Victoria (Tori) Stafford, 8 - Canada, Murdered. The trial of Michael Rafferty

[Jezreel]

So sweet, had to post:

WOODSTOCK - More than 300 purple helium balloons and handmade purple butterflies greeted Woodstonians Sunday morning, April 8 in memory of Victoria “Tori” Stafford.

The gesture was carried out by 21-year-old Celina Horvath and her friend Kaitlin Bodden, who spent months collecting supplies and organizing the tribute. The pair went out in the early hours of Sunday morning to decorate Southside Park, the Pittock Conservation Area, Dundas Street, Sobey's Plaza, Oliver Stephens Public School and the cemetery where Tori is buried.

“So many lives (were affected) that day,” said Horvath on Facebook. “I felt (decorating the town would) celebrate (Tori's) life.”

Woodstock Sentinel Review


From FB



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The Toronto Star:
was three years ago Sunday that 8-year-old Victoria “Tori” Stafford vanished outside her school in Woodstock and in the midst of the trial of the man accused in her death, her family spent a quiet day marking the grim anniversary.

Her father, Rodney Stafford, and his family paid a visit to Tori’s grave, as they have been most days throughout the trial of Michael Rafferty in London, Ont.

April 8, 2009, was the day Tori never returned home from school and never would again. It’s tough to recall that day and the agonizing months that followed, before her remains were discovered that July, but at the same time each April 8 is just another day without her.

“Yes, it’s an anniversary, but I don’t want to keep reliving that day,” Rodney Stafford said. “There’s a deeper loss because she’s gone, but at the same time there’s more positive out there.”

Since Tori disappeared, community support for the family has been overwhelming, Stafford said. On Easter Sunday in 2009 a candlelight vigil for Tori, then missing four days, was organized and well over 1,000 people from Woodstock and beyond flooded a parking lot in town to pray for the girl’s safe return.

That same day, court has heard, Terri-Lynne McClintic was arrested on a breach of probation. She later confessed to abducting Tori and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping.

The Staffords have attended every day of the trial, though they say it’s difficult to listen to the allegations against Rafferty. The support of people across the country is one thing that keeps them going, they say.

They attended a charity race Friday in London, and were quite affected by a girl who wore a T-shirt in memory of Tori. She placed first in the 12 and under category, Stafford said.

“It was a tear-jerker, knowing the reason she was doing it,” Stafford said. “It’s proving that the story is affecting everyone, even kids.”

Well-wishers ask what they can do to honour Tori’s memory, and for now Stafford just hopes everyone can spend time with family, as he will.

“It’s Easter weekend,” he said. “Enjoy it. Grab your kids close.”