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

[Kat_Gram]

I don't think a change in the Amber Alert would have made a difference in this one when they were treating it a a missing person and a family kidnapping rather than a stranger abduction. I know they have to look at the family, but can't they look at the family at the same time that they conduct an investigation ? If the suspect car was in Guelph at a Home Depot in the evening, there could have been a chance. If it wasn't for the surveilance camera and the tape, these creeps might still be on the loose.
My understanding is that Tara had a job and she was at work when the white puffy coat B took Tori. How could the police think it was her when she was at work ?

This is the first time I've ever heard about her being at work. Where did you get this information?
Tara herself gave 2 or 3 different times where she was that afternoon, and as far as I know both her and James are unemployed.

I read it, but it was unconfirmed. I will ask my daughter, she reads at In session.

[can]

I was checking in, hoping they found Tori. Prayers they find her tomorrow.

Me too, and the big question is, is this Terri continues to not be a great help in finding Tori, I'm worried what might happen to the case they have built against the two perps. And most of all the family not having their child to bury    Why would the perps take the child near a home depot? This isn't making sense to me.

It's possible Tori was not visible to any passersby when they were @ Home Depot.  I have wondered if they were making a purchase there...a shovel perhaps, a tarp...?

When the murder one charge to Rafferty went down and they began using
McClintock to search for Tori, I had no idea that the McC's knowledge would be so vague...IF, that is the case.  However, it does seem possible that she didn't know the area and it was a dark rainy night on unmarked or poorly marked country roads over such a vast area, it would be a problem.  Just wonder if she told the cops that from the getgo.

What hell for the family, to know that Tori is out there somewhere and to date has not been found.

[no rose colored glasses]

That is possible a shovel or tarp or someother type of supply was being bought, but I can't figure out where Tori would have been at the time? It would be a risk to go into the store with her, maybe they had given her a drug and they had her lying on the floor in the back seat with something over her?

[Tracygirl]

Do they have a surveillance camera at Home Depot or interviewed an employee? I wonder what their demeanor was that evening.

Did anyone watch the last interview they have on the London press, http://www.livestream.com/lfpress I think that is what the addy is. If you haven't and wish to it is on there. go to demand, then may 2009, they have all of the press conferences on there. I watched the press conferene  that Tara read the mothers day letter again, very sad.

 

[can]

Just heard on my car radio 680 news - they are reporting that the back seat
from the civic (Rafferty's) is missing. 

They are now asking for people to watch for that and not to touch if spotted.

Reckon there's less car back seats than there are rock piles.  Wonder why it's just coming out today?

[Nut44x4]

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090524/tori_stafford_090524/20090524?hub=Toronto

Tori Stafford investigators hunt for missing car seat
Updated: Sun May. 24 2009 1:33:42 PM

Investigators working the Victoria Stafford murder investigation are asking for the public's help in locating a rear car seat that may be pertinent to the case.

Police say the grey-coloured, cloth rear seat is missing from a 2003 Honda sedan they allege was involved in the kidnapping and murder of the little girl.

The blue vehicle, which is partially covered by black spray paint, was spotted in a Guelph Home Depot parking lot hours after Tori went missing on April 8. Police had previously asked the public to come forward if they remembered seeing the vehicle that same day.

On Sunday, police issued a release asking the members of the public to search their properties for the missing seat and to immediately report it to the authorities if found.

Investigators ask that it not be touched, so that it can be preserved in its existing state for use in the investigation.

The remains of the Grade 3 schoolgirl have yet to be recovered, despite an intense police effort that has ramped up since the arrest of two suspects on Tuesday.

Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, faces charges of kidnapping and being an accessory to murder after the fact.

Her boyfriend, Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, is charged with kidnapping and murder.

No allegations against Rafferty and McClintic have yet been proven in a court of law.

McClintic is said to have been helping police locate the child's remains, but so far there appears to have been no results.

A court order allowing McClintic to assist police runs out today.

Her lawyer has said her client is doing her best to help police, but weather and foliage changes have made her assistance more difficult.

The young schoolgirl's mother, Tara McDonald, has spoken out about McClintic's assistance, saying that police would have recovered Tori's remains if the accused woman knew where she was.

McDonald has also said she met McClintic on two occasions, when speaking with the accused woman's mother about breeding their dogs.

Tori's mother, who is recovering from an OxyContin addiction, said she did not have drug ties to McClintic.

Tori went missing after her school day ended at on April 8. She did not return home.

Oxford Community Police were notified that she was missing at 6 p.m. that same night.

Oxford Community Police later released video footage of a woman in a white coat seen walking with Tori shortly after school ended the day she disappeared.

The OPP later took control of the case.

On Tuesday, about six weeks after Tori went missing, the two arrests were announced.

[can]

Thanks Nut - you're wonderful!!!

