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

[Northern Rose]

Warning system 'fatally flawed,' creator says
CHILD SAFETY: Red tape has rendered Amber Alert 'ineffective,' advocate says
Posted By PATRICK MALONEY, SUN MEDIA
Posted 2 hours ago
 

The Amber Alert system is "fatally flawed" and in dire need of changes, warns the American child-safety advocate who helped create the original program.

Marc Klaas is particularly critical of the rule that apparently stopped Woodstock police from invoking an Amber Alert after Victoria "Tori" Stafford's April 8 disappearance -- the need for a description of a suspect vehicle.

"In a stranger (kidnapping) or an overtly predatory scenario, the perpetrator is going to take steps to cover his tracks," Klaas said from California.

"Therefore, it's incredibly unlikely you'll be able to get that information.

"It excludes the vast majority of children who need the Amber Alert the most."

Klaas, whose daughter Polly was kidnapped from a 1993 slumber party and killed, was a renowned child-safety advocate by the time nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted from an Arlington, Texas, parking lot in 1996. He later helped her family develop the first Amber Alert program, which has spread across the U. S. and Canada.

But the "red tape" created since has rendered it ineffective, Klaas said, noting many of the high-profile child abductions -- Elizabeth Smart and Adam Walsh, for examples -- wouldn't have qualified for an Amber Alert.

Klaas has become increasingly critical in recent months, largely because of the kidnapping of a California child: Two men tied up a family, ransacked their home and took a young child -- but an Amber Alert wasn't issued immediately because no one could describe the abductors' vehicle, he said.

"It's astonishing."

Vehicle descriptions are most likely in cases of family abductions, which are generally the least dangerous, Klaas said.

"It's a fatal flaw. I'm really concerned that the children that need this kind of response the most are the children least served by it."

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1585095

If you have not done so please sign the petition - Tori's law to have the Amber Alert system changed.  If we can get things changed in Canada then the US will likely also review their Alert system.  There are currently 31, 799 signatures.  It is being taken to Parliament this afternoon.  Please take the time to sign it.http://www.petitiononline.com/vict888/petition.html

[cookie]

just signed the petition....hope some changes are made and real soon!

[Northern Rose]

just signed the petition....hope some changes are made and real soon!

Thank you Cookie.   I believe we can make a difference one person at a time to help protect all these children.

[victorian]

Victoria (Tori) Stafford Questions Still Remain

Posted by admin in Provincial (Wednesday May 27, 2009 at 6:13 am)
On April 8, 2009 in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford disappeared after leaving Oliver Stephens Public School at 3:30pm. Originally filed as a missing persons case. Local authorities suspected Tori’s mother Tara McDonald of foul play. Six days latter the provincial authorities took over and declared that she had been abducted. With the abduction investigation underway two suspects emerge.

Police arrested Michael Rafferty, 28, and Terry Lynne McClintock, 18, on May 19th for kidnapping and murder. Neighbors claim they were drug dealers selling OxyContin to Tara McDonald. The police who now believe Tori was murdered, and are searching fruitlessly for her body with the help of McClintic. They did however manage to recover the missing backseat to the car suspected to have been used in Tori’s abduction. Police have been tight-lipped about the case details, and they will not say why they believe Tori was murdered. Rodney Stafford Tori’s father believes that the abductors came looking for Tori specifically; and with the obvious corporation of McClintic, it would seem everyone involved hopes that the truth will soon come out. On Thursday, May 28, Rafferty and McClintic are scheduled to be back in court. Until then questions still remain.

http://www.eontarionow.com/provincial/2009/05/27/victoria-tori-stafford-questions-still-remain/

This is the first time I have seen any of the outlets say that they have recovered the back seat.  I am searching for more on this.  Was it the one in Kitchner or is this a misstype?  IF it was Kitchner the search area has gotten a whole lot bigger.

This isn't identified as a news source...I'd be leery.

[no rose colored glasses]

just signed the petition....hope some changes are made and real soon!

