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

[Edward]

It is that look on his face..Like that is his own child
That boy is wrapped in a heat blanket and that man is like a locomotive headed for a destination of help. 

The police are not saying much.. I hope they are on it for Tori.

[Sieko]

Tara McDonald's Limo ride - Audio interview

http://www.imeem.com/keminicationsmedia/music/28ocBPdx/keminications-media-ap-feed-tara-mcdonalds-limo-ridemp3/

[Edward]

  $$$ Money never found a child or anyone ever.

Adding this into this case is sooooooooooooooooo strange and now will make the police look very close at her..
Taking a ride with a strange limo driver..alone.. What kind of behavior is that ? 

[Sieko]

Mom spins 'crazy' tale of ransom, limo ride
Wed, April 29, 2009

" But a former Toronto abduction investigator said it's unlikely any ransom deal would be set up the way McDonald and her mysterious benefactor described it -- with money provided after Tori is returned safe and sound.

"It's ridiculous," said Dave Perry, a former Toronto police officer with 27 years experience"

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/04/29/9284576-sun.html

[Sieko]

Expert skeptical about ransom deal

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1545228

[Sieko]

Police offer $50,000 reward

http://www.oxfordreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1544063

[can]

Sieko - thanks for the links posted today - read them all.

Read Christie Blatchford's article in Globe and Mail today regarding the curious trip Tori's Mother made to meet the (mystery) person @ Sheraton Hotel.  This person showed the Mother a lock of hair, the same colour as Tori's, saying it was from their own dead abducted child.

Too weird!!!!! imo

Sorry I don't know how to link article.   

[cookie]

Sieko - thanks for the links posted today - read them all.

Read Christie Blatchford's article in Globe and Mail today regarding the curious trip Tori's Mother made to meet the (mystery) person @ Sheraton Hotel.  This person showed the Mother a lock of hair, the same colour as Tori's, saying it was from their own dead abducted child.

Too weird!!!!! imo

Sorry I don't know how to link article.   

WHAATTT???? this is really getting weird....wtf moment for me! how bout you?

[can]

Sieko - thanks for the links posted today - read them all.

Read Christie Blatchford's article in Globe and Mail today regarding the curious trip Tori's Mother made to meet the (mystery) person @ Sheraton Hotel.  This person showed the Mother a lock of hair, the same colour as Tori's, saying it was from their own dead abducted child.

Too weird!!!!! imo

Sorry I don't know how to link article.   

WHAATTT???? this is really getting weird....wtf moment for me! how bout you?

Yep,  as I've said before, bizarre, weird. 
Meanwhile, where is little Tori?  Wish the police would give some encouragement that they are making some progress.

I have a feeling that they must have someone in mind.  MOO

[canadianmonkey]

Here's another article...they are confirming that the offer of a reward is real

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090429/Stafford_missing_090429/20090429/?hub=TorontoNewHome

[victorian]

Am I the only one here who's suspicion is turning towards the mother?

No you aren't. There's been quite a bit of mud slinging on the facebook group.
I also belong to another site and suspicion has been lurking for at least the past week.
Eyebrows started to rise with all the fundraising.

I saw this video and couldn't help but think the woman sitting beside the mom looks like the sketch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inoeIcrvqdY

Also the height of the POI is incorrect! She is not 5'1", she's closer to 5' 8" or 5' 9".
I'll try and find the reference to it.

First of all Welcome to Scared Monkeys, Victorian!!!!  We are glad to have you here. 

Second, OMG! That woman looks exactly like the person sitting next to the mom.  Do we have a name on her?  I'm going to ask Klaasend to do a screenshot & side-by-side with the sketch. 

Thanks for the welcome. 
Sorry i haven't been back sooner, but to answer your question...her name is Sara and she's Tara's best friend.
I see from catching up on this thread everyone is...

[Tracygirl]

The moms best friend? have the police questioned her? maybe gave her a lie detector? This story is very strange.

