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Thursday, May 21, 2009

City grieves as police continue search for Victoria Stafford's body

Sarah Ditchfield writes \Sarah Ditchfield writes "We will miss you Tori" on the sidewalk near Victoria "Tori" Stafford's home. Charges of murder were laid in court today, May 20, 2009 in Woodstock, Ontario in the case of the eight-year-old girl has been missing since April 8. (Dave Chidley/Canadian Press)

Grief counsellors returned to Oliver Stephens Public School in Woodstock, Ont., on Thursday hoping to help the grade school students deal with the emotions over the death of their classmate, Victoria Stafford.

The Grade 3 student was abducted as she left the school on April 8. Police said Wednesday they believe she was killed that day, or shortly after, by her abductors.

The search for the child's remains continues in a number of locations and a command post has been set up in Fergus, just north of Guelph. Police say they won't stop looking until they can reunite the eight-year-old with her family.

Victoria's father, Rodney Stafford, said he needs to see his daughter's body before he believes she is dead.

Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, and Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, have been charged in Victoria Stafford's death. Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, and Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, have been charged in Victoria Stafford's death. (Facebook/Canadian Press)

"I love her with all my heart and until I see her, I will not lay this to rest," Stafford said Wednesday.

Tori's brother Daryn, 11, is devastated and bewildered, he said.

On Wednesday, a man and woman from Woodstock were charged with the abduction and killing of Victoria, known as Tori to her friends and family, who was last seen on a security camera leaving her school alongside a woman with dark hair and wearing a white coat.

Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, and Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, have been charged. Rafferty was charged with abduction and first-degree murder, while McClintic is charged with abducting the child, assisting Rafferty in escaping the area and being an accessory to murder after the fact. They make their next court appearance on May 28.

Children told of events, mother 'holding up'

At Tori's school, the children were told about the events.

Police officers use a dog to search through a pile of debris in a rural field north of Guelph, Ont. on Wednesday, the day a man and a woman were arrested in connection with the abduction of Victoria Stafford. Police officers use a dog to search through a pile of debris in a rural field north of Guelph, Ont. on Wednesday, the day a man and a woman were arrested in connection with the abduction of Victoria Stafford. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

"We've basically been saying to the children ... that Tori won't be coming back to school," said Bill Tucker, the director of education for the Thames Valley School Board.

"It's a very difficult situation for us to explain вЂ" and my experience is that children take the news differently. So we're trying to be as sensitive as possible. It depends on the age group of the children. Some are able to comprehend and understand the situation better than others. We just don't know how