Open Discussion: Tara McDonald, Tori Stafford
As many of you know, little Tori (Victoria) Stafford disappeared back in April. She simply never came home from school on Wednesday, April 8. Not long afterward, police found video surveillance of a little girl they believed to be Tori walking away from her school. She was walking with an unknown woman in a white puff coat. No one could identify the woman in the video, so the police released the surveillance footage to the public with hopes of solving the crime.
Tori’s mother, Tara McDonald, who is divorced from her father, Rodney Stafford, went public to keep her daughter’s story in the news. She gave press conferences on nearly a daily basis for over a month. It didn’t take long before people became suspicious of Tara McDonald. On May 20, however, two people unrelated to Tori were arrested for her abduction and murder.
I thought it might be helpful for people to share their thoughts about why they didn’t believe Tara McDonald and to open up a dialogue so we can learn from this experience as many people doubted Tara’s sincerity.
When the story first broke, I was asked to give an opinion. I watched this video here and shared my thoughts. It was the end of April:
No hot spots for me at this time with regard to these videos, however, they don’t really say anything worthy of a lie here. However, their emotions are supportive that they are truly distressed and worried.
Then over the next few weeks, many more requests were made for me to review Tara McDonald, but because I was going through a difficult time personally, I didn’t draw any conclusions. I did not see any hot spots after reviewing many videos, but I just didn’t feel comfortable making a decision.
When I am emotional, I refrain from giving opinions out of fear my emotions will skew my judgment. I don’t always trust myself when my emotions run high, though I can honestly tell you that I did leaned towards trusting Tara.
In all the videos I watched, I only saw two oddities that were unusual, but didn’t necessarily indicate a lie on Tara’s behalf, hence I called them oddities and not hot spots:
- When Tara said she went to visit a mysterious benefactor, I thought it was strange when Tara told us how this mysterious benefactor had a lock of his or her child’s hair with them, and showed it to Tara. Who carries their deceased child’s hair around with them when they are traveling? It was a strange story. I also thought it was strange that Tara went in a limo to meet a total stranger, but it could have been plausible.
- In one of Tara’s press conferences, she talked about how the abduction of her daughter was so much harder than she ever envisioned it. Do most parents envision what it would be like if their child was abducted? It was odd.
Those were my thoughts and where I was in this scenario. What did you think of Tara McDonald? Did you trust her? What do you think now in hindsight that she was not arrested for her daughter’s murder? Did you learn anything from this experience?
What can we all learn from this experience?
* Please be respectful of all opinions shared. If you aren’t comfortable using your name, feel free to pick an alias. I will moderate any rude behavior. It will not be tolerated. In order to learn, we must all feel free to share our thoughts without ridicule.