Edward I agree with you, it is strange for her to go with some limo driver she doesn't know. There is something more to this story

[cookie]

The moms best friend? have the police questioned her? maybe gave her a lie detector? This story is very strange.

Edward I agree with you, it is strange for her to go with some limo driver she doesn't know. There is something more to this story

Weird isn't it? I would be too afraid to go alone, if this mother did...after all, my daughter is missing, I don't know who took her, maybe they would take me too? but then, if I am desperate to get my child back, I might do anything....but I think that I would take someone with me or at least be wired by the police so they could be listening and find us if things went south...

[canadianmonkey]

The moms best friend? have the police questioned her? maybe gave her a lie detector? This story is very strange.

Edward I agree with you, it is strange for her to go with some limo driver she doesn't know. There is something more to this story

Weird isn't it? I would be too afraid to go alone, if this mother did...after all, my daughter is missing, I don't know who took her, maybe they would take me too? but then, if I am desperate to get my child back, I might do anything....but I think that I would take someone with me or at least be wired by the police so they could be listening and find us if things went south...

I believe in one of the interviews she said she went with her boyfriend and best friend.  So she didn't go alone.  Although I do think it's strange to be going off in a limo to a hotel, not far from an airport when your daughter has gone missing.

[victorian]

The moms best friend? have the police questioned her? maybe gave her a lie detector? This story is very strange.

Edward I agree with you, it is strange for her to go with some limo driver she doesn't know. There is something more to this story

Weird isn't it? I would be too afraid to go alone, if this mother did...after all, my daughter is missing, I don't know who took her, maybe they would take me too? but then, if I am desperate to get my child back, I might do anything....but I think that I would take someone with me or at least be wired by the police so they could be listening and find us if things went south...

I believe in one of the interviews she said she went with her boyfriend and best friend.  So she didn't go alone.  Although I do think it's strange to be going off in a limo to a hotel, not far from an airport when your daughter has gone missing.

Yes and her brother (step?)
But she went up to the hotel room alone. For approx 2 hours.
Live right now. Daily 1pm presser by Tara:
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/04/30/9298216-sun.html

[Lovinlife]

  Thanks Victorian!

[Edward]

Earlier yesterday, McDonald said police confirmed to her the story was "legitimate."

"I know those were Tara's words," Maitland said. "Our words are that it does not cause us concern."
The officer also addressed suggestions the offer was part of a police sting operation, using the mysterious and wealthy stranger to elicit information from McDonald and her family.
"Are you asking me if the people in the limo were police? Certainly not to my knowledge," Maitland said.  

But Maitland has acknowledged she has been kept at arms length from many aspects of the investigation, being co-ordinated by OPP.

The mysterious limo ride and a just announced $50,000 police reward dominated the two news conferences, one from McDonald and one from police, that are becoming tradition as the hunt for Tori reached its third week.

Tori was last seen after school April 8 on a video camera from a nearby high school, walking away with a woman in black jeans and a white coat. A composite sketch of that same woman, based on a witness account, was released by police last week.

Late Tuesday night, police announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Tori's abductor.

The timing of the reward had nothing to do with the story about a potential benefactor and ransom, Maitland said yesterday.

Nor was it a sign police are getting desperate, she said.

McDonald said yesterday she did not think the mysterious offer was part of any police sting.

"No, no, I don't think they would go to such trouble."

McDonald provided more details about the offer, made by a person in a hotel room near Pearson International Airport she met after taking a limo ride to Toronto last Thursday.

The person, who refused to provide McDonald with even a name, supplied two telephone numbers.

If someone would like to return Tori, they can get those numbers from McDonald, she said. The answering machine message on the other end of the numbers says the caller can provide an account number, and a ransom request, and the money will be deposited once Tori is returned, McDonald said.

McDonald said she and her family have wracked their brains trying to determine a motive for the abduction.

"I don't really know what the reasoning would be, but they didn't think it would be so huge so quickly and maybe they just let it get out of hand," she said.

