Family of missing Victoria Taylor 'continue to have hope' two weeks after disappearance

The last CCTV footage recorded of Victoria shows her walking towards a children's playground close to the River Derwent in Norton at 12.30pm that day.

A number of her belongings were found in that area and North Yorkshire Police have been focusing their search efforts above and below the river. The force says no indication of any form of third-party involvement has been established.

A fortnight on from when the search for Victoria began, her sisters Emma and Heidi made a heartfelt plea and said: “There are no words for us to describe how we are feeling as it's ever-changing.

“We have to have some sort of normality for the children. As we know, Vixx is a mum but also an auntie and Halloween is one of her favourite seasons as she is the costume queen!

“We would like to thank the police teams as they are doing all they can, and we understand that these things take time.

“The local community is amazing, from putting up posters to the daily walks to search for Vixx. We would like to thank the special people, you know who you are.

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“The wider community on the Facebook page with over 10,000 people sharing Vixx’s information and sending support has given us comfort.

“We continue to have hope, as it is all we have at this time.”

As the search for the missing mum enters its 16th day, her friend told volunteers “to have hope” in an emotional Facebook post on a group dedicated to finding Victoria.

Emma Marie posted: “Day 16 of this living nightmare. Unfortunately it's raining. Those searching be careful out there. It gets very slippy. Another day where we have to have hope. We love you Vixx.”

Searches have been taking place on the River Derwent since Victoria Taylor was reported missing on October 1.

Victoria Taylor left her home at 9am on September 30, and was then seen on CCTV at 11.35am at the BP garage on Welham Road in the Norton area of Malton, where she purchased several items.

A further sighting was captured at 11.53am at Malton bus station on Railway Street and CCTV footage last showed Taylor walking towards the play park on Riverside Walk at 12.30pm.

Head of Local Policing at North Yorkshire Police, Chief Superintendent Fiona Willey said: “Over the past fourteen days we have carried out extensive enquiries to try and locate Victoria.

“Our focus remains on the area of the last sighting and where Victoria’s possessions were found close to the River Derwent.

“To assist with our search capability, we are utilising police search dogs from Northumbria who are specialised in searching for people. The dogs and their handlers are highly trained and are deployed to scour areas that run alongside the River Derwent.

“In addition to this, we continue with expert-led searches by land and water involving multiple teams, including our force drone unit.

“We are continuing to source and act on advice from national policing specialists and are issuing multiple appeals to the public and media for information.”