Police have ramped up their search efforts for Victoria (Tori) Stafford, the missing schoolgirl from Woodstock, Ont., who has not been seen in the past 10 days.
On Saturday, a police dive team searched a local pond and officers were going door-to-door to interview residents.
Const. John Edwards, who leads the dive team, said the pond at Southside Park was searched first because of its proximity to Tori's school, only one kilometre away.
While nothing was found in the pond on Saturday, police planned to expand the search to other local waterways.
Tori's father, Rodney Stafford, told reporters that it has been tough to see -- and take part in -- the search for his daughter in the water.
"I'm here to look for my daughter, but, this is the point and time that I don't want to find her," he said Saturday. "They're searching through the water."
The efforts were part of an "intensified search" that the OPP says could last a week or longer.
Officers are combing through all information that they have received so far, while detectives are trying to find some new leads in the case.
Acting Sgt. Wayne Sczepanski said Oxford Community Police officers had originally canvassed the community on a long weekend, which factored into the decision to repeat the process this weekend.
"We have in some cases spoken to the same person four or five times. It's just more or less to remind them of the ongoing investigation and to provide additional information," he said.
The girl's mother, Tara McDonald, said she felt confident that police are going to find Tori.
"I feel confident. Not that I didn't before, you know, but I feel better that there's fresh eyes," she said.
"Our police officers were getting exhausted, you know, so they're fresh eyes and some more energy and strength is being put into (the search)."
On Friday, OPP officers took control of the case and designated it as an abduction investigation. Previously, Tori's disappearance had been considered a missing person case.
An initial ground search had been conducted by Oxford Community Police, with the assistance of local forces, following notice that Tori had disappeared on April 8.
The eight-year-old Grade 3 student vanished after attending school that same day.
In the days that followed, video was uncovered showing Tori walking with an adult woman who has yet to be identified.
The woman, whom police quickly identified as a person of interest, is the only major case lead the police have made public.
And while no one has come forward to identify the woman, police say they have "pretty substantial direction" in their efforts to determine her identity.
The video came from a security camera at a high school near Tori's elementary school.
With a report from CTV's James MacDonald and files from The Canadian Press
