Police in Woodstock, Ont. say they acted as quickly as possible when they discovered eight-year-old Victoria Stafford went missing after school last week.
Authorities were notified of the girl's disappearance at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday April 8. Before midnight of that day, police in other jurisdictions were notified and by 3 a.m. a notice went out to the media, Community Police Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Maitland defended the police's actions after a U.S. organization questioned the time it took for Ontario investigators to report the girl missing. In the U.S., police are required to notify the FBI within two hours.
Victoria, known as "Tori" by her close friends and family, was last seen six days ago walking with an unidentified woman at around 3:30 p.m. after school. The two were caught on surveillance tape.
The little girl appeared to be walking with the woman willingly. Maitland said the case is still being investigated as a missing person and not as an abduction.
Maitland insisted that Victoria's case has been a priority for police in the region since the first moment she was reported missing.
Police have been criticized for not issuing an Amber Alert -- an urgent bulletin notifying the public and the media when a child has been abducted.
In order for police to issue an Amber Alert, the following three criteria must be met, according to Ontario Provincial Police:
- The child must be under 18 years of age.
- Police believe the abducted child is in imminent danger.
- There is enough information about the abductor and or suspect's vehicle to believe that an immediate broadcast alert would help locate the child.
Despite having access to grainy footage of the woman walking with Victoria, police have not been able to identify her.
Enhanced video
Last night, police released a sharper, clearer version of the tape, hoping that it would help someone recognize the young dark-haired woman wearing a white coat.
But Maitland said the enhanced footage is not as clear as investigators would like it to be.
"We don't have any indication yet of who the female is on the video," she told CTV Toronto Tuesday afternoon.
"The fogginess around (the image) has been removed but it was unable to bring the image closer so it's certainly not as clear as a portrait," she said. "People have an illusion that we can make a blurry photo like this crystal clear but we can't."
The enhanced footage was released hours after police called off their ground search for the missing girl.
The ground search was called off because it had turned up nothing that could be linked directly to Victoria on the day she went missing, Maitland said.
However, several officers were seen walking around Victoria's neighbourhood after the ground search was called off. Maitland said police are still actively investigating the case.
"The ground search has concluded and has been completed but we still have officers going door-to-door and canvassing homes and business properties," she said.
Maitland said police are hopeful Victoria is still alive because the search "has not located something that would lead us to believe foul play may be a factor."
However, she also said the amount of time Victoria has been gone worries her, calling it an "uncertain situation."
Counsellors for students
In the meantime, staff at Oliver Stephens Public school did what they could Tuesday to create a stable environment for the children's first day back since the investigation captured the town's attention over the Easter holiday long weekend.
Staff at the school had met with a traumatic events response team on Monday to prepare them on how to deal with their worried students, said Kate Young, a spokesperson for Thames Valley District School Board.
Eight counsellors were available to students on Tuesday to help them cope with their friend's mysterious disappearance.
"(They) are here to talk to students if they need to talk," Young said.
She acknowledged that it has been a difficult time for everyone in the community.
"I'm sure every parent at this school and every parent in Woodstock and in Ontario and Canada is thinking twice about how their children are getting to and from school today," she said.
