8 Year Old Victoria “Tori” Stafford Missing Since 4/8/09 in Ontario, Canada

[Northern Rose]

‘We are left with hundreds of questions’
<snipped>
The London Free Press reports that Terry-Lynne McClintic is the daughter of a stripper—and was later adopted by another stripper. The information comes from McClintic’s estranged adopted father, Rob, who explains the twisted story this way: “I was living in Woodstock at the time and Carol [his wife] was a stripper. A stripper friend of hers was going to have a baby but wanted to get rid of it. Carol said she wanted the baby. So, they put my name down as the birth father and we took the baby. But I wasn’t even there for the conception or the birth.” Rob McClintic says he hasn’t seen Carol or Terry-Lynne in at least 12 years. “This is just blowing me away,” he said. “It just appalls me to hear of anyone doing anything like that to a child. My heart goes out to that little girl’s parents.”

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/05/20/we-are-left-with-hundreds-of-questions/

I fell off the couch when I read this. What a piece of work this guy is. I say look into this man, I bet police are.

I know what you mean.  Its like he was taking lawn furniture from a swap meet rather than falsifying a broth records so his GF the stripper could have a child.

[Northern Rose]

Brother of murdered girl Tori Stafford asks: 'I don't get to see her anymore?'

ALLISON JONES
 
May 20, 2009 6:22 p.m.

WOODSTOCK, Ont. - Victoria Stafford's father says news of the girl's murder is hitting her 11-year-old brother hard.

Rodney Stafford says the boy's first reaction was to ask: "I don't get to see her anymore?" The six-week search for the eight-year-old girl, known as Tori, turned into a grim recovery effort today after a man was charged with her murder and a woman as an accessory.

Stafford says the family is helping Tori's brother Daryn cope by keeping him occupied with activities such as paintball.

Police say they will not stop until they locate Tori's "resting place" and bring her home to her family.

Ontario Provincial Police Det.-Insp. William Renton says it's important the Grade 3 student's body be returned to her parents now that the abduction case has led to a murder charge.

"Our work is far from over, and we'll not stop until we're able to locate the whereabouts of Victoria Stafford," Renton said.

"Albeit not the way we ever wanted to find Tori, I can't stress the importance and significance of returning her to her loved ones."

Although Renton would not say where that search would lead them, recovery efforts were apparently underway in a rural area outside Guelph known as Rockwood, about an hour east of Woodstock.

A police helicopter spent the afternoon criss-crossing a region marked with farmers' fields, ponds and wooded areas.

The pretty, outgoing girl went missing April 8 outside her school, and a surveillance tape showed her being led away by a woman in a white puffy coat.

Community and volunteer efforts to find the girl were extensive, but court documents suggest the efforts were futile; the murder took place on or around the day she went missing.

Michael Thomas Rafferty, 28, has been arraigned on a first-degree murder charge and abducting a child under 16.

Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, is charged with abduction, being an accessory and helping Rafferty elude authorities.

Renton said there may be a link between McClintic and Tori's mother Tara McDonald, but he wouldn't say how the two know each other.

Rodney Stafford said it was his understanding that the two women knew each other through a desire to breed dogs.

Police said they did not anticipate laying any further charges in the case.

Oxford Community Police Chief Ron Fraser said he had no words of comfort.

"This is certainly not the end that anyone was hoping for," he said.

"There are no consoling words to offer or profound words of wisdom that can make this news easy for anyone to accept."

Fraser and Renton said they couldn't speak to what would have motivated anyone to kill the girl.

Fraser said he hoped the courts would be able to answer the hundreds of questions still remaining, including "why someone would take the life of a beautiful young lady."

The developments were clearly devastating to Tori's father Rodney Stafford.

"I don't know where to go from here," said Stafford, who was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Tori that read "Daddy's Little Girl."

Rafferty pulled his shirt over his head to cover his face as he was led into the courthouse. He cried during the proceeding, while McClintic, a stocky brunette whose hair was tied in cornrows for her court appearance, was more stoic.

As Rafferty was led by police from the courthouse after his appearance, Tori's uncle Rob Stafford approached him and angrily spat out an expletive.

Rafferty and McClintic next appear in court May 28.

The relationship between the two accused was unclear, and police would not elaborate.

From Day 1, volunteers lined up to join the search, plastering storefronts, street lamps and car windshields with flyers describing the petite young girl with golden hair and big blue eyes.

Tori's mother began holding daily news conferences to keep the story in the media spotlight and, on a number of occasions, vigorously denied rumours swirling in the community, including one that her daughter was kidnapped over a drug debt.

At one point McDonald was confronted with the allegation that she looked like the woman in a composite sketch released by police - a suggestion she called laughable.

