Ayla Reynolds' Mom Unable to Complete Polygraph

Jan. 19, 2012— -- The mother of missing Maine toddler Ayla Reynolds attempted to take a polygraph test with investigators but failed to complete it due to a medical condition, she said in a message on her website.

Trista Reynolds announced she took the polygraph test Wednesday to answer questions about the disappearance of her 1-year-old daughter from the girl's father's house in December.

"According to the test administrator, who was very courteous and professional, I was unable to complete the test due to a medical condition," Reynolds wrote. "It was suggested to me that after treatment by a medical doctor I might be able to finish the test, but the investigating authority is content with the general outcome of the incomplete test (as it stands)."

She does not explain what the medical condition was and could not be reached for comment. The Maine State Police department would not comment on the polygraph test.

Reynolds had promised to make public the results of her polygraph test after Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, took a test but did not release the results.

Kenneth Blackstone, a forensic polygraph examiner based in Atlanta, said that individuals sitting for polygraph tests are usually screened ahead of the test for any medical conditions that might interfere with the test.

"If a person is having physical problems, something that is observable, like coughing or saying 'I don't feel good,' you don't test them. But that is brought up in the pre-test interview, which is the longest part of the whole thing," Blackstone said, noting that a person who is ill when taking the test could use the condition later to discredit the test's results.

Blackstone said he did not know why Reynolds was allowed to take the test and then stopped in the middle, but said he was surprised administrators said they were satisfied with the test.

"There's no way to be satisfied with an incomplete test," he said.

The toddler disappeared sometimes between the night of Dec. 16 and the morning of December 17, after her father put her to bed and before he checked on her in the morning. Police have said they are treating it as a kidnapping, but have not named any suspects in the girl's disappearance. They have said the family has cooperated with authorities.

DiPietro and Reynolds were estranged at the time of the disappearance, and Ayla was living with her father while Trista Reynolds was in drug rehab, according to both families. Reynolds was in the process of trying to regain custody of Ayla, and had filed papers in court the day before the girl disappeared, she told ABC News.

Ayla was last seen wearing a green one-piece outfit with a soft cast on her arm, which was broken in an accidental fall just weeks before her disappearance, according to police.

Maine State Police, along with the Maine game warden service, and FBI, searched rivers and lakes in DiPietro's neighborhood in addition to checking area Dumpsters and canvassing neighbors. The searches turned up nothing, police said.