From: jcs
The Abduction of Tori Stafford
On April 8, 2009, at 3:25 p.m., the dismissal bell rang at Oliver Stevens School in Woodstock, Ontario [00:00:03]. Eight-year-old Tori Stafford was captured on surveillance leaving the premises two minutes later than her classmates, as she had gone back inside to retrieve her mother’s butterfly earrings from her desk [00:00:15]. Tori never returned home that Wednesday afternoon [00:00:25].
Initial Investigation and Public Appeals
Tori was reported missing by her grandmother at 6:04 p.m. on April 8, 2009, prompting an immediate missing-persons investigation [00:00:28]. Roughly seven hours later, surveillance footage from a local high school was discovered, showing Tori walking side-by-side with an unidentified woman [00:00:36]. Tori did not appear to be struggling in the video [00:00:44]. The woman was described as being between 19 and 25 years of age, white, 5 foot 2 inches tall, and weighing approximately 125 pounds, with a black ponytail [00:00:47].
Local police made a public appeal for the woman in the video to come forward [00:00:55]. Tori’s grandparents offered a $10,000 reward for her safe return [00:00:58]. A Facebook group dedicated to finding Tori gained over 20,000 followers in less than 24 hours [00:01:03].
On April 12, 2009, four days after her disappearance, hundreds gathered in Woodstock at 8 p.m. to hold a vigil for Tori [00:01:07]. Her mother made a tearful televised appeal for her daughter’s return [00:01:14]. Over the following week, Tori’s parents were interviewed by investigators and both passed polygraph tests [00:01:19].
Escalation of the Case
Six days after Tori’s disappearance, police called off ground searches, as they had found no clues or leads [00:01:24]. The following day, America’s Most Wanted featured Tori’s case as its top story [00:01:30]. On April 17, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) took the lead in the investigation, and ground searches resumed [00:01:35]. The case was officially re-classified as an abduction rather than just a missing person case [00:01:41].
The OPP stepped up their media campaign by releasing a composite sketch of the woman in the video, circulating the image on social media and local news outlets [00:01:45].
Breakthrough and Arrests
On May 19, police obtained information identifying the woman as 18-year-old Terri-Lynn McClintock, who was already in custody for breaching a probation order related to a previous drug violation [00:01:54]. McClintock was transferred to the Ontario Police Headquarters and interviewed around 5:30 p.m. by Detective Sergeant Jim Smith [00:02:03]. Initially, she denied being the woman in the video and claimed to know nothing about the missing girl [00:02:09].
Approximately 45 minutes into the interrogation, McClintock confessed [00:02:13]. She described in detail the abduction and killing of Tori Stafford, stating that she lured Tori into a secluded parking space with the promise of showing her a puppy [00:02:57]. Tori was then forced into the backseat of a vehicle that immediately drove away [00:03:03]. The driver was 28-year-old Michael Rafferty [00:03:06]. Rafferty drove to a secluded area about 100 miles north of Woodstock, where he sexually assaulted and murdered Tori [00:03:10]. The fatal injuries were four strikes to the head with a claw hammer [00:03:16].
McClintock drew a rough sketch of the area where Tori was killed, which eventually led police to discover the girl’s remains [00:03:20]. Tori was found with lacerations to her liver and sixteen broken ribs, and her cause of death was confirmed to be repeated blows to the head with a blunt object, correlating with McClintock’s testimony [00:03:25].
At 7:55 p.m. that evening, Michael Rafferty was arrested and charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder [00:03:37]. He was read his rights and brought to police headquarters for immediate interrogation [00:03:44]. During his interrogation, the lead investigator, Staff Sergeant Chris Loam, stated that Michael Rafferty was involved in the abduction of Tori Stafford, her death, and that there was a sexual component to the crime [00:23:27]. During his interrogation, Rafferty was compared to Paul Bernardo due to the sensational nature of the case [00:49:59].
Verdict
Michael Rafferty was found guilty of murdering, kidnapping, and sexually assaulting eight-year-old Tori Stafford [00:55:27]. Both Michael Rafferty and Terri-Lynn McClintock were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years [00:57:16].