Police remained tight-lipped about the investigation, but McDonald's daily briefings revealed a number of strange twists in the case: McDonald accepted a ride in a limousine to meet a mysterious benefactor in a Toronto hotel who offered to pay any ransom demand, and the family also sought the help of a psychic.

Family members, including McDonald and Stafford, also spoke openly about having taken lie-detector tests.

The media spotlight also put McDonald's personal struggles on full display, including her addiction to the narcotic OxyContin, which she said she's receiving treatment for.

At Oliver Stephens Public School, where Tori was a student, the principal and a team of trauma counsellors delivered the tragic news to students class by class Wednesday morning.

A letter was also sent home to parents, and they were invited to take their children home if they desired.

"Everyone's very upset," said Bill Tucker, director of education for the Thames Valley District School Board, adding counsellors will remain at the school as long as necessary.

"As a school, both staff and students, we've just been rocked to the core of our very being with this."

Reached at a home in Woodstock, a woman who identified herself as McClintic's grandmother sobbed as she said she was estranged from the woman's mother Carol and her grandchildren.

"(Carol) was a stripper and she knew the wrong people and she wasn't treating Terri-Lynne right."

She said she felt "just horrible" about the arrests.

"It's breaking my heart."

Rafferty's neighbours said he either lived with his mother or his parents. People in the surrounding houses didn't know them well, with most saying they kept to themselves.

Aaron Mabey, 20, lives next door and said he saw several police officers outside the house Tuesday night around 11 p.m.

He helped search for Tori in the early days of her disappearance, and said it made him feel physically ill to know the suspect lived right next door.

"When I was told, I just felt so sick."

Jen Burchat, who lives a few doors down from the Rafferty house, said she was shaken because she let her children play outside the home.

"(I'm) shocked that it could happen so close to home," said Burchat, a mother of four who runs a daycare out of her home.

http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/canada/article/231688--brother-of-murdered-girl-tori-stafford-asks-i-don-t-get-to-see-her-anymore

[Northern Rose]

CityNews Exclusive: Tori's Mom Says She Recognized One Of The Suspects From The Surveillance Video
Wednesday May 20, 2009
CityNews.ca Staff
After making so many public appearances in front of cameras and reporters, trying to keep the case of her missing daughter fresh in the minds of the public for the past six weeks, Tara McDonald understandably had very little to say on Wednesday.

She'd been informed only the night before that her daughter, eight-year-old Tori Stafford, was never coming home.

The distraught mom stayed in seclusion on the day the arrests of two suspects were made public by police, but after forming a bond with CityNews' Cynthia Mulligan, she agreed to invite the reporter into her home to answer a few questions off camera.

An upset McDonald admits she knew Terri-Lynne McClintic, the 18-year-old woman charged as an accessory in the case. Police have yet to confirm if she's the famous woman in white seen on a security video leading the child away.

But in a stunning revelation that may explain how authorities were able to hone in on the suspects, McDonald recalled coming up with McClintic's name when she originally saw that video. She and her boyfriend both went to police with the name, possibly placing investigators on the trail that would eventually lead them to the pair standing accused on Wednesday.

Tori's mom also says she met the teen twice in her home and they talked about possibly breeding dogs together, since both have Shih Tzus.

And in an irony that now must twist like a knife, she noticed there was almost no furniture in the woman's home - and graciously offered to give her some of her own to help her out.

Cops have yet to say how McClintic is tied to Michael Rafferty, the 28-year-old charged with first-degree murder in Tori's death.

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_34724.aspx

[Kat_Gram]

I am going out, once again, ty. There will be more tomorrow. Guy was from Newfoundland and I bet they have stuff ( arrests, etc  ) on him. 28, he didn't just start April 7.
I almost threw up at work. Another lady started to cry. 

[victorian]

TY guys for the updates. I can't put this together in my mind. They knew each other thru the dogs ?   
Still the police will have alot of answering to do as to why they dragged their feet in releasing the video tape and why they didn't consider her abducted until 10 days after. I know they have to look at the family first. They always do, but, can't they run an investigation that excludes the family? The family was raked over the coals on the blogs, very bad, and in the newspapers.

The amber alert is a great idea, but it is flawed. The "powers that be" know this so why do they not change the rules????

Is the Amber Alert flawed?
Who made the decision that Tori wasn't abducted? That's where the flaw was.

[Northern Rose]

I am going out, once again, ty. There will be more tomorrow. Guy was from Newfoundland and I bet they have stuff ( arrests, etc  ) on him. 28, he didn't just start April 7.
I almost threw up at work. Another lady started to cry. 

