Updated: Sun Apr. 12 2009 19:26:01

CTV.ca News Staff

Holding lit candles and hoping for the best, around 1,000 people attended a candlelight vigil Sunday evening for a missing eight-year-old girl who vanished last week from her home in Woodstock, Ont.

The family of Victoria Stafford, missing since Wednesday, said they were overwhelmed by the support the community has shown.

Organizers said the vigil, held at the parking lot of a local Zellers store, is to help keep the community's hopes alive and to pray for Victoria's safe return.

Meanwhile, Victoria's mother is still holding out hope her daughter is alive and well.

"I hope she sees us and knows to call home and to get out from wherever she is," said mother Tara McDonald, through heavy sobbing.

"She has to wait until that person or people are sleeping or whatever, find a window, find a phone, find anyway you can..."

Unable to control her emotion, Victoria's mother told CTV Toronto Sunday afternoon that she hopes her daughter is being allowed to watch TV and can hear her pleas.

Police and volunteers have spent the last four days searching for Victoria (Tori) Stafford, who was last seen leaving Oliver Stephens Public School just after 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

A surveillance video captured images of Victoria walking with a woman that police have said is a "person of interest" but have yet to identify.

McDonald said she has watched the surveillance video footage repeatedly trying to see if she recognizes the stranger leading her daughter away.

"I keep trying to figure out if I know who that is, if it's someone that I knew from years ago...I have no clue absolutely of who that is in that video," she said through her tears.

Police officers spent Sunday scouring local lakes, ponds, forested areas and backyards for clues but their search came up empty.

More than 200 phone tips have been called in to local police but have so far yielded no clues about what happened to the girl.

Victoria's family is offering a $10,000 reward for her safe return. On Saturday, a Quebec businessman offered a $5,000 reward for information.

Victoria is about 4'5" and 62 pounds, with blue eyes and short blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a denim skirt, a green shirt and a black Hannah Montana jacket with a fur-lined hood.

Police say they have not ruled out anyone as suspects.

"I think everyone ... who knows this child and has contact with this child will be part of the investigation," Oxford Community Police Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland said Sunday. "I don't know that anyone's been ruled out."

In the meantime, McDonald said she's sick with worry over her little girl and wonders if she's being taken care of.

"Her bedtime is awful," she said, sitting next to her 10-year-old son Darren who put his arm around her in an effort to calm her sobs.

"I wonder if she's sleeping, where she's sleeping, if she has a blanket," she said. "Whoever has her, are they taking care of her general needs? Is she able to have a bath? It sounds silly to some people but I worry about her basic needs being met."

With files from The Canadian Press and a report from CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney