Ontario Provincial Police officers in Guelph, Ont., prepare to take off in a helicopter to search for eight-year-old Victoria Stafford's body on Thursday. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

As police officers took a woman charged in the abduction of Tori Stafford to a farmer's field near Fergus, Ont., on Thursday to help locate the girl's body, CBC learned there were two other attempted abductions of children in the area — as recently as two weeks ago.

One of the accused in the Stafford case, Terri-Lynne McClintic, was seen sitting slumped in the back of an unmarked police vehicle Thursday, hands behind her back, as it left the area north of Guelph and about an hour's drive from Stafford's hometown of Woodstock.

Terri-Lynne McClintic huddles in the back of a police vehicle on Thursday as it leaves a search location just outside Fergus, Ont., where police were investigating the disappearance of Victoria Stafford. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

CBC News learned that children attending schools in the Fergus area were sent home with a note warning their parents to be on the lookout for a dark-coloured vehicle, following the two attempted abductions.

There was a similar car in an enhanced surveillance video released by Ontario Provincial Police several weeks ago that showed Tori being led away from her school by a woman with dark hair and wearing a white coat on April 8. Police believe she was killed that day, or shortly after, by her abductors.

Though OPP confirmed the two other abduction attempts near Fergus, they declined to say whether there was a connection with the dark-coloured vehicle shown in the video. Investigators said they won't stop searching until they can find eight-year-old Tori's body.

"The investigation is first and foremost," OPP Const. Steve Starr told CBC News. "That's what we're concerned about. We want to make sure justice is done."

Police won't say whether McClintic is the same woman seen in the video, but a neighbour has her suspicions.

Jessica McDonald went to police after McClintic told her she was near Tori's school the day the girl disappeared.

She got more suspicious when she found out McClintic got rid of a white puffy jacket and cut her long hair.

"I just wanted that little girl to come home," McDonald said.

On Wednesday, McClintic, 18, and Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, of Woodstock were charged with Tori's abduction and killing.

Rafferty was charged with abduction and first-degree murder, while McClintic was charged with abducting the child, assisting Rafferty in escaping the area and being an accessory to murder after the fact. They are to make their next court appearance next Thursday.

'Lot of hatred'

McClintic, 18, and Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, have been charged in Stafford's death. (Facebook/Canadian Press)

In an interview with CBC News on Thursday, Tori's father, Rodney Stafford, spoke about the arrests, saying he is "just as much in the dark as everyone else" about the investigation.

"I have a lot of hatred toward the two who have been arrested. But at the same time, I have to keep myself together for the sake of my son, Tara [Tori's mother] and her family, myself and my family," he said.

Tori's brother Daryn, 11, is "taking it really hard," Stafford said, adding the family is trying to keep his mind off the tragedy by distracting him with paintballing.

In an exclusive interview with the London Free Press on Thursday, Tori's mother, Tara McDonald (no relation to Jessica McDonald), lashed out at the accused and police.

“My daughter’s not coming home. I want the killers dead,” she said. “I know there are sick and twisted people in the world but I had no idea. I don’t want to sound selfish and I wish this on no one, but I sometimes think, why did it have to be my daughter?”

Police wasted time by focusing their investigation on her, she said. “The three times I was interviewed by police, they said, 'We know it’s you,' " she told the newspaper.

“One officer came into my house and said, 'You are my prime suspect.’ He said, 'I have been doing this job as long as you have been alive and I have never seen a mother behave like you.’ I said, 'You should have dropped off the mother’s handbook to me so I would know how I’m supposed to behave.’ ”

Like Tori's father, she won't accept her daughter's death and refuses to make funeral arrangements until she sees a body.

Earlier Thursday, Tori's grandmother, Linda Winters, said no words can describe her daughter's pain. "A mother that's lost a child — it's like pulling your heart out."

Victoria (Tori) Stafford, shown in a family photo, went missing on April 8. (Canadian Press)

Media reports said yesterday that Tara McDonald knew McClintic because they were both involved in dog breeding, but Stafford said he does not know either accused.

Since the arrests were announced, his phone hasn't stopped ringing with callers offering their sympathy, and a steady stream of well-wishers have also come to his door— all gestures that he appreciates, Stafford said. "I can't thank everybody enough."

He still holds out hope. "I hate to believe she will be coming back to me and Tara as a body — remains. That's hard to… accept," he said. "Until I see my daughter's body, I still believe she is alive."

Meanwhile, grief counsellors returned to Oliver Stephens Public School in Woodstock hoping to help students deal with the emotions over the death of their Grade 3 classmate.

"We've basically been saying to the children... that Tori won't be coming back to school," said Bill Tucker, the director of education for the Thames Valley School Board.

Denise Klock leaves flowers at Stafford's house in Woodstock, Ont., on Thursday. (Dave Chidley/Canadian Press)

"It's a very difficult situation for us to explain — and my experience is that children take the news differently. So we're trying to be as sensitive as possible. It depends on the age group of the children. Some are able to comprehend and understand the situation better than others. We just don't know how individuals will react," he said.

Just a few blocks away, at Tori's home on Frances Street, Amanda Dellow arrived Wednesday afternoon to place purple flowers on the doorstep. She didn't know Tori or the family but empathizes with them.

"I'm a mother and I think it's very important the community sticks by this family. They have a lot on their plate," she said.

Connolly Love, whose yard backs onto Tori's home, has two daughters — one 11, the other 12. "I'm, I'm, I'm lost for words. [I] don't know what [I'm] gonna tell [them]. I can't promise them it wouldn't happen again. Just times we live in," he said.

Others in the community who have organized gatherings say they're "numb" and until Tori's body is recovered there will be no further vigils.

With files from The Canadian Press