[Northern Rose]

Woodstock Cops Looking For Back Seat Of A Car As Search For Tori Stafford Continues
Sunday May 24, 2009
CityNews.ca Staff

Officers in Woodstock are asking residents to keep their eyes peeled for an unusual object as they continue to search for the body of Tori Stafford.

Oxford Community Police believe the discarded backseat of a car may hold vital clues in the eight-year-old girl's kidnapping and murder. The car part is grey and made of cloth.

Investigators have now been searching for Tori's body for five days. Michael Rafferty, 28, and Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, were arrested in connection with the crime on Wednesday.

Tori was kidnapped after school on April 8, just over six weeks ago. Police believe she may have been killed that same day.

McClintic has been helping police has they scour a rural area near Guelph for any trace of the child, but so far, nothing has turned up.

Officers are also looking for a blue 2003 four-door Honda with black spray paint over portions on April 8.


For her part, Tori's mother doesn't believe McClintic can help.

If she knew where Tori was, Tara McDonald said, the search would be over. McClintic was arrested on Wednesday.

McDonald has stated numerous times that she would not plan her daughter's funeral until police find her remains.

Rafferty is charged with first-degree murder and abduction while McClintic is charged with abduction and being an accessory.

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_34812.aspx

[Northern Rose]

Backseat missing from from car used to abduct Tori Stafford

Sun, May 24, 2009

Police won't say if they believe seat was removed before or after the abduction.

By the time police seized a Honda Civic they believe was used to abduct Tori Stafford, the entire backseat was ripped out, officials disclosed Sunday afternoon.

The seat had been covered in grey cloth and police have asked for public help finding it.

"If located, police investigators ask that it not be touched, simply report it to police immediately and without physically touching it, try to protect it from the elements until investigators can attend the scene." police wrote in a release Sunday afternoon.

Police wouldn't say Sunday if they believe the seat was torn out before the abduction, perhaps to make it easier to conceal a child, or afterwards, to dispose of potential evidence.

Last week, police said they believed Stafford was taken by her abductors in the Civic from Woodstock to Guelph, where there's evidence they were seem in or near a Home Depot Plaza.


Sources say the vehicle belongs to Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, charged with abduction and first-degree murder in little Tori’s disappearance April 8 after school in Woodstock.

A co-accused, 18-year-old Terri-Lynne McClintic, also of Woodstock, is reportedly co-operating with police in their search for the remains of the Grade 3 girl.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/05/24/9554476.html

[no rose colored glasses]

Thanks for the info about the rear seat missing from the car, I can't even begin to imagine where that could be, maybe Terri has a clue, but I doubt she would say, because I, IMO is messing with LE. Now another young person is missing 

[Northern Rose]

Stafford investigators looking for suspect's carseatUpdated Sun. May. 24 2009 5:51 PM ETInvestigatos searching for the remains of Tori Stafford are asking for the public's help in locating the backseat of the car they say may have been used by Tori's abductor.

Today was also the last day that suspect Terri-Lynne Mcclintic will be able to help police in their search for Tori.

A judge's order allowing her to stay out of jail expires this evening.

http://southwesternontario.ctv.ca/news.php?id=4701

[pink angel]

Someone in the FB group just found a seat behind the Home Depot in Guelph and called the police. They're checking it out now.

These posts on FB have a way of being deleted or buried quickly, however this one gives me an uneasy feeling that there might be something there. Still, it's all hear say for now. This woman "Shauna" was told by someone to delete her earlier posts about this discovery.




(credit to prisim over yonder)


Take that for what it's worth but I find it hard to believe that the police wouldn't have looked all around that Home Depot. IF this does turn out to be the seat, then these police are the keystone cops IMO.
No wonder they can't find Tori.



On a lighter note 2 locals both saw a purple balloon floating around the area today (2 different posts) one actually took a picture of it.

They both posted the same thoughts. That it was a sign from Tori and that perhaps today is the day she'll be found.

I believe it to be a sign from Tori and I pray she is found soon.

[no rose colored glasses]

Pink Angel thanks for that, you would think the home depot area would have been searched already for the seat, or at least the trash would have been emptied by now. The purple balloon now that is a sign to me also

[pink angel]

This explains the purple balloons perhaps:
It was Tori!

The last two lines in the article made me blubber like a baby.


Tori’s father attends St. Catharines memorial ceremony
Posted By DON FRASER
Posted 1 hour ago
   

Rodney Stafford had a blunt assessment of the past week.

“It’s been a living hell,” he said, moments after making a surprise visit Sunday to a St. Catharines memorial ceremony for his daughter, Victoria “Tori” Stafford. “We’re just trying to make the best of what we can.”

“I came here to thank everyone for their support,” Stafford said in an interview. “This is far from over. It’s touched a lot of people.”

“It’s good to see I’m still not alone with this.”

