Girl's disappearance ‘killing me,' says dad
WOODSTOCK, Ont.  It has been an agonizing, nearly sleepless three days for Rodney Stafford since his eight-year-old daughter disappeared.
He said he is barely keeping it together, but what hits him hardest is seeing the smiling face of his “baby girl” on missing posters everywhere he turns in this small southwestern Ontario city.
“It's killing me,” Mr. Stafford said Saturday. “(I want to) let her know that I love her and I'll see her soon. One way or another I'll see her soon.”
Victoria Stafford was last seen leaving her school in Woodstock, east of London, Wednesday afternoon. Police say they've identified Victoria in surveillance video around the time she was last seen, walking with a woman whom police call a “person of interest.”
Police have not declared Victoria's disappearance foul play, but haven't ruled it out.
“There are a lot of different possibilities,” said Oxford Community Police Constable Laurie-Anne Maitland.
“Not everyone that takes a child hurts a child. There are lots of different scenarios that we can be weighing. Is it possible? Absolutely. But is the opposite possible? Absolutely. I'd like to say foul play is not suspected at all, but that would be inaccurate.”
Mr. Stafford said he just wants to have his beautiful daughter return home.
“I've had a lot of problems come up in my life and stuff like that, and I haven't always been there for my kids, but this is my baby girl and it's absolutely hurting now,” Mr. Stafford said.
“I'm having a real hard time.”
When Mr. Stafford walks through the city streets, he is surrounded by posters that have been plastered up by an army of volunteers.
“Now that I'm seeing all the flyers and stuff, every time I walk past all I want to do is cry,” he said.
He describes his daughter as a smart, one-of-a-kind, bubbly girl who just wants to spend time with her family and friends. Mr. Stafford also said his 10-year-old son Daryn is having a difficult time because he and his sister Victoria are “two peas in a pod.”
A veritable army of volunteers flooded a retail parking lot next to the police station Friday to help with the search efforts and dozens more passed out flyers. Mr. Stafford said he was deeply touched by the outpouring of support.
“It's outstanding,” he said. “Even people I know that dislike me and stuff, they're out searching for my baby. That means so much.”
Mr. Stafford and Victoria's mother separated in December and he called it “an ongoing struggle.”
The around-the-clock search for Victoria continued Saturday mostly in an official capacity, with search and rescue crews from nearby London co-ordinating the effort.
While the offer of support from hundreds of volunteers from the community is wonderful, it's a bit difficult to oversee, Const. Maitland said. A volunteer search group would have to be supervised by an official to ensure any evidence was gathered properly.
Other parents in Woodstock were holding their children a little bit tighter Saturday.
James Schumann, 31, doesn't know what he would do if his six-year-old son Dion went missing.
He said he has been keeping an extra close eye on the boy since Victoria's disappearance.
“It's pretty devastating,” he said.
“I hope it doesn't happen to (my child). I'm pretty much watching, see where he's going, make sure nothing like this would happen to him.”
Jason Gardyne, a father of three, said it worries him that Victoria seems to have just vanished.
“I've lived here all my life — 34 years — and I've never heard anything like that,” he said, while taking a walk with his seven-year-old daughter.
However, he said he still doesn't let his children walk home from school alone.
“I keep a pretty close eye on them,” Mr. Gardyne said.
The community is also planning a candlelight vigil for Sunday night. Meanwhile, Victoria's family has created a $10,000 reward for her return.
Victoria Stafford, eight years old, was sighted leaving her Woodstock, Ontario school on Wednesday afternoon with an unknown woman caught on video camera.  She has not been seen since.
Woodstock.
Victoria (Tori) attended grade 3 at Oliver Stephens Public School, and the video is from the College Avenue secondary school as Victoria and the unidentified woman walked along Fyfe Avenue.

"I've had a lot of problems come up in my life and stuff like that, and I haven't always been there for my kids, but this is my baby girl and it's absolutely hurting now," her father Robert Stafford said, "It's killing me, I want to let her know that I love her and I'll see her soon. One way or another I'll see her soon."

Police teams from Oxford, Waterloo and London have assembled together with rescue dogs and trained search and rescue personnel to find the child.

Police have called the search a criminal investigation, but have not yet issued an Amber alert as there has been no report of an abduction.

150 volunteers joined search efforts and to pass out flyers on the 10th. Police say they have no need of more volunteers at this time, however they would appreciate any tips or calls from anyone who may have seen either Victoria or the woman.  

The unidentified woman seen in the video is described as between 19 and 25 years old with straight long black hair. She weighs about 120 to 125 pounds and was wearing a white coat and black jeans in the video. Victoria was wearing a green shirt with a black pleated skirt. She was wearing black and white shoes and carried a purple and pink Bratz purse. She had on a black Hannah Montana jacket which had a white fur lined hood.

"I think what's happening with members of the public is an expression of their emotions, their concern for this child. And I think that's good in terms of the willingness of this community to step up," said  Michael Harding, Mayor of Woodstock.

Volunteers are making and handing out purple ribbons, Tori's favourite colour. A candlelight vigil will be held in the evening on Easter Sunday.