Take care Kat.  It has been a hard day.  The more I find about Terry-Lynne the more I want to throw up.  I am going to see if I can find anything about Rafferty.  I am so worried right now that since TL was 18 she MAY be under the Youth Offender Act.  I just found an article that her named father still pays child support for her.  This could get really scary.

[Northern Rose]

Terri-Lynne McClintic: Father Rod McClintic Speaks Out
Share:     by Tina Kells | May 20, 2009 at 02:39 pm

Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, now stands accused of abducting little Tori Stafford and helping Tori's accused killer, her boyfriend Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, evade police since the 8-year old went missing April 8, 2009.  Micheal Thomas Rafferty has been charged with abduction and first degree murder in the Tori Stafford case.  Terri-Lynne McClintic has been charged with abduction and accessory to murder after the fact.


According to Terri-Lynne McClintic's named father Rod McClintic, Terri-Lynne has a questionable maternal history that may have played a role in her willingness to participate in Tori Stafford's abduction and cover up her murder.  Rod McClintic is stunned over Terri-Lynne's seemingly callous nature.

Rod McClintic contacted local media when the news broke that the 18-year old girl he still pays child support for was arrested in the abduction and murder of Tori Stafford.  Rod McClintic was born and raised in the small town of Woodstock, Ontario, and although he no longer lives there he still feels connected to the community.


When the news broke that Tori Stafford was missing Rod McClintic immediately was drawn to the story about the little girl from his hometown.  He never imagined that Terri-Lynne McClintic, the child who carries his name and who he had supported as his own even though he is not her biological father, would be implicated in the horrific crime.

Rod McClintic was married to Terri-Lynne's mother Carol McClintic, who still uses his last name despite the fact that they have been divorced for over a decade. In fact, Rod McClintic says he has not heard from Carol or Terri-Lynne in nearly 12 years even though he pays regular child support. 


In what reads like a soap opera plot, Rod McClintic agreed to put his name on the birth certificate of a child that he knew was not his in order to circumvent adoption laws and claim the child as his own.  A friend of Carol McClintic, then his wife, had become pregnant by an unknown man and did not want to keep the child.  Carol McClinitic wanted the child to raise and the birth certificate fraud seemed the easiest way to make it happen.  That child was Terri-Lynne McClintic.


Now Terri-Lynne McClintic stands accused of facilitating the abduction and hiding the subsequent murder of 8-year old Tori Stafford and Rod McClintic has been dragged into the nightmare on a very personal level.


http://www.nowpublic.com/world/terri-lynne-mcclintic-father-rod-mcclintic-speaks-out

[Northern Rose]

TY guys for the updates. I can't put this together in my mind. They knew each other thru the dogs ?   
Still the police will have alot of answering to do as to why they dragged their feet in releasing the video tape and why they didn't consider her abducted until 10 days after. I know they have to look at the family first. They always do, but, can't they run an investigation that excludes the family? The family was raked over the coals on the blogs, very bad, and in the newspapers.

The amber alert is a great idea, but it is flawed. The "powers that be" know this so why do they not change the rules????

Is the Amber Alert flawed?
Who made the decision that Tori wasn't abducted? That's where the flaw was.

Yes the Amber Alert is very flawed.  It needs to be changed.

[Northern Rose]

Man caught up with Tori murder suspect

Wed, May 20, 2009
 
By JOE BELANGER, LONDON FREE PRESS
Rob McClintic is a man caught up in a storm he certainly didn’t see coming.

But it was a storm that began to swell the day he allowed his ex-wife to put his name down on the birth certificate of a baby born to one her friends.

That baby grew up to be Terri-Lynne McClintic, charged with abducting eight-year-old Tori Stafford from her parents, Tara McDonald and Rodney Stafford, assisting Michael Thomas Rafferty in escaping the area and being an accessory to murder after the fact. Rafferty is charged with abduction and murder.

“I’m standing here right now still shaking,” said McClintic in a telephone interview.

The 42-year-old long-haul truck driver, who was born and raised in Woodstock but now lives in Smiths Falls, said he hasn’t heard from Terri-Lynne or her mother, Carol McClintic, for about 12 years.

McClintic said Carol left him when Terri-Lynn was two-years-old. They have since divorced. He is still paying child support.

“I was living in Woodstock at the time and Carol was a stripper,” said McClintic.

“A stripper friend of hers was going to have a baby but wanted to get rid of it. Carol said she wanted the baby. So, they put my name down as the birth father and we took the baby. But I wasn’t even there for the conception or the birth.”

McClintic said he moved on with his life and is now in a common-law relationship with a woman and has an 11-year-old daughter of his own.

