Family of missing mother ‘continue to have hope’ two weeks after disappearance

The family of Victoria Taylor said they “continue to have hope” as they marked two weeks since she was reported missing.

Ms Taylor, 34, disappeared from her home in Malton, North Yorkshire, on September 30.

The last CCTV footage recorded of Ms Taylor shows her walking towards a play park close to the River Derwent at 12.30pm that day. A number of her possessions were found in that area.

Searches have been taking place on the river since Ms Taylor was reported missing on October 1.

On Tuesday, Ms Taylor’s sisters Emma and Heidi 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.”

In a statement released via North Yorkshire Police, the sisters said: “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.

“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.”

Chief Superintendent Fiona Willey said: “Over the past 14 days we have carried out extensive inquiries 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.”

Officers have already said Ms 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.

Further CCTV footage showed Ms Taylor walking towards the play park on Riverside Walk at 12.30pm.