Police divers have today joined the search for missing mum Victoria Taylor, MailOnline can reveal.
Frogmen are working with officers equipped with sonar technology and underwater cameras who have been conducting a sweep of the River Derwent.
They have concentrated their search on a stretch of water close to where Victoria’s belongings were found on a bank in the town of Malton, North Yorkshire.
Police divers have today joined the search for missing mum Victoria Taylor who disappeared last Monday and has not been seen since
Frogmen are working with officers equipped with sonar technology and underwater cameras who have been conducting a sweep of the River Derwent
Bride-to-be Ms Taylor, who is a nurse, was last seen at her home in Malton, North Yorkshire, at 9am on Monday, prompting a major search
The mother-of-one who is engaged and has a two-year-old daughter, disappeared last Monday and has not been seen since.
A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police confirmed this afternoon: ‘We have deployed divers today in the search for Victoria Taylor.’
The force revealed yesterday that there is ‘no evidence to suggest any form of third-party involvement’ in the disappearance of Victoria as they released a new CCTV image of her at a bus station.
She left her home around 9am last Monday and was captured on CCTV at a nearby BP garage at 11.35am and at Malton Bus Station at 11.53am.
Police found the discarded green camouflage cap Victoria had been wearing on the garage’s CCTV footage.
Officers also found her rucksack, a salmon pink Vans brand. The items were found lying in the open, not hidden.
CCTV footage shows Victoria Taylor, 34, inside a BP garage wearing a camo hat and a blue Adidas coat
Victoria Taylor (pictured with her partner Matthew Williams). Friends of Victoria have been searching the small market town and putting missing posters up
Police have been searching the River Derwent between Malton and Low Hutton with sonar technology and underwater cameras.
Sonar equipment can potentially provide rescuers with extremely detailed images of waterways, with its acoustic beams reflecting of any objects found on the river bed and providing a vivid display of data to search teams on the surface.
Speaking yesterday, Inspector Martin Dennison from North Yorkshire Police said: ‘This is an extremely difficult time for Victoria’s family, and we are continuing to do all we can to try and 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.’
Sonar technology has been used to great effect by other forces in recent times, with fisherman Thomas Stoddart located in just two days by Police Scotland using the technology last Christmas.
Underwater cameras can also greatly aid rescuers search attempts by providing clear imagery of what lies beneath the waters surface along the roughly three mile long stretch of river.
Searches of the river have intensified this week amid fears that heavy rain forecasted will cause water levels to rise.
Speaking yesterday, Inspector Martin Dennison from North Yorkshire Police said: ‘This is an extremely difficult time for Victoria’s family, and we are continuing to do all we can to try and find her
In addition to police searching the Derwent, residents of Malton and friends of Victoria have been searching the small market town and putting missing posters up.
The red posters can be seen all across the local community, including on the outside of St Leonard and St Mary Catholic Church in Malton – where it’s believed she hoped to marry fiancé Matthew Williams.
Vicoria’s sisters Emma and Heidi are among those helping with the searches.
In a statement on Friday they said: ‘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.’
As authorities continue in their attempt to locate Victoria, a Facebook page set up by close friend Charlotte Cundill has now gained over 8,000 members.
Charlotte posted in the group, called ‘The Search for Victoria Taylor’, on Monday morning saying that she ‘won’t be giving up’ on finding her ‘beautiful’ friend.
Victoria, who is originally from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, is described as a white woman who is approximately 5ft six inches tall.
She was last spotted wearing blue jeans, a black Adidas original puffer jacket with white stripes down the sleeves and a grey Jack Wills hooded jumper.
