The Tori Stafford Case: Twists, Turns, Tears And An Arrest
Posted May 20, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It has been a long and very strange case, filled with twists, turns, emotions and even bickering divorced parents.
Since the day eight-year-old Victoria Stafford disappeared while on her way home from her Woodstock school, recriminations and suspicions about what may be behind her apparent kidnapping have run rampant.
We may finally get our answers with the news of the arrest of two people in the case. Here’s a look back at how this unusual story has unfolded. Click the dates to see the corresponding stories.
The day that changed the life of an entire town begins innocently, as little Victoria Stafford leaves school on her way home. She was supposed to be walked back by a family member who wasn’t able to perform the chore that day. Instead, not far from where she left class, the little girl is met by a woman wearing a white puffy jacket. A distant security camera catches the mysterious figure as she gets the girl to go with her.
It doesn’t appear Tori is struggling and it looks like she goes with the person willingly, leading police to conclude it’s likely she knew her apparent captor.
It will continue to be both the best and the worst of clues for Oxford Community Police. It’s the only video they have of what happened to the child, but it’s so grainy and difficult to see that it provides few answers.
It will soon be watched around the world, as the hunt for the missing child heats up.
As the second and third days dawn without their daughter, Victoria’s divorced parents begin to fear the worst. “I would never wish this upon my worst enemy. It’s living hell,” reveals dad Rodney Stafford. “I was wary – maybe Victoria had just gone to one of her friend’s – till the next morning when all the kids returned to school and nobody had heard from her. That’s when I started to get really queasy and feared the worst.”
Despite a massive search, there’s still no sign of the missing girl or the woman in white. Cops remain optimistic she’s alive and will be found.
Woodstock begins mobilizing in earnest, as hundreds of volunteers turn out to search for Tori. Among them: a 17-year-old co-op student, who was among the last to see the child as she left school for the day. “I just want to see her in class Tuesday so I can give her a hug,” Sara Oliver explains. Some beat the bushes around town. Others put up missing posters. But all feel the same fear as everyone else. Who took the child and why? In a small town, everyone also wonders: is it someone I know?
The first of what will be several candlelight vigils is held for Tori, as Woodstock lets the absent child and her family know they haven’t forgotten and won’t stop until she’s home.
The ground search is officially called off, after nothing turns up. But police vow they haven’t given up their hunt for Tori.
In every missing child case, especially when there’s a history of acrimony among the parents, the mom and dad come under scrutiny. To remove any doubt, both take lie detector tests. The pair has been separated for about six years.
The signs of strain continue to build for Tori’s family, who complain police are refusing to treat the case as an abduction. The girl’s mother, Tara McDonald, is holding daily press conferences to keep the story alive and fresh in the mind of the public. “That does frustrate me that it’s not being called an abduction,” she asserts. “It is an abduction, somebody obviously grabbed my child that doesn’t belong to my family, that I don’t know, that her dad doesn’t know, so it is an abduction.”
Police respond to the family’s anger, labelling the case an abduction for the first time. Oxford Community Police have been reluctant to use the term, because the child appears to have willingly gone along with her kidnapper. The force also requests help from the OPP, which will add to the resources to aid in the hunt.
The first non-family criticism of local police seeps into the case, after a former Toronto Police officer involved in the Holly Jones search wonders why the Oxford force waited so long to call the crime an abduction and didn’t immediately issue an Amber Alert. His implied criticism is tempered because he knows the force is working with limited resources.
Local cops respond Amber Alerts are usually only called when there’s reason to believe a youngster is in imminent danger and there is specific information about a suspect. They had no such information in this case.
The search for Tori increases, ten days after she was last seen. Because of their size, Oxford Community Police have now brought in the OPP to help in the cause. Teams go door-to-door that weekend, while a local Under Water Search and Recovery Unit begins scouring waterways in Woodstock using sonar to pick up items at the bottom of lakes and rivers.
The public holds a Walk For Tori at a local school, hoping the girl will be found and brought home soon.
After seeing the same static picture of the missing girl for more than a week, the family releases home video of Tori on a recent vacation out west. They’re hoping the way she walks or talks will trigger some memory in a witness.