The memorial ceremony for the eight-year-old Woodstock girl was spearheaded by Sharri Anderson, who assembled a crowd of about 100 to launch balloons at the Connaught School grounds on Prince Street.

Some balloons were purple, Tori’s favourite colour. Others were green, representing missing children everywhere.

Several other family members from both sides of Tori’s family also attended.

Meanwhile, the search for the remains of the girl continued Sunday, four days after police announced two people were charged in her abduction and slaying.

Michael Rafferty, 28, is charged with first-degree murder and abduction while Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, is charged with abduction and being an accessory after the fact to murder.

Court documents suggest she was killed April 8, the day she was abducted, or shortly after.

Stafford said he was alerted to the local event by a reporter. “As soon as I found out about it, I said, ‘I’m leaving.’ ”

Continued After Advertisement Below

Advertisement

He said he was moved by the show of support in the Garden City, which included handing out Stranger Danger colouring pages for children.

“I could very well get into stuff like this and start helping out other people,” he said. “By doing this, we can get everybody together and everybody can ... pick away at these (child) predators.”

Anderson said the gathering was initially intended to draw attention to the missing girl, but the focus changed following the announcement of murder charges.

“It’s heartbreaking, definitely,” Anderson said. “But we thought, ‘We’ve had this planned, let’s just do it.’ ”

“Let’s make this in Tori’s memory and the memory of all the other missing children.”

Stafford’s visit was a total surprise, Anderson said. “It was absolutely wonderful he took the time to travel here. I’m sure he had a lot of other things on his mind.”

Dawn Brown, one of many parents on hand, brought her five-year-old daughter Kamryn along.

“I’m here to support the cause,” said Brown, who hails from Thorold. “You want to support the family. It’s hard to imagine what they’re going through.”

The last word went to Stafford, who penned a gentle note to Tori in a book of condolences.

“Hey Buddy,” he wrote. “Just wanted to write a note to let you know that just because you’re not here, I know you are.”

“Love you kiddo! — Daddy.”
Edit to add link per pink angel :   http://is.gd/D1Xv

[pink angel]

I wish we could edit. (no worries, it's fixed)

Forgot the link to the article.

http://is.gd/D1Xv

[Northern Rose]

Someone in the FB group just found a seat behind the Home Depot in Guelph and called the police. They're checking it out now.

These posts on FB have a way of being deleted or buried quickly, however this one gives me an uneasy feeling that there might be something there. Still, it's all hear say for now. This woman "Shauna" was told by someone to delete her earlier posts about this discovery.




(credit to prisim over yonder)


Take that for what it's worth but I find it hard to believe that the police wouldn't have looked all around that Home Depot. IF this does turn out to be the seat, then these police are the keystone cops IMO.
No wonder they can't find Tori.



On a lighter note 2 locals both saw a purple balloon floating around the area today (2 different posts) one actually took a picture of it.

They both posted the same thoughts. That it was a sign from Tori and that perhaps today is the day she'll be found.

I believe it to be a sign from Tori and I pray she is found soon.

If there truly was a seat at the Homedepot then all the investigators need to find a new job that has nothing to do with searches or investigations.  They clearly have known about the HomeDepot prior to letting the public know about it.  Surely they would have check the garbage bins and parking lot prior to asking the public to look for the seat?  I really hope it is not some sicko that planted a similar seat there.

[Northern Rose]

Authorities mum on progress in finding Tori's body
By Jonathan Sher, The London Free Press

Last Updated: 24th May 2009, 5:03pm

While there was still no sign of Victoria (Tori) Stafford’s body more than six weeks after she was abducted, police in Woodstock walked up and down that city’s main drag this weekend, seeking surveillance footage from the day she was taken, say two of those approached.

The timing of the police request left one store owner fuming and asking why police hadn’t sought video evidence soon after she was abducted April 8.

“(Why) the hell did (they) wait so long?” asked the owner of a Dundas Street store who requested anonymity.

The surveillance camera outside the store might have been helpful in the days after Tori’s disappearance but any footage has long since been erased since video in the system is taped over weekly, the owner said.

An employee at another downtown store said he, too, was approached by police with the same request.

The Free Press shared the concerns with the police spokesperson for the investigation, Oxford Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland, who said she’d speak with investigators and leave it up to them to respond or not. There was no response today.

The investigation has long been guided by a video captured by another surveillance camera as eight-year-old Tori left her elementary school, the last time the child was apparently seen alive in her hometown.

The evening of her abduction, Tori was likely taken in a Honda Civic to or near a Home Depot plaza in Guelph, police believe.

It is around Guelph that police have been searching for Tori since two people were charged last Tuesday with her abduction. Since then, there has been no word from police of progress.

Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, of Woodstock, charged with abduction and being an accessory after-the-fact to murder, is co-operating with police, according to her lawyer.

