Taylor Charlton: Exhausted mother collapses during desperate river search for missing son

The desperate mother of a missing 14-year-old boy fainted and had to be rescued during a desperate search in the river to find her son, who was last seen 12 days ago.

Zoe Harvey suffered cuts to her face, hands and arms as she struggled through reeds to find Taylor Charlton on the banks of the River Taw in Barnstaple.

The teenager was last seen in the car park of Tesco Extra in the North Devon town on May 8.

Devon and Cornwall Police said CCTV footage of his latest movements showed him walking towards the River Taw, and police searched the river area on the off chance that he may have gone into the water.

Specialist search teams, alongside drones and a police helicopter, are scouring river and estuary areas.

They were joined by community members who came together to join the effort. Posters and T-shirts were also printed to spread the message of Taylor’s disappearance.

A now-deleted photo posted on Facebook on Tuesday night showed Ms Harvey lying on the ground, unconscious and covered in mud.

Sharing the photo, a friend wrote: “This is a picture of Taylor’s mother. I watched her go through her emotions but the other night the ‘mama bear’ got angry, decided to come at Bear Grylls, took a stick and started hitting the reeds with it until it sank into the drain and got stuck. It had to be pulled out and thankfully rescued.”

“He barely eats, sleeps or works, but this is the love of a mother trying to find her son. He needs him at home.”

Ms. Harvey, when contacted IndependentHe did not want to comment further but allowed the use of his photo taken after his desperate search.

On Wednesday morning, in a social media group called ‘Find Taylor Charlton’, people shared rallying points for search parties.

A friend called Charlie told Devon Live: “We all came together as a community and said pretty strongly that we’re not going to stop looking for Taylor.”

On Tuesday, police said detectives were examining a significant amount of CCTV in a bid to find Taylor, as well as carrying out house-to-house and witness inquiries. The shoes believed to be his were found 480 meters apart on the banks of the Taw River.

Sector Inspector Andy Wills said all avenues of investigation remained open.

He added: “We are extremely grateful for the public response to our appeal so far and are still appealing for anyone with information to contact us. If you are out searching, please help us by staying safe.”

Taylor is described as approximately 6 feet tall, muscular, with dark brown hair and a moustache. She was last seen wearing a bright blue top, jeans and bright blue Nike shoes.

Anyone who has seen Taylor or knows his whereabouts is asked to call 999 quoting reference number 50260117084.