Investigators will concentrate their search for the remains of eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford in Fergus, Ont., and at a landfill site in the area, a police spokeswoman said Friday.
Oxford police Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland said officers searched a lengthy stretch of Hwy. 401 Thursday, but will return to the landfill site located east of Salford, Ont. Friday.
The search for the little girl’s body began May 20, after two suspects were arrested and charged.
Eighteen-year-old Terri-Lynne McClintic had her charge upgraded Thursday to first-degree murder. She had previously been charged with abduction and accessory after the fact to murder.
Her co-accused, 28-year-old Michael Rafferty, also faces one count of first-degree murder.
The two were in a Woodstock, Ont courtroom via videolink Thursday. No details were provided in court as to why the charges against McClintic were upgraded.
The two will be tried separately, lawyers for the accused said Thursday.
Meanwhile, police continue to ask area property owners within a 50 minute drive of Guelph, Ont., to check their fields and report any suspicious or significant changes to landscape or familiar landmarks.
Investigators are also asking potential witnesses, who may have seen the suspect vehicle and or suspects either in the city of Woodstock, Guelph and the surrounding area, to come forward. The vehicle is described as a 2003 Honda 4-Door car, blue with black spray paint over portions of the vehicle.
Police are attempting to locate the missing back seat of the vehicle.
The Grade 3 girl was last seen on a surveillance tape, willingly walking after school with an unknown woman in Woodstock, about 150 kilometres west of Toronto, on April 8.
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