UPDATE | Investigation continues to find missing Taylor Charlton, Barnstaple

A large-scale police investigation is continuing alongside searches to find missing 14-year-old Taylor Charlton in Barnstaple.

Detectives have reviewed a significant amount of CCTV as well as carrying out house-to-house, digital and witness enquiries to locate Taylor, who was last seen 11 days ago.

Targeted searches utilising specialist teams, drones and the police helicopter have covered an extensive area of the River Taw and estuary.

The community can expect to see further search activity on and by the water in the coming days.

Taylor was last seen in the Tesco Extra car park, in Station Road, at around 10.30pm on Friday 8 May. He was reported as missing at around 5.15pm on Saturday 9 May.

Sector Inspector Andy Wills said: “While a highly visible search operation has been taking place to find Taylor, a substantial number of detectives, officers and staff have also been continuing enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

“All avenues of enquiry remain open.

“A hypothesis that Taylor may have entered the water has resulted in searches being concentrated on the River Taw area.    

“Currently, the last confirmed sighting we have of Taylor was captured on CCTV showing him heading in the direction of the river.

“Shoes we believe belong to Taylor were found on two consecutive days on the high tide line of the riverbank, some 480m apart, between Sticklepath and Bickington.

“Our search teams have covered a vast area of the river and estuary. This is a challenging location with a significant movement of water on each tide.

“We are extremely grateful for the public response to our appeal so far, and we still urge anyone with information to contact us.

“If you are out searching, please help us by keeping yourselves safe.

“We are aware of continued speculation on social media and would remind people to avoid sharing any unconfirmed information online as this can make our investigation more challenging.”

Taylor is around 5ft 8ins tall, of muscular build, with dark brown hair and a moustache. He was last seen wearing a bright blue fitted top, jeans and bright blue Nike shoes.

Image can be seen via the Devon & Cornwall Police website here.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 999, quoting reference number 50260117084.