Police searching for Victoria Taylor have said there is “no information to suggest any form of third-party involvement” in her disappearance, as they revealed a new sighting of her on the day she went missing.
Taylor, 34, disappeared from her home in Malton, North Yorkshire, on Monday last week, and a number of her personal possessions were found close to the River Derwent in the town.
North Yorkshire police said extensive searches have been carried out, with drones, diving teams and specialist sonar equipment employed.
Police said she left her home at 9am on 30 September and was then seen on CCTV at 11.35am at a BP garage on Welham Road in the Norton area of Malton.
The new sighting of Taylor was captured at 11.53am at Malton bus station on Railway Street.
A spokesperson 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.”
The spokesperson added: “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.”
Insp Martin Dennison said: “This is an extremely difficult time for Victoria’s family and we are continuing to do all we can to try to 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, Taylor’s sisters Emma and Heidi said in a statement: “We currently feel sick, distraught and lost following the disappearance of Vixx, but we are trying to focus on the children in the family to maintain a sense of routine at this difficult time.
“The wider local community has also rallied around and we are eternally grateful for the support that they have given to us, Vixx’s family.”
Taylor has been described as white, approximately 168cm (5ft 6in) tall, and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black Adidas original puffer jacket with white stripes down the sleeves, a grey Jack Wills hooded jumper and carrying a salmon pink Vans backpack.
Last week, the force released a CCTV image showing Taylor at the BP garage on Welham Road and they released a further image, from the bus station, on Monday.
A spokesperson said officers have reviewed hours of CCTV from around Malton.
Local people have been meeting every day to search for her. On Monday, police officers could be seen using sonar equipment on a boat in the river.