Done 

[pink angel]

The search for Victoria Stafford has returned to Oxford County. A unit of officers are searching alongside the 401 between Highway 2 and Drumbo Road today. Police are still asking the public to keep an eye out for a discarded grey, cloth, rear seat from a Honda Civic which they believe was used in the abduction of Tori. Constable Laurie Anne Maitland says she appreciates the support of the public and realizes the search is taking some time but she says they need to be as meticulous as possible.
http://cd989.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=16505

[Tracygirl]

Do you have to be a citizen of Canada to sign the petition?

[canadianmonkey]

Do you have to be a citizen of Canada to sign the petition?

I don't think so.  They only ask for an email for verification and your first and last name. 

[Northern Rose]

Do you have to be a citizen of Canada to sign the petition?

No tracy anyone can sign

[Northern Rose]

Police continue to hunt for evidence, remains in Tori Stafford case
By THE CANADIAN PRESS – 1 hour ago

WOODSTOCK, Ont. — The search continues today for the remains of Victoria Stafford and evidence in her abduction and murder, though police are looking closer to Woodstock, Ont.

Provincial police officers from the emergency response unit are searching in Oxford County alongside Highway 401.

Oxford police Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland says police are not searching the area as the result of a tip.

Maitland says it "just makes sense" to search along Canada's busiest highway.

An extensive ground search also continues in Wellington County near Guelph, about an hour away from Woodstock, as police continue to comb through a vast rural area.

The eight-year-old girl, better known as Tori, went missing April 8 on her way home from school in Woodstock.

Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, who is charged with abduction and being an accessory, and Michael Rafferty, 28, who is charged with first-degree murder and abduction, are scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jgSiKcgsiCu-EvRfXJ0GwhMom03w

[Northern Rose]

Is capital punishment appropriate for child or serial killers?


Shock. Disgust. Sadness. Anger. These are some of the feelings many people have had following the abduction of an eight-year-old Woodstock, Ont. girl and the subsequent arrest of two people last Wednesday. The mother of Victoria (Tori) Stafford told one newspaper after the arrests were made that she wants “the killers dead.”
A 28-year-old man has been charged with abduction and first-degree murder and an 18-year-old woman has been charged with abduction and accessory to murder after the fact. There have also been reports of two other attempted child abductions in the area where police are searching for Tori’s remains, though it is not yet known if they are related. The woman accused in the abduction has led police on a wild goose chase to locate the girl’s body. Police suspect the girl, who was last seen being led away from her school by woman as caught on security cameras on April 8, was killed sometime later that day.

West Island parents are probably wondering how safe are their kids and what they can do better to prevent something like this happening here. The Missing Children's Network, leading into National Missing Kids Day on Monday, held a child ID clinic at Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre on Saturday. An updated child ID booklet can help police in the event a child is lost or goes missing because it speeds up the search process as a distraught parent may have difficulty describing his child’s appearance, and a recent photograph of their child can save precious minutes to make a difference. The Missing Children's Network also suggests talking to your kids about safety, setting clear age-appropriate guidelines and using everyday situations to reinforce safety concepts.

Meanwhile, many are outraged by what has happened to Tori and are asking if those accused, once convicted, will be punished enough. A mother and grandmother, while watching their respective toddlers, were overheard discussing the case at a Pointe Claire park last week, suggesting perverts who murder children, or even serial killers, should face the death penalty. Why lock up inhuman people who can never be rehabilitated (like Paul Bernardo or Clifford Olson) and will never be released from behind bars? Wouldn’t it be better to stop wasting taxpayers’ money on incarcerating these sadists for 30 or 50 years?

Some argue capital punishment could be considered for certain cases, such as serial killers and killers of children. However, the concern over wrongfully convicted people being executed is legitimate as there have been a few high profile Canadian cases of murder convictions being overthrown after decades of misguided justice. While executing creeps who rape, torture and murder will not bring a child back, some believe the punishment should fit the crime.

