Victoria Taylor: Inside sleepy town where missing mum vanished and immense manhunt to find her

As the search for Victoria Taylor continues, the Mirror takes a look at the usually quiet town of Malton, North Yorkshire, where residents have come out in force to find a mother who is so loved within the community

A usually quiet town close to North Yorkshire's famed moors, Malton has this week taken on a more frantic air.

It is here where 'popular' local mum Victoria Taylor disappeared on the morning of Monday, October 1, leaving her family desperate for answers. An intense search for the 34-year-old is now underway, with missing posters bearing Victoria's face plastered all around the market town.

For many of those in the area, Victoria's face will be a familiar one. As a nurse in a nursing home, she has cared for many elderly Malton residents in their hour of need, and her valued service hasn't been forgotten.

In a tearful interview with ITV, Victoria's worried sisters Emma Worden and Heidi Baker issued a desperate plea for her to come home, while emphasising just how much she meant to the local community. Heidi said: "She's a very popular person. Obviously, she's a nurse and looked after so many people's parents around here."

Highlighting Victoria's kindness, one local person took to social media to share their experiences of the 'truly lovely' mum, who is engaged to be married to partner Matthew Grant Williams. They wrote: Victoria worked at the care home where my Mum spent her final years. She was a real professional and I always felt my Mum (who was suffering from dementia) was 100% safe when Victoria was on shift. She is a truly lovely person and I pray she is found safe and well soon. My thoughts are with her family."

Meanwhile, on the fifth day of the search, friends haven't given up on finding beloved Victoria safe and well. In a 4,000 people-strong Facebook group set up for the search, Victoria's friend Charlotte Cundill urged members not to give up ahead of what looks set to be a busy weekend in the town.

Charlotte wrote: “Please, please, please do not give up on my beautiful friend as the days pass by. We're onto day 5 tomorrow and the food festival is in town so it's going to be busy over the weekend. I don’t want this search being forgotten about in the meantime. We still need every bit of support the community has already shown to continue as much as possible to bring Vixx home.

"Please make tomorrow another crazy day of searching and keeping everyone updated. Please keep printing posters off to hand/share out. We will do everything we can to keep the public updated as much as possible. I just want to thank everyone involved in sharing posts. Handing posters out, searching, and every other input that has been made to bring Vixx home to her lovely little family.”

Victoria was last seen at her Malton home at 9am on Monday morning. Yesterday, North Yorkshire Police shared CCTV footage of Victoria captured at 11.35am that day, showing the mum wearing a khaki cap as she purchased a soft drink from a local petrol station. The Sun reports that Victoria's sister Heidi has also claimed she was seen heading towards the River Derwent at some point after leaving the BP station.

Officers have now shared that a number of personal possessions belonging to Victoria have been discovered close to the River Derwent. Extensive searches have begun along the waterway with police in kayaks, with support from a police underwater search unit. Drones have also been used to search the area from above, while officers have been conducting enquiries and reviewing hours of CCTV from around Malton.

Inspector Martin Dennison from North Yorkshire Police has urged those in the area looking for Victoria to be cautious. He said: “We are very concerned about Victoria’s whereabouts and, like her family and friends, just want to see her safe and well. I would urge the public to be cautious if looking for Victoria near the river. Our officers have specialist training and equipment, and they are used to working in various terrains.

“If you do have any information which can help with the search then please call us 101. Any immediate sightings should be reported to 999.” Victoria is described as white and approximately 5ft six inches tall. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black Adidas original puffer 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 our search then please call 101 and quote reference 12240178710.

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