It’s now four days since Malton mum Victoria Taylor disappeared – and her home town has united in the search to find her.
Friends, family and residents are searching daily for the nurse, who was last seen at her Malton home at 9am on Monday.
The last known picture of her, a CCTV image taken at the BP garage on Welham Road, Norton, at 11.35am on Monday, has been released by police.
Specialist officers have been scouring the River Derwent on kayaks after some of her belongings were found near the water.
There is still hope that Victoria, 34, will be found safe – alongside a growing cloud of concern about what has happened to her.
A Facebook group, The Search For Victoria Taylor, is at the centre of the community effort to find her.
Her friend Lucy told YorkMix: “Please keep sharing the Facebook page. Keep your eyes open when you’re driving to and from work or are out and about, because we don’t know where she will have got to.
“And we hope that she is still wandering around. We’re trying to be very optimistic.”
She said the search operation was “tiring, but worth it. Everyone’s doing what they can. Everyone’s pulling together.”
Lucy thanked the town businesses for their support, including the Derwent Arms on Church Street, which has become a hub for searchers.
Pub landlords Charles and Simon Barber-Peat are opening the pub early and putting on free tea and coffee for searchers.
Charles told YorkMix: “It’s so important because Malton and Norton are such small towns, and everyone’s close knit and knows everyone.
“And it’s important for the family and friends of Victoria to get everyone together in a search to try and get her home.
“You can tell in the community that hopes are so high, but the atmosphere is tense.
“It’s the unknown that’s getting people down. She was really at the heart of the community, she was a nurse at a local care home, and known for being bubbly.
“People are really are exhausting themselves massively to be able to bring her home.”
Victoria is described as
- white
- about 5ft 6in tall
- last seen wearing blue jeans
- a black Adidas original puffa jacket with white stripes down the sleeves
- and a grey Jack Wills hooded jumper.
Any immediate sightings of Victoria should be reported to police on 999.
If you have any information which will help with the search then please call 101 and quote reference 12240178710.