More than 1,000 tips pour in about Tori and the mysterious woman in white. Police remain tight lipped about the progress of their investigation, saying only they believe the girl is still alive. They begin searching a dumpsite close to Woodstock but apparently find nothing.
As the two week anniversary of the disappearance approaches, cops search a local landfill, sifting through the equivalent of 200 garbage trucks for clues. A nearby conservation area is also scoured.
A big break in the case appears near, as police finally release a composite sketch of the mysterious woman in white seen leading Tori away on April 8. It was made with the help of a new witness.
A frustrated and exhausted Tara McDonald lashes out at those who think the newly released sketch resembles her, continuing to insist she had nothing to do with Tori’s disappearance. “Quit pointing a finger at me, quit pointing fingers at everybody else, until there’s somebody that we can point a finger at,” she chides. The parents say they’ve tried to imagine who the composite looks like, but can’t come up with any names.
After being featured on the America’s Most Wanted website for several weeks, a very brief mention is made of Tori on the show itself. Her parents hope it will further generate publicity and new leads in the already high profile case.
The already bizarre case takes a decided turn for the strange again, after Tara McDonald reveals exclusively to CityNews that she was taken for a limo ride to Toronto by a rich stranger who also suffered the loss of an abducted child. The person offers to pay a $50,000 reward for the return of the little girl.
The bizarre nature of the reward offer causes McDonald to bristle, when asked about the unusual circumstances. “It was an anonymous person,” she insists. “I have shown ( CityNews reporter Cynthia Mulligan) and she’s listened to the message and seen the picture of us in the limo so people don’t think we are crazy and made everything up.”
The third week of Tori’s absence is taking a toll on Tara McDonald, who is trying to keep a brave face. But the strain is telling. “It’s worse than day one, but I mean, it’s getting more frustrating,” she admits. As for those persistent stories that the composite looks like the mom? “Woodstock is full of rumours and stories and crap, to be quite honest with you,” she replies.
As searchers look through brush and bogs surrounding Woodstock, the town shows it hasn’t forgotten the girl who has become everyone’s daughter. A charity motorcycle ride is held in her honour, raising funds and new awareness.
The first new clue in weeks surfaces, as police release an enhanced video of a blue sedan seen in the area at the moment of the now famous grainy security shot. Cops don’t think it has anything to do with the abduction itself but say the person or persons inside that vehicle could have valuable information about where Tori went and who took her.
As cops await tips on the car, Rodney Stafford emerges with a new plea. “To the persons responsible for Victoria’s disappearance: Victoria’s just a little girl, a little girl with hopes, hopes and dreams of being a child. I am begging you not to take that away from her. Please let her go!” There is no response from the abductors.
Tara McDonald admits police had previously seized her computer but explains they were looking to see if Tori might have been in touch with someone over the web.
On the one month anniversary of the kidnapping, McDonald admits she hasn’t completely been ruled out as a suspect. She continues to deny any involvement, insisting she just wants her daughter to come home. “I mean, like I said if something was wrong then I’m sure I wouldn’t be standing here right now. I’m being treated by the public and by Facebook, like I can’t even believe the insensitivity of people. It blows my mind.”
As the stress of the case reaches a breaking point, the already divided parents get into a public row before the press. McDonald gives her ex-husband the finger and stomps angrily into her house, while Rodney Stafford accuses of her running away again.
It follows McDonald’s admission that she had once been addicted to drugs, a fact she maintains has nothing to do with Tori’s case. Both later apologize for their sharp words and say the focus should be on finding Victoria – not on their fractured relationship.
The upset mom also reveals police have officially ruled her out as a suspect, after comparing her weight and height with the woman in the video.
A stunning twist in the case as police announce the arrest of two people. One, 28-year-old Michael Thomas Rafferty, is charged with murder. The other, his 18-year-old companion, Terri-Lynne McClintic, is accused of being an accessory. The hunt for Tori’s body takes police to Guelph as a depressing realization descends on Woodstock that the little girl is never coming home.