CHRONOLOGY OF A MISSING GIRL

April 8

Tori Stafford attends Oliver Stephens public school on Fyfe Avenue in Woodstock. School officials say she left when school let out at 3:25 p.m. -- not 3:40 p.m. as police have reported. Seven minutes later, in front of an adjacent secondary school, a security camera videotaped her walking north on Fyfe Avenue with a woman whose identity has become a focal point of the police investigation. Shortly after 6 p.m., Tori's mother and partner contact police and report her missing. Police begin their search.

April 9

Police issue a media release about Tori's disappearance, writing that while they haven't ruled out foul play, they had no reason to suspect it. Police announce and distribute the video of a young girl walking with the woman. Citizens in Woodstock take to the streets and fields to try to find Tori.That evening, police say they have confirmed it was Tori on the video. The Free Press later learns this was done with the help of at least two witnesses.

April 10

Police ask volunteers to confine their search to their own properties, saying evidence may be otherwise trampled and police resources drained. Media question why police haven't issued an Amber Alert . Police say it's because they have no evidence of an abduction.

April 11

Police sort through 200 tips, but still don't know what happened to Tori. Police dispel rumour Tori's clothes have been found. Tori's birth father, Rodney Stafford, issues a public plea for her return. Tori's family gives out purple ribbons to thank the community for their efforts.

April 13

Police call off the ground search for the girl, saying efforts by police and volunteers failed to turn up any clues and that "every indication we have tells us that Tori willingly walked away with the unidentified female (seen on the high school security video), so we are investigating a missing person's case." Police release an enhanced version of the security video, hoping the sharper image will help identify the woman.

April 14

More than 30 investigators are working on the case. Police don't release any new information as nervous parents drop off their children for the first full day of class at Oliver Stephens public school since the eight-year-old vanished.

April 15

Tori's mother, Tara McDonald, holds an impromptu news conference to dispel rumours a $20,000 drug debt led to the little girl's disappearance. She urged people to keep the focus on finding her daughter.

April 17

Police reclassify Tori's disappearance as an abduction, as OPP Det. Insp. Bill Renton takes over as case manager from Oxford Community Police. Late that night, police announce an "intensified" ground search for Tori will begin the next morning in Woodstock and could last up to seven days. Police also suggest they may be close to identifying the mysterious woman seen on a security video walking with Tori after school on April 8, the day she vanished.

April 18

Police go door-knocking in Tori's neighbourhood while an OPP team equipped with side-scan sonar scours a large pond in Southside Park in Woodstock, beginning the promised "intensified" ground search.

April 25

Tori's disappearance is aired on the Fox Network's crime-fighting program, America's Most Wanted, at 9 p.m.

April 28

Tori's mother tells the media of an incredible-sounding offer and limousine ride she took, journeying from Woodstock to Toronto to meet an anonymous donor willing to pay any ransom that might be asked for her daughter's safe return. Woodstock police announce a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever was responsible for Tori's abduction.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/04/30/9298216-sun.html

2 hour interview ? Sounds more like a interigation..
I think it was a setup for more info and would have been a sting had they gotten info that implicated the mom..

[pink angel]

http://bit.ly/I2AWg



Then came the surreal claim that a limo driver picked up the beleaguered mother and took her to meet a mysterious wealthy benefactor, who had also lost a child in a similar way. That person offered to put up whatever ransom might be asked to get the charming eight-year-old home.

"The police have verified it was a genuine person that set this up," McDonald assures. "So I know I'm not crazy."

<snipped>

There is a video at this link.

[pink angel]

also from the above article...
"It continued with a composite picture that many insisted looked very much like Tara McDonald, the child's mother."

[Tracygirl]

Anything new going on here? Does anyone know if they questioned the moms friend Sarah that was posted about? Is this girl related to the moms boyfriend? I think they look alike.

I am hoping they find this little girl soon. Praying for you Tori!