tonight on "nightline," gone. a baby vanishes in the middle of the night. a troubled family pleading for help. a bitter custody battle behind the scenes. and a back story that seems heartbreakingly familiar. plus, god and country. who would jesus vote for? rick perry's on the campaign trail, casting himself as the populist christian candidate. >> i'm not ashamed to admit i'm a christian. >> hoping voters will forget his debate debacles. tonight, terry morgan gets on board with the presidential hopeful for our series, "the contenders." and santa's little helpers. a yuletide trend that's spread to a half dozen states.

secret santas, stepping up and paying off strangers' debts. a look at the true spirit of christmas. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," december 20th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with the case of a missing toddler. if you feel you've heard a lot of these stories, you'd be right. nearly 800,000 children go missing every year in the united states. the vast majority come home safely, within 24 hours. but tonight, in waterville, maine, hope is wearing thin for a child now missing four days. here's abc's linsey davis. >> reporter: tens of thousands of american parents will go into this holiday season missing a child. that pain is heartfelt by trista reynolds, the mother of a sweet-faced 20 month old toddler named ayla, believed to be

missing since last friday. >> i want to know where she is. i want her home. i am praying to god that the next person who goes knocking at my door is going to tell me that my daughter is safe and she is fine. >> reporter: ayla's father justin dipietro, told police in maine that he put the baby to bed in green polka dot pajamas emblazoned with the words "daddy's princess." but the next morning, there was no sign of his little girl. the fbi has joined the search, with local police. scouring nearby streams and dumpsters in this remote rural landscape. >> our focus here is to find ayla. and this is a missing child's -- a missing child case as it stands right now. >> reporter: police say several adults were in the home the night ayla disappeared including one who was not a family member. dipietro called police on saturday morning after reportedly finding her bed empty. he's not doing any interviews but police say he is cooperating. and late tonight, he released a statement, saying, "i have no

idea what happened to ayla or who's responsible. i will not make accusations of insinuations towards anyone until the police have been able to prove who is responsible for this." ayla's mother says he hasn't returned her phone calls and they haven't spoken since the girl's disappearance. but dipietro says that's not true. >> it's about their child. and whatever problems they have with each other should be set aside and all the energy should be focused on finding their daughter. >> reporter: dhhs recently placed ayla with her father, but no formal custody arrangement exists between the two parents who have so far been shuttling between their homes in maine, leaving ayla as one of the thousands of children caught in a very unclear custody arrangement. >> me and her father have never been together. we've just been acquaintances, friends. that's about it. >> reporter: at the time of ayla's disappearance, her mother said she hadn't seen her little girl in a month because she was in rehab for substance abuse.

ayla's mother says she filed for full custody on thursday but didn't tell the child's father or anyone else that she had. when she last saw her daughter, trista says she noticed bruising on her child's thighs, and the little girl is believed to be in a soft cast from a recent broken arm. >> law enforcement stated they didn't think that had anything to do with child abuse or neglect. but if, in fact, you add or couple to that that she truly did have bruises on her and mom is being correct about describing this, that would be very concerning. >> reporter: law enforcement experts say when parents feud over custody and a child disappears, it can mean that the child has fallen through the cracks, in a system that was supposed to protect them. >> i have worked a number of missing kid cases and one of the things you have to do is thoroughly investigate the parents. each parent individually. then you have to look at their relationship. you have to look at custody issues. you have to look at care-giving

issues. in other words, is there any history of abuse of this child by either parent? because all of those might lead you in a direction as to a motive as to what may have happened to her. >> reporter: the vast majority of abductions are solved within the first 24 hours. so, as the clock runs down on this fourth night into the search, concern for ayla only grows. her grandfather is devastated. >> she's out there somewhere, you know? she's out there somewhere and i can't -- i can't do anything. >> reporter: another family's agony this holiday season. for "nightline," i'm linsey davis in waterville, maine. >> terribly difficult. we'll be following the search effort, of course. just ahead, gop hopeful rick perry goes looking for true believers who he hopes will be his voters.

