The female suspect in the kidnapping and murder of Victoria Stafford has been accompanying police as they urgently search for the remains of the young victim.
Reporters spotted Terri-Lynne McClintic in an unmarked police vehicle and in an OPP helicopter as the search focused on an area between Guelph and Fergus, Ont.
The lawyer for the 18-year-old woman facing charges of abduction and being an accessory after to fact to the murder says her client is co-operating with police in the intensive search for the eight-year-old Woodstock girl's remains.
"I can tell you that she is doing it voluntarily, she feels a real obligation to do this, and genuinely wants to help," Jeanine Leroy told CTV News on Thursday about Terri-Lynne McClintic.
Police have obtained a judge's order allowing McClintic to stay with them and assist in the search for Tori's remains, she said.
CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin reports that McClintic was taken up by helicopter on Wednesday to point out landmarks near the location where the girl's body might be found. Officers also searched a rockpile near Guelph on Thursday.
They are also conducting a meticulous search of a garbage dumpster on a property north of Fergus, which is about 90 kilometres northeast of Woodstock. Police have cordoned off the dumpster with police tape and an officer is standing guard at the site.
Meanwhile, Tori Stafford's mother criticized police and lashed out against those responsible for the girl's death.
"My daughter's not coming home. I want the killers dead," said Tara McDonald in an exclusive interview with the London Free Press Thursday night.
There are multiple stories about what linkages McClintic may have had with McDonald. But it isn't known yet if the accused and Tori were known to each other.
The teen's 28-year-old boyfriend, Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, faces kidnapping and first-degree murder charges. Both suspects appeared in court Wednesday and were remanded in custody until May 28. Police don't anticipate any further arrests.
Const. Glen Childerley says the search for Tori's body will be a long and complex process. When asked if the public should join the search effort, Childerley said police are trained for such work and they have all the resources they need.
Legal analyst Steven Skurka says even if no body is found, there are cases of people being convicted of murder.
"At the press conference yesterday it was indicated that police could confirm that murder was the proper charge, so it seems to me that they have a body of evidence that indicates without any doubt whatsoever that this poor child was murdered," Skurka told Canada AM from Toronto.
Coping in Woodstock
Woodstock Mayor Michael Harding said while there has been an outpouring of anger among residents, he thinks the ongoing emotion is going to be one of grief.
"There are many ways of dealing with this but I think the overwhelming feeling is grief," Harding told CTV Newsnet. "I hope we don't turn ourselves over to fear because when we live in fear we do transform this very, very safe community into something that we don't like."
He said residents understand that the incident is an isolated one.
"We can't live in fear but there is concern for the streetproofing of our children and this is a terrible, terrible way to learn that lesson," he said.
Counsellors are at Tori's school Thursday, where the flag flies at half-mast, to help children cope with the loss of the little girl. Bill Tucker, the director of education at Oliver Stephens Public School, says the goal is to "normalize things as quickly as possible so kids have a feeling of safety in a school environment."
Tori and her family used to live in a co-op development near the school before moving a few blocks away to a new home.
A few doors away from her old home, Heather Baker set up a tea party memorial. It featured a teapot, crackers, stuffed animals, flowers and plenty of purple-coloured decorations -- in honour of Tori's favourite colour.
Heather's daughter Emma, 7, was best friends with Tori.
Emma had been looking forward to another tea party with Tori when her friend was found, Heather said.
"They told her at school before she came home and she just cried," she said.
"(Emma) knows the finality of death and she was just devastated. She wondered who did this. She wanted to know who did this to her best friend and why."
Everyone at the co-op has been hit hard by Tori's death, Baker said.
"We can still see Tori running back and forth across the lawns in her bare feet," Baker said. "I guess it occurred to all of us that this may be an outcome, but you just choose not to believe it."
With reports from CTV News correspondents and files from The Canadian Press
