Father’s appeal for missing Skipton man

Rory, 29, has not been seen since the early hours of November 20, when he was on a night out in York city centre.

Police have spent the past two weeks searching the River Ouse, among other lines of enquiry, and have released CCTV images of Rory the night he disappeared.

At the press conference at Fulford police station in York yesterday, Rory’s father Doug Hatfield said: “Rory is a wonderful son and brother who could make friends easily and speak to people with ease – we are so very proud of him, there are very few like him.

“Nothing prepares you for a time like this – it is an extremely difficult and emotional time. To try and give you an idea of Rory as we know him, his 14 –year-old and 15-year-old sisters have given me some words that describe him; laid back, generous, kind, funny, crazy, popular, polite, handsome, entertaining, talkative and bubbly.

“I speak for all the family when I say there is a huge hole in our hearts that only the return of Rory will repair, please help us bring him home safe and well.”

Superintendent Adam Thomson said at the press conference: “We are still conducting a number of enquiries to try and locate Rory. The river has featured highly in the investigation and currently the river is still in spate.

“Once it has receded we will be allocating a police search advisor to work with the Environment Agency to find out how the floods would have affected the search area, to determine where we should renew any searches.”

Anyone with any information they believe may help the search should contact North Yorkshire Police on 101.