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ia mcfadden. >> it is one of the most powerful ways for voters to connect with a candidate, a shared faith. a sense of worshipping the same god and upholding the same values. texas governor rick perry has put his faith center stage in iowa, hoping that the people in the pews will become his pete of the polls. here's my co-anchor terry moran from iowa for our series "the contenders." >> reporter: there it is rolling across the iowa countryside. governor rick perry's big bus. here we are on the rick perry bus. governor?

emblazoned with his latest slow gal, faith jobs and freedom. 14-day bus tour. >> yeah. >> reporter: that's intense. we hopped on the bus to see how perry, once a front-runner in the presidential race is making a last-ditch last-stand effort to climb back to the top of the field. how it is going? >> good. everything's, you know we have good crowds. people are excited. i don't think people made their mind up yet. >> reporter: that's what he hopes. >> we pray for our nation's lead earls. >> reporter: and he hopes his christian faith, combined with a slashing newfound populism is what will carry him back into contention. >> you can't remove my faith from me anymore than you can remove that i'm a product of a couple of tenant farmers from texas. it's just who ami am. >> reporter: perry's talked a lot about his faith since he jumped into the race in august. >> i declare tow today as a candidate for president of the united states. >> reporter: and for a moment he seemed the answer to

republican dreams rocketing to the top of the polls with a double-digit lead. then came the debates. >> it's three agencies of government when i get there that are gone. commerce education and the -- uh -- what's the third one there. i can't, the third one, i can't. sorry. oops. >> reporter: again and again, perry just seemed to struggle up there. >> was it -- before he was before the social programs from the standpoint of he was for standing up for roe versus wade before he was against roe versus wade. >> reporter: he sunk like a stone in the pomes, falling to the back of the pack. but now, in the last days before the iowa caucus -- >> how are you? >> reporter: perry is casting himself as an every man, bashing the front-runners on the stump -- >> wall street bailout was the single gettest act of thievery in american history. newt gingrich and mitt romney were for it.

that's what insiders do. >> reporter: and also on the airwaves. >> mitt romney wall street. he made millions buying companies and laying off workers. newt gingrich k-street. the lobbyist hangout in washington. >> reporter: is it fair to say that your argument is these guys have been corrupted -- >> i'm not going to point my finger at them. what i'm going to say is the industries you've spent your life in is what has gotten america in trouble. i haven't. >> reporter: an outsider. on this 14-day bus tour through iowa, 42 towns and cities on the schedule. perry wants voters to know how different he is from romney gingrich and president obama. >> and it goes back to those values that i learn eded in paint creek. nobody was going to bail out a dry land cotton form erarmer. >> reporter: he grew up poor, very poor out on the plains of west texas. no running water in the house until he was 6.

the one thing the town had plenty of? faith. >> wasn't anything there except a school and a methodist church and a baptist church. your voice. >> reporter: 60% of iowa republican caucus go eers in 2008 identified themselves as bosh again or evangelical christians. and perry, right now, is running straight at them with a defiant and controversial ad. >> i'm not ashamed to admit that i'm a christian. but you don't need to be in the pew every sunday to know that there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate christmas or pray in school. >> reporter: who in this country is trying to make you or me or anyone ashamed to be christian? >> i think there are a number of folks out there who, as a matter of fact, groups and what you have that want to push religion out of the public arena. i mean if we were around

200-plus years ago when our founding fathers were putting the declaration of independence and the constitution together and the bill of rights. >> reporter: but the word god never appears in the united states constitution. >> but you go back and read all of the writings from whether it was george washington or other of our founding fathers, those individuals were men of faith. the vast majority of them. >> reporter: as a young man, perries served five years in the air force, came home to paint creek and had a crisis of faith. >> what i discovered was that i pushed god out of my life. but he had never left me. there was a hole in my heart and i wasn't happy. and i would. president happen not be happy until i would find what would fit that hole in my heart. and that was god. >> reporter: now his back against the wall perry is promising to fight the battles many evangelicals want politicians to fight.

