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Police in Woodstock have released a photo of the suspect car involved in the abduction and murder of Victoria Stafford. Colin Frey, a farmer who lives in the Guelph area, says there are many isolated places where people can go to be free from prying eyes. Tara McDonald, mother of Victoria Stafford, becomes emotional during the end of her press conference from outside her home in Woodstock, Ont., Friday, May 22, 2009. Police in Woodstock have released a photo of the suspect car involved in the abduction and murder of Victoria Stafford.

Search for Tori Stafford's body focuses on vehicle

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CTV News: John Musselman on the search
Police are now asking anyone living within an hour's drive of Guelph, Ont. to search their properties for anything that could lead them to the whereabouts of the body of Victoria Stafford.

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Date: Sat. May. 23 2009 7:14 PM ET

People living in and around the Woodstock, Ont., area are once again being asked to search their property for evidence, as police scoured fields Saturday for the remains of Victoria Stafford.

Victoria, called "Tori" by those close to her, was kidnapped April 8 as she left school in Woodstock.

A six-week police investigation led to the arrest Tuesday of two suspects: Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, and her boyfriend, Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28.

McClintic faces charges of kidnapping and being an accessory to murder after the fact. Rafferty is charged with kidnapping and murder.

McClintic is said to helping police locate the child's remains but despite days of searching, investigators have come up empty. A court order allows the suspect to assist police until Sunday.

A farmer who in the Guelph area that is being searched said it could take officers quite some time to find anything because of the vast amounts of land that are completely isolated.

"A lot of people like to stop here because no one can see what we're doing," said resident Colin Frey, leading a CTV Toronto reporter through a wooded area. "It's marshy back here and there's a pond in the spring."

"Nobody would see it, never," he added.

On Friday, police said they are examining a car that belongs to the suspect.

They released an image of a 2003 Honda sedan they allege was involved in the kidnapping and murder of the little girl.

The blue Honda, which is partially covered by black spray paint, was spotted in a Guelph Home Depot parking lot hours after Victoria went missing.

Oxford Community Police Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland said police released the photo in the hope that someone may recall having seen the car in Woodstock or in Guelph around the time Victoria went missing.

"The police feel that the vehicle may greatly assist us in determining the possible whereabouts of Victoria Stafford's remains and our focus remains on recovering Victoria Stafford to provide closure for her family," Maitland said Saturday in a telephone interview with CTV Newsnet.

On Friday, Victoria's mother, Tara McDonald, dismissed the idea that McClintic was helping police, saying her daughter would have been found by now if McClintic knew where she was.

McDonald has also criticized police for how they conducted the investigation into her daughter's disappearance and says investigators at one point told her that she was their prime suspect.

Maitland said Saturday that Oxford police have not received a formal complaint from McDonald but take such accusations very seriously.

"To date we have not received any complaint from Tara McDonald about our management of the case and these avenues we have in place for anyone wishing to complain about police service can be accessed immediately and without repercussions," Maitland said.

"We don't make any apology about our goal being to find Victoria Stafford at all costs and everything is quote-unquote suspect until it is either ruled out or proven to be of no interest to police investigators."

In the meantime, some are wondering if an Amber Alert -- a police program that sends out urgent bulletins to the public with information about a missing child -- would have helped in this situation.

Peter Lloyd, a motorist looking to park in the Guelph Home Depot parking lot, told CTV Toronto that an Amber Alert could have helped save Victoria if the public was alerted to a description of the child earlier.

However, authorities have said repeatedly that they did not have enough information at their disposal at the beginning of the case to issue an Amber Alert.

Despite the questions that still surround the case, Woodstock residents are doing what they can to show Victoria's family some support.

One woman drove by McDonald's house to drop off some flowers, even though Victoria's mother was away for the weekend.

"This is a pretty big tragedy," said the woman. "I don't know how this family feels but I think it's good to show people that you care about them."

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