CONWAY, N.H. — The FBI today 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.

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.

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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.”

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.

3:10 p.m.

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NH police: Toddler’s father not considered a suspect

CONWAY, N.H. — A New Hampshire police investigator searching for a missing 20-year-old Maine woman says there’s nothing to suggest she’s not alive and that police are working to reunite her with her family.

Police have said they believe Krista Dittmeyer, who was last seen Friday, was the victim of a crime. On Saturday her baby was found unharmed in her car at a Conway ski area, but there was no trace of Dittmeyer.

Conway Police Lt. Chris Perley says the father of Dittmeyer’s baby is not a suspect because he was not in the area.

He declined to comment on reports of blood being found in the car. He said the sheriff who released that information is not involved in the investigation. A vigil for Dittmeyer is planned Thursday in Bridgton, Maine.

11:46 a.m.

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Police analyzing phone records

CONWAY, N.H. — Police in New Hampshire are analyzing the cellphone records of a Portland woman who went missing over the weekend.

Krista Dittmeyer’s car was found with its flashers on and engine running in the parking lot of Cranmore Mountain Resort in North Conway on Saturday morning. Her 14-month-old daughter was in the back seat. Police say there’s nothing to indicate that Dittmeyer, 20, left the car or her child of her own volition.

Police have executed three search warrants so far as part of their investigation into her disappearance. One was for Dittmeyer’s Nissan Sentra, a second for another vehicle and the third for the phone records, Conway Police Lt. Christopher Perley said today.

A small retention pond on the grounds of the ski area was drained on the advice of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Perley said. No evidence was found.

The Union Leader reported that it appears that blood was found in Dittmeyer’s car. The Manchester-based paper attributed the information to Carroll County Sheriff Christopher Conley.

Perley would not provide further detail, citing his department’s policy not to comment on specific pieces of the investigation.

He noted that the investigation is being conducted by the Conway Police Department and New Hampshire State Police. He said a sheriff’s deputy had assisted in the land search for Dittmeyer on Saturday.
 


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