“This is just blowing me away,” said McClintic, who said he’s seen the surveillance video released by police of a young woman in black jeans and white puffy coat walking with Tori after school on April 8 on Fyfe Street.

But McClintic said he couldn’t see the face and doubts he would have recognized Terri-Lynn.

“I moved away and I started a new life and I’m doing well,” said McClintic, adding his daughter lived with her mother in the Parry Sound area for several years.

“It just appalls me to hear of anyone doing anything like that to a child. My heart goes out to that little girl’s parents.”

For the latest local coverage, read The London Free Press on the web or in print.

To subscribe to the print edition, click on our subscription page.

Joe Belanger is a Free Press reporter.

http://www.lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/05/20/9515166.html

[Tracygirl]

TY guys for the updates. I can't put this together in my mind. They knew each other thru the dogs ?   
Still the police will have alot of answering to do as to why they dragged their feet in releasing the video tape and why they didn't consider her abducted until 10 days after. I know they have to look at the family first. They always do, but, can't they run an investigation that excludes the family? The family was raked over the coals on the blogs, very bad, and in the newspapers.

The amber alert is a great idea, but it is flawed. The "powers that be" know this so why do they not change the rules????

Is the Amber Alert flawed?
Who made the decision that Tori wasn't abducted? That's where the flaw was.

The decisions are made based on the law which says certain things need to have happened in order to call an amber alert. That is where the flaw lies. I think the amber alert needs to be modified to allow for a case by case decision. Obviously an 8 year old child is not going to run away on a whim or go abra cadabra and disappear! sometimes there is not a car involved, and sometimes a child goes willingly with an abductor. 

[no rose colored glasses]

If Terri-Lynne is helping police, then why has Tori's body not been recovered yet? I'm confused, is she helping or is she leading police on a wild goose chase?

[Tracygirl]

NorRose does this man not realize what his words are saying about him? Sheesh!

What do you mean youth law  or what have you.

[Northern Rose]

If Terri-Lynne is helping police, then why has Tori's body not been recovered yet? I'm confused, is she helping or is she leading police on a wild goose chase?

That is a very good question.  I am hoping that she is thrown out of the chopper if she does not lead them to Tori.

[Tracygirl]

If Terri-Lynne is helping police, then why has Tori's body not been recovered yet? I'm confused, is she helping or is she leading police on a wild goose chase?

I don't know, I was thinking maybe Tori was taken at night  out there

[Tracygirl]

If Terri-Lynne is helping police, then why has Tori's body not been recovered yet? I'm confused, is she helping or is she leading police on a wild goose chase?

That is a very good question.  I am hoping that she is thrown out of the chopper if she does not lead them to Tori.

lol NoRose

[Northern Rose]

NorRose does this man not realize what his words are saying about him? Sheesh!

What do you mean youth law  or what have you.

The Young offenders act.  If you are considered a Young offender (not an adult) then you do time in a juvenile facility (take school, do craft, no adults jailed there) and once you turn the age of majority your record disappears....you have no record.  If Rob is still paying child support the I am really scared that Terri-Lynne is considered a minor and will not do any hard time.  The longest they can keep a young offender is until they reach the age of majority, and it may be when she turns 19.  I really hope that at 18 you are considered an adult in Ontario according to the Young offenders act.  Each province is different with age that a young offender turns to adult last I heard.

[no rose colored glasses]

If Terri-Lynne is helping police, then why has Tori's body not been recovered yet? I'm confused, is she helping or is she leading police on a wild goose chase?

That is a very good question.  I am hoping that she is thrown out of the chopper if she does not lead them to Tori.

I am very concerned about this, and mad as he!!, it just seems that this is what this woman is doing

[no rose colored glasses]

NorRose does this man not realize what his words are saying about him? Sheesh!

What do you mean youth law  or what have you.

The Young offenders act.  If you are considered a Young offender (not an adult) then you do time in a juvenile facility (take school, do craft, no adults jailed there) and once you turn the age of majority your record disappears....you have no record.  If Rob is still paying child support the I am really scared that Terri-Lynne is considered a minor and will not do any hard time.  The longest they can keep a young offender is until they reach the age of majority, and it may be when she turns 19.  I really hope that at 18 you are considered an adult in Ontario according to the Young offenders act.  Each province is different with age that a young offender turns to adult last I heard.

That doesn't sound good, I hope and pray she will not be considered a Young Offender    So I take this to mean, that even if a person that isn't of age can't be tried as an adult like they do in the US?

[Tracygirl]

I am sorry in advance for this question...but is there wild life out in the area they are looking?

Oh god that makes me sick to think about..

[Tracygirl]

is 18 not considered an adult?