Emotions run high following incidents such as Tori’s abduction and apparent murder but they can lead to some action. When Frank and Jocelyn Toope were murdered by three teens in Beaconsfield in 1995, public outcry suggested tougher penalties for young offenders and Ottawa took notice. The murder of Tara Manning in Dorval in 1994 prompted new legislation opening up rules for police to collect DNA evidence.

Tori’s case should spark debate as well, on everything from capital punishment to research into what turns people into psychotic killers, and even doing more to protect children from perverts.

http://www.westislandchronicle.com/article-342017-Is-capital-punishment-appropriate-for-child-or-serial-killers.html

[Northern Rose]

Car seat discovered in Milton sent to police investigators involved in Tori Stafford case
 
News
May 27, 2009

  It may have no connection to the Tori Stafford case, but a car bench seat found off a roadway in Milton has been sent to the Ontario Provincial Police for examination.
Halton Regional Police Det.-Sgt. Kevin Britton, head of the service’s Major Crimes unit out of headquarters in Oakville, told the Post a car seat is the most interesting tip that local police have received to date and passed on to the Stafford case’s investigators.

Eight-year-old Tori went missing from near her home in Woodstock on Wednesday, April 8. The little girl's body has yet to be found.

A 28-year-old man, Michael Thomas Rafferty, and an 18-year-old woman, Terri-Lynn McClintic, have been arrested. Rafferty is charged with first-degree murder and abduction; McClintic is charged with abduction and accessory to murder.

The focus of the investigation of late has been on Rafferty’s 2003 blue Honda Civic with blotches of black spray paint. OPP have the car but a rear seat is missing. The Toronto Star has reported that three seats, one in Guelph and two in Kitchener, have been found.Grey, cloth-covered seat

Britton said a grey, cloth-covered car seat found near a roadway in north Milton last weekend, after Halton police followed up on a tip from the public, has been sent to the OPP for examination.

“It’s not for me to determine whether it’s relevant. I pass (tips) on. The formal (reporting) process just started up,” said Britton, noting several bits of information that may impact the Stafford case have been passed on to investigators in the joint project involving the Oxford County OPP and the central OPP unit in Orillia.

http://www.burlingtonpost.com/news/article/256991

[Northern Rose]

Tori Stafford Murder Case Update

Tori Murder Suspect Under Suicide Watch

 
While police still search for the remains of eight-year-old Victoria Stafford, the man accused with abducting and murdering her is under a different kind of observation entirely: suicide watch.

Twenty-eight-year-old Michael Rafferty is being held in a segregated jail cell, under close watch, for fear that he may try to harm himself.

Rafferty, along with eighteen-year-old Terri-Lynne McClintic, are both charged in connection with the case of the missing girl, who was abducted on her way home from school April 8 in Woodstock, Ontario. McClintic is facing lesser charges of abduction and accessory after the fact, but both are expected to make an initial appearance in court this coming Thursday.

Rafferty and McClintic are both residents of Ontario, where Stafford went missing. The main lead investigators had was a surveillance camera that captured Stafford leaving with an unidentified woman the day of her disappearance.

The entire case has brought concerns regarding Canada's Amber Alert System to the foreground, since the system was not activated despite the decidedly uncertain nature of Stafford's disappearance.

While officials review that decision, the search continues for Stafford's body, even with some assistance from McClintic, who reportedly feels obligated to help bring the girl's remains home.

http://www.ecanadanow.com/news/canada/tori-stafford-murder-case-update-20090527.html

[Northern Rose]

Search for closure
 
By Burlington Post Editorial

Editorial
May 27, 2009

eing a parent awaiting the gruesome discovery of a murdered child’s body is an unimaginable horror no one should have to endure.
Knowing that one of those charged in connection with the disappearance and death may hold the key to the recovery of your beloved child must be something far worse than a living hell. It has to be a psychological torture of an intensity that even a country at war would condemn.

While most of us are blessed to never come close to suffering this level of agonizing heartbreak, every parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent of a child can sympathize with the nightmare the parents of Victoria Stafford must be facing every moment of each day her remains go undiscovered.

Few could begin to fathom the depths of despair being felt by this little girl’s parents seven weeks after their sweet and vulnerable daughter walked away — seemingly voluntarily — from her Woodstock school with a woman in a white coat.

There was no chance for this mother and father to say goodbye, to offer one last hug, kiss or an ‘I love you.’

‘Numb’ barely scratches the surface of the attack on body and soul these parents must be suffering.

When any human tragedy prematurely ends a young person’s life, it is often said that a parent should never have to experience the grief of attending the funeral of their child.

What cruel torture must it be then to have your child go missing, be considered an early suspect in her disappearance and then learn from police that there is sufficient evidence of her abduction and murder to charge two people from the same community with the crime.

Whether or not homicide investigators and the Crown attorney feel there is enough evidence to obtain convictions in a trial of those believed responsible for Victoria’s death is secondary right now.

The time to avenge this little girl’s murder — through the swift and hopefully forceful application of our country’s laws — will, for now, have to wait.

Before Tara McDonald and Rodney Stafford can begin to heal, they need to be reunited with their daughter and say their final goodbyes to her.

We find it extremely difficult to believe that anyone that experiences this amount of emotional torment can ever truly find closure.

Our only hope is that the search for Tori’s body will soon end and that she will finally be laid to rest and her life celebrated in remembrance by all whose lives she touched.

To help make that happen, police late last week appealed to anyone living within a 50-kilometre radius of Guelph to check their property for anything suspicious.

On Sunday, investigators also asked people to be on the lookout for the grey, cloth-covered back seat that is missing from the 2003 four-door Honda car belonging to the 28-year-old Woodstock resident charged with abducting and killing the little girl.

Anyone with any information that might help police locate Victoria Stafford can call Crime Stoppers toll free and anonymously at 1-800-222- TIPS (8477).

http://www.burlingtonpost.com/opinions/article/257011

[Northern Rose]

Home > More
Officers search near 401 in Stafford case

Woodstock - The search for the remains of Tori Stafford and evidence in her abduction and murder continues.

But, the search is back in Oxford County today.

 
OPP officers from the emergency response unit are searching alongside Highway 4-0-1.

Oxford Police Constable Laurie-Anne Maitland tells 570 News 12 officers are doing a ground search between Drumbo Road and Highway 2.

Maitland says the search is not the result of a tip.

A more extensive ground search also continues in Wellington County today, as police continue to comb through a vast rural area.

http://www.570news.com/more.jsp?content=20090527_150100_7232

[Northern Rose]

Tori search shifts to 401 at Drumbo
Waterloo Region Record staff

OXFORD COUNTY -- Twelve officers from the OPP Emergency Response Team are now searching the side of Highway 401 between the Drumbo Road Exit and Highway 2 for the remains of Victoria Stafford.

Oxford Community Police Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland said officers began searching the area this afternoon.

Until now, police have been searching near Guelph and Fergus. Dive teams were also called in to scour Belwood and Guelph lakes.

Police are also asking people to be on the lookout for the back seat of a 2003 Honda Civic that was spray painted black.

Victoria Stafford, known as Tori, was abducted from outside her school in Woodstock April 8.

Michael Rafferty, 28, and McClintic, 18, have been charged in the girl’s abduction and murder. They are to appear in Woodstock court tomorrow.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/486398

[Kat_Gram]

Thank you Northern Rose for your updates.
..
The OPP has been contacted by email by someone here re: My concern that the pictures of the suspects are not being shown. The TLM in corn rows which she didn't have before and Rafferty with his jacket over his head. Polite and withthe reasons why this might be important.   

[maureen]

I signed the petition

[Kat_Gram]

They are making a video court appearance tomorrow. They don't have to transport them anywhere. 
Read around the blogs etc on this, nada. OPP doesn't have any hot clues.

[Kat_Gram]

http://www.ctv.ca/

Charges upgraded for Terri Lynn to murder.
My thoughts :
Now there is going to be something to plea down for, an incentive for her to testify against him.
Bernardo / Homolka again IMO
His lawyer has not said much. No pleas of innocence. Must be waiting for discovery.