WOODSTOCK, Ont. - The search for Victoria Stafford's remains dragged into a 10th day Friday, as her weary father revealed police have told him they may never find his little girl.

Rodney Stafford said police told him Thursday to be prepared for the possibility his daughter's body may never be recovered.

"That's hard, because without me actually seeing her in one form or another, I won't be able to lay it to rest," he said Friday.

More than seven weeks have passed since eight-year-old Tori vanished, and it's been more than a week since police arrested two suspects and began searching for her remains.

Police at first looked in a specific rural area with the help of one of the accused, 18-year-old Terri-Lynne McClintic, examining rock piles and industrial-sized garbage bins.

McClintic and Michael Rafferty, 28, are charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. The two appeared in court via video Thursday, when McClintic's charge was upgraded from being an accessory to murder.

Stafford said he was relieved to see McClintic's charges had increased in severity, "but in another sense it doesn't matter."

"None of that's going to bring Victoria back," he said.

After a judicial order allowing McClintic to assist with the search expired for a second time after five days last Sunday, it was not renewed. Her lawyer Jeanine LeRoy has not commented on why, but said authorities are no longer asking McClintic to physically aid in the search.

The hunt for Tori's body has been expanded to include lakes and areas near Canada's busiest highway, the 401.

Tori's mother Tara McDonald has said she does not want to hold a funeral until her daughter's remains have been found. Stafford agrees, but said he doesn't know how much longer he can remain in grief-stricken limbo.

"If we're going to do something for it, it's going to have to be done soon because we can't be holding on to nothing if they don't ever find her," he said.

Stafford pleaded with the accused or whoever may know the location of his daughter to let him and his family begin dealing with their grief.

"Be a man and just let Victoria come home," he said. "Say where she is, let it come out. Let everybody rest."

Unlike McClintic, Rafferty has not helped in the search, and on the advice of his lawyer has not co-operated with or talked to police since getting legal counsel.

The Crown indicated Thursday that McClintic and Rafferty will be tried separately. While Rafferty's lawyer Hal Mattson made it clear outside court he had no direct knowledge of why the Crown decided to conduct separate trials, he said people could speculate there's a deal in the works with McClintic.

"Usually (it's) because they are talking to one or other of the counsel and they've got a different tack," Mattson said outside the court.

"One of those tacks that (the Crown) may have is that they have or might be negotiating a deal with the other side. ... I'm just saying that's what someone could speculate."

LeRoy said she has not had any discussions with the Crown attorney to that end.