Her role in the search was expected to possibly end this evening when she was due to return to custody in the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre.

Jonathan Sher is a Free Press reporter.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2009/05/24/9556161.html

[pink angel]

'This is far from over'

Tori's dad says he doesn't want to believe his daughter is dead

By DON FRASER AND JONATHAN SHER, SUN MEDIA

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. -- Rodney Stafford had a blunt assessment of the past week.

"It's been a living hell," he said, moments after making a surprise visit yesterday to a St. Catharines memorial ceremony for his daughter, Victoria (Tori) Stafford. "We're just trying to make the best of what we can.

"I came here to thank everyone for their support," Stafford said in an interview. "This is far from over. It's touched a lot of people."

"It's good to see I'm still not alone with this."

About 100 people attended the memorial ceremony for the eight-year-old Woodstock, Ont., girl on the grounds at a St. Catharines school.

Numerous balloons were released, many of them purple, Tori's favourite colour. Others were green, representing missing children everywhere.

Several other family members from both sides of Tori's family also attended.

Earlier, Stafford said he had cleared his daughter Tori's bedroom of teddy bears given at vigils where thousands prayed for her safe return.

But while police tell him his precious eight-year-old is dead, her body still missing, Stafford can't bring himself yet to entirely clear his heart of hope.

"I don't want to believe she's dead," he said. "I don't want to do any sort of memorial (service)."

For six weeks Stafford has been in the glare of national media, showing remarkable poise despite the pain evident in his voice and face. But that composure turned to rage brought on by the kind act of a stranger who had posted a video on the Internet.

"It was a beautiful video," Stafford said. "There were pictures of Tori with the song Still Holding Out For You."

As he watched, a horrible thought emerged: "The next time I'm going to see my little girl, I'm going to see freakin' decayed body parts."

He burst into tears, ran from the house and started punching his fence.

"That's the first time I felt rage," he said.

While Stafford isn't ready to let go of his daughter, he knows the tether that binds them in this world is fraying.

When police last Thursday night asked for Tori's tooth as a source of DNA, he wondered if they'd already found something in their search in and around Guelph.

"Do they have something already? I was wondering about that," he said. "If (police) have even one piece of information that Victoria has passed, please let me know so I can put this to rest."

Meanwhile, the search for the remains of the girl continued yesterday, four days after police announced two people were charged in her abduction and slaying.

Michael Rafferty, 28, is charged with first-degree murder and abduction while Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, is charged with abduction and being an accessory after the fact to murder.

Court documents suggest she was killed April 8, the day she was abducted, or shortly after.

http://is.gd/DaM8

[no rose colored glasses]

Good Morning, it does seem like the police should have done some of their investigations sooner, like the surveilance videos from stores, but since I don't know how police in Canada investigate, I really don't know what to say. It does seem like they focused on the mother maybe to much, but again I don't think it is that unusual. I do hope they stop taking Terri out to help, she is of no help.

[Northern Rose]

Police enter day six in search for Tori's body
Updated: Mon May. 25 2009 9:34:24 AM

ctvtoronto.ca

As police spend a sixth day searching for the body of Victoria (Tori) Stafford, investigators are asking the public for help in locating the rear seat of a 2003 blue Honda Civic.

The blue vehicle, which is partially covered by black spray paint, was spotted in a Guelph, Ont. Home Depot parking lot hours after Tori went missing from her hometown of Woodstock on

April 8.

Investigators believe the car was allegedly involved in the kidnapping and murder of the little girl.

Police had previously asked the public to come forward if they remembered seeing the vehicle that same day.

Investigators ask that it not be touched, so that it can be preserved in its existing state for use in the investigation.

"It could have some forensic value, there could be some trace evidence on it," Bruce Smollet, a retired staff inspector from the Toronto Sex Crimes Unit, told CTV's Canada AM on Monday.

"If the back seat was taken out prior to Tori being taken it certainly shows some pre-planning."

Police have charged Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, with kidnapping and murder.

Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, faces charges of kidnapping and being an accessory to murder after the fact.

For the last five days, McClintic has been helping the Ontario Provincial Police find Tori's body in a search radius that covers the span of a 50-minute drive from Guelph, Ont.

The court order allowing McClintic to aid police in the search expired Sunday night.

Smollet said it appears likely that McClintic doesn't know where Tori is.

"If she knew where Tori was I'm pretty sure she'd have been found by now," Smollet told CTV's Canada AM on Monday.

In Woodstock, residents packed churches Sunday in a bid to deal with the tragedy.

"Certainly it has really hit the church family hard, we've been trying to do what we can to support and reach out with comfort to the family," Rev. David Duncan said Sunday. "It has hit home, too close to home."

Rafferty and McClintic are due to appear in court Thursday.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090525/stafford_search_090525/20090525?hub=Toronto