Missing Victoria Taylor's friend makes heartbreaking eight-word plea as hunt enters day 16

A close friend of mum has begged volunteers "to have hope" as they continue to search for the nurse.

As the hunt for Ms Taylor enters its 16th day, Emma Marie has called on her friends and family, and strangers to keep positive that she'll be found. In a heartbreaking post on a group designed to orchestrate the search, Emma said: "Day 16 of this living nightmare. Unfortunately it's raining. Those searching be careful out there. It gets very slippy. Another day where we have to have hope. We love you Vixx."

The eight-word plea - "Another day where we have to have hope" - has been shared and reiterated by others in the group today. Her family have been left poignant messages of support, including one to remind them to put posters of Ms Taylor across Malton, North Yorkshire, and its rural surroundings.

The mum disappeared from her home in Malton 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. in that area.

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Searches have been taking place on the river since . 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 , 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 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.