for prayers in schools. against gays in the military and gay marriage. you're running for president of the united states, to be president of all the people. are you concerned that you're running a campaign that excludes nonchristians? gay veterans? people who won't be included? >> i don't at all. what people do in their private lives is their business. but the idea that we have to be forced to accept something that our faith says is not correct, i would suggest to you is an offensive thing to us. hope you all go work for us on january 3rd. bless you. >> reporter: but will doubling down on the evangelical vote be enough? he's got a long way to go. would you say you have to finish one, two or three -- >> that's good. finish. >> reporter: do have to finish top three, maybe top four to go on? that's what they say. what do you think? >> we're going to go on. so, you know regardless of how

we finish. obviously, we -- our intention is to finish first. that's why we got in this thing. i know what i'm doing. i'm pressing on. >> reporter: pressing on and rolling on. >> our thanks to terry moran. iowa votes january 3rd. and still ahead, anonymous angels spreading holiday cheer and making holiday magic in all kinds of surprising places. [ male announcer ] the cold aisle

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c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c

c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c

these are tough times for many families trying to put toys under the tree this year for their kids. more people than ever seem to be buying on layaway, hoping by christmas day, they can take those presents home. and now, many will be able to. across the country, secret santas are reminding us all of the true meaning of christmas. here's dan harris with a seasonal "sign of the times." >> reporter: you are watching the moment when kristen learns that a total stranger has paid off her layawaybill. >> you owe nothing today. >> seriously? seriously? oh, my gosh.

oh, my gosh. i can't believe that. >> reporter: the family has had serious economic struggles recently, so as the news sinks in kristen's 9-year-old daughter weeps in the aisles at this kmart in california. this is a scene that's playing out in kmarts and walmarts across america this holiday season. >> they told me this mysterious santa paid off my lay away and i just totally flipped out. >> reporter: it happened to this grandmother battling cancer in low country south carolina. >> it couldn't have happened at a better time for me and i very much appreciate it and i would like to do something nice for them sometime. >> reporter: it also happened to this mother and daughter in end nap list. >> i would think so much that she did this for us. i can't believe it. >> reporter: and there's more. it's a viral phenomenon spreading to nebraska montana, missouri illinois michigan vegas and ft. wayne, indiana.

>> we've had people come in customers, and then they tell their friends to come in and do it so it's been a snowball effect right now. >> reporter: it is snowballing. an anonymous army bringing cheer to what is often the saddest part of the store, the layaway desk, where people leave their holiday gifts, everything from toys to tvs to warm coats, until they can pay them off in full. >> these are all from saturday. >> reporter: tonight, kmart items us they've had more than 1,000 so-called layaway angels donating more than $400,000. the place where holiday wishes sometimes come to die transformed. >> oh my god! you got to be kidding us? is this a joke? >> reporter: today, we skyped with one of these secret santas a man from california, who gave more than $15,000 after hearing a radio report about a woman who had done the same in michigan. >> i thought, i should be could that. i can do that and i should do that. and what a wonderful way to spread some christmas cheer. >> reporter: why is it so

important for you to remain anonymous? >> true charity is anonymous. this isn't about me. it's about the fact that we can help, you know hard-working honest americans at a time when the economy hasn't been very favorable to us. >> reporter: this, by the way, is the man who paid off kristen's bill. >> i can't believe it. i'm so happy. thank you. i have two coming home from college and two cars just broke down and -- just great. thank you so much. >> you're welcome. >> i would like to thank the person who did this. >> reporter: her anonymous donor says the best thanks he would receive is that other people would hop on the bandwagon. for "nightline," this is dan harris in new york. >> a real inspiration for making a little magic happen yourself. and tomorrow on "nightline," the credit cards are out but who is watching when you swipe? an astounding first-time ever look inside the bunker where they are trying to keep your