Missing Victoria Taylor’s friend hits out at ‘unhelpful’ trolls as search enters third week

The search for Victoria Taylor, 34, from Malton, has entered its third week – and her oved ones have issued a fresh appeal to trolls in a bid to stop them spreading speculation surrounding the case

The friend of missing mum Victoria Taylor has hit out at unhelpful trolls on social media as they “hold on to hope” that she will return home.

Ms Taylor, 34, went missing in Malton three weeks ago on September 30, with her personal belongings located close to the River Derwent. North Yorkshire police earlier addressed the “significant possibility” that she could have entered the river.

Police launched a frantic hunt in a bid to find the mum and joined forces with divers and volunteers. Sadly, she is yet to be found. Officers earlier said she left her home at 9am and was spotted on CCTV at 11.35am at the BP garage on Welham Road in the Norton area of Malton. She was later recorded at 11.53am at Malton bus station on Railway Street.

Additional footage showed Ms Taylor walking towards the play park on Riverside Walk at 12.30pm. The case has drawn huge attention from members of the public, with nearly 11,000 people joining a Facebook group to follow updates.

Unfortunately, among the well-wishes are cruel trolls on social media. Ms Taylor’s friend, Emma, has pleaded with the public to be “mindful” of what they post as they try to focus on finding the 34-year-old.

As she addressed day 20 of the search, she said: “It doesn’t feel like 20 days, they have gone by in a blur, we cannot describe the feelings as we can’t process them ourselves. Trying to have some normality for the little ones in our family. Please be mindful of what you post, speculation does not help. The information is factual and comes from the police.”

She added: “We have ( zero) tolerance and any unhelpful/troll comments will see it removed. The weather is going to be awful throughout today, please take care when out searching. Warm clothes, flask and waterproofs if possible! The police have and will be out over the weekend. As a family, we continue to hold on to hope. For all new members, the feature page contains pictures with info and the updates.”

Chief Superintendent Fiona Willey earlier issued an update on the case and explained that police dogs are also being used in the search. She 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.”