Police seek help locating missing Winnipeg girls

The Winnipeg Police Service and Child Find Manitoba are highlighting the cases of four Winnipeg girls as part of National Missing Children's Day, which is underscored this year by the recent case of eight-year-old Victoria Stafford.

The Woodstock, Ont., girl was abducted April 8 as she left school. Last week, police arrested and charged Michael Thomas Rafferty, 28, of Woodstock, with first-degree murder and abduction.

His girlfriend, Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, was also arrested and charged with abduction and being an accessory for allegedly helping Rafferty elude authorities. Authorities are still searching for Stafford's body.

In 1986,Canada's solicitor general declared May 25 to be Missing Children's Day in Canada. The Green Ribbon of Hope Campaign was created by students and faculty members of Holy Cross Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ont., in memory of one of their students, Kristen French, following her abduction and subsequent murder in 1992.

The campaign is designed to draw publicawareness to the issue of missing children in Canada. The green ribbon is a symbol to remember missing children and to seek their safe return.

In 2007, more than4,000 children from Manitoba went missing, according to the Winnipeg Police Service's missing persons unit.

"The majority of these children are safely recovered but unfortunately, some cases remain open for years," said a police release.

During Green Ribbon of Hope month, the police service and Child Find Manitoba are requesting the public's assistance in locating Tianne Bell, 13, Cherisse Houle, 17, Sara Vermette, 17, and Sunshine Wood, 22.

"[Their] families are desperately seeking their safe return," the police release stated.

Bell, missing since May 6, 2009, is described as aboriginal, 5-foot-7, with a thin build and long, black hair. She may possibly be residing in Brandon, police said.

Houle, last seen May 21, 2009, is described as aboriginal, 5-foot-1, 90 pounds, with brown eyes and long, black hair.

Vermette, has been missing since Feb. 15, 2009. She is described as Mtis, 5-foot-6, 129 pounds, with long, brown hair, brown eyes, and piercings in her eyebrow and possibly her lip. She is known to frequent the St. Matthews Avenue area as well as the Maryland Hotel on Notre Dame Avenue.

Wood, 22, has been missing since Feb. 20, 2004, when she was 16. She is described as aboriginal, 5-foot-7, 220 pounds, with long, brown hair, and brown eyes.

Of all children reported missing, one in six are located as a direct result of a published photograph, according to the Winnipeg police, addingthe public plays a critical role inthe locating of missing children just by taking a few seconds to view the photographs.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of any of the missing girls is asked to contact the missing persons unit at 204-986-6250.