Missing student Megan 'probably fell into water after drunken night out': Police reveal theory as search focuses on swollen river
- Megan Roberts, 20, last seen on Thursday after leaving Popworld bar
- Student was with friends by bridge at 2.10am, but by 2.20am was gone
- North Yorkshire Police believe she 'entered river' while 'affected by alcohol'
- 'On balance this presents as a night out that likely ended in tragedy'
- Officers are searching stretch of river close to where she was last seen
- Team of volunteers from charity and her university join the search
- A colleague from York pub said: 'It is unlike her to walk home alone'
- Megan had tweeted about being stalked with friend from bar to bar
Police believe missing student Megan Roberts fell into a swollen river while drunk and today admitted the likelihood of finding her alive is now 'increasingly remote'.
Officers and volunteers are desperately searching for the 20-year-old in and around the Ouse in York after she vanished following a night out with friends almost a week ago.
North Yorkshire Police Superintendent Phil Cain said this afternoon the most probable scenario is that she 'entered the river' while 'heavily affected by alcohol'.
'On balance, this presents as a group of young friends on a night out that is likely to have ended in tragedy,' he said.
He added: 'The possibility still exists that Megan is elsewhere safe and well but, realistically, given the passage of time, such a possibility is increasingly remote'.
Friends maintain it would be 'unlike her to walk home alone' and detectives have