Police searching for Victoria Taylor reveal new sighting of missing mum as expert divers scour river

7 October 2024, 18:56

Police continuing their hunt for Victoria Taylor have said there is no reason to “suggest any form of third-party involvement” in her disappearance as they revealed a new sighting of the missing mum.

Ms Taylor vanished from her home in Malton, North Yorkshire, on Monday September 30, a number of her personal possessions were found close to the River Derwent in the town.

After leaving her home, Ms Taylor was pictured on CCTV at 11:35am at the BP garage on Welham Road, Malton.

Now, police have confirmed a further sighting of the 34-year-old.

Read more: Missing mum Victoria Taylor’s ‘cap’ and ‘rucksack’ found in search along North Yorkshire river path

Around 20 minutes later, at 11:53am, the mum was seen on CCTV at Malton bus station on Railway Street.

A spokesman said: "To date, this is the last confirmed sighting of Victoria.

"We remain open-minded and whilst the investigation of Victoria's movements has been thorough, we will continue to pursue existing and new lines of inquiry.

"Based on information obtained from these exhaustive inquiries, North Yorkshire Police is satisfied at the current time that there is no information to suggest any form of third-party involvement following the disappearance of Victoria and this remains a missing person case."

North Yorkshire Police have utilised a number of high-tech methods in their search, including the use of divers and specialist sonar equipment.

The spokesman continued: "On Tuesday, we recovered several personal items belonging to Victoria near to the River Derwent. This area is where we are currently focusing our search efforts and the public can expect to see continued activity in the coming days".

Inspector Martin Dennison said: "This is an extremely difficult time for Victoria's family and we are continuing to do all we can to try and find her.

"The focus of our search remains the area around the River Derwent and Victoria's family members are aware of this and the wider strategy that is in place.

"The family and the police understand the local community wanting to show their support with the searches for Victoria, but we urge people to exercise caution when searching particularly near to the river."

Last week, Ms Taylor’s fiancé broke his silence as he said her daughter "just wants her mam to come home".

On Friday, her fiancé Matthew Taylor put out a picture of the couple, as he said that he hopes she comes back safely.

"We are all hoping she comes back," he said of the care home nurse and mother of one.

"She was dedicated to her job, dedicated to us, and we had just returned from a lovely holiday," he told the Mail. "It is just sad."

Referring to her two-year-old daughter, Mr Taylor added: "Obviously, this one is missing her mam. We are all hoping she comes back."

Ms Taylor is white and approximately 5ft 6in in height. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black Adidas original puffa jacket with white stripes down the sleeves and a grey Jack Wills hooded jumper.