner says Fox was shot several times, twice in the face. 

Family members have been looking for Fox, her two children and her 28-year-old husband, Erin Justice, since May 24. The family was last seen at a home on Ardmore Street, near the Lodge Freeway.

James Smith lives on Ardmore next door to where Fox, Justice and the two missing children are said to have stayed.

Smith and others saw Justice loading up a U-Haul truck at the house in late May, which is around the same time relatives say they last saw Fox.

"I just thought they were just moving out. That's all we thought. Everybody, even the people across the street. We all saw him for two days with the U-Haul and we didn't know he was using that as a ploy to try to get rid of whatever he had done," says neighbor Phillip Blount. 

Neighbors reportedly also saw a U-Haul at the abandoned house on Penrod where Fox's body was found Monday night. 

FOX 2's Randy Wimbley reports police say at this time they do not see any connection between the two U-Hauls. 

Police are also searching for a 2004 burgundy Chevy Malibu with Michigan license plate CCR 1286.

Police say Fox's ex-boyfriend, the father of her daughter, last spoke with her June 3 via text message. Police say he has been cooperating with investigators and also say Justice is cooperating as well.

Chief James Craig said in the news conference that authorities had made contact with Justice and that "so far he has been cooperative but our investigation is still continuing."

Police have not said if they know Justice's location and are also not saying if he is considered a person of interest.    http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/25736877/search-for-two-children-after-mother-found-dead

MYRA LEWIS

MADISON COUNTY, MS (Mississippi News Now) -

We are being told that the missing Madison County toddler case is now being treated as an abduction.

On Sunday evening the Mississippi Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert for two-year-old Myra Lewis of Camden.

Multiple agencies were searching for the missing 2-year-old, who was last seen Saturday morning.

Metro One was also assisting in the search for the missing toddler on Sunday.

The search was called off Monday after the case classification changed.

Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker met with members of the FBI Monday.

Myra Lewis was last seen at her parents' home on Mount Pilgrim Road in Camden Saturday morning.

"Parents stated they last saw the two year old around 10 am yesterday (Saturday) morning there were several kids there. The father was watching an infant child inside the other children went outside to play and the two year old wandered off," said Sheriff Randy Tucker, Madison County Sheriff's Office. "We've searched approximately four square miles around this residence and unfortunately have not been able to locate Myra."

Sunday morning emergency crews continue to look for her in a rural area along Mount Pilgrim Road, where the family lives.

Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker said the toddler went missing around 10 a.m. Saturday, but his office didn't receive a phone call until 4 o'clock Saturday afternoon.

That's when several police agencies volunteers, and rescue crews started their search.  Even local volunteers pitched in.

"I thought about my baby and it could have been my baby and it's so sad she only 2 years old and it just deepens my heart because it could have been my child he's 2," said Cassandra Bacon, a local volunteer.

The family was too devastated to go on camera Sunday night, but Myra's mother did talk to us over the phone.

"I was leaving to go grocery shopping and I saw her walk back into the house with her sister," said Ericka Lewis, mother of the toddler.

Lewis said the child's father was inside the house.

Lewis described the toddler as 34" tall and weighs about 25 pounds.

Lewis said the little girl was last seen wearing a turquoise sweater with a black bear on the front and khaki pants with pink shiny shoes (tennis) with glitter on them.

Lewis said sometimes little Myra sucks her thumb upside down.

"We've got approximately 70 individuals in the woods here right now like I said we had about 250 last night so we've had the average Joe citizen, men, women and children come out. Anytime there's an infant involved especially one of this age you kind of pull at the heart strings of the community so we got the help," said Sheriff Tucker. 

"We just want her back home. We won't worry about pressing charges, we just want her back home safe," said Lewis.

If you have any information on Myra's whereabouts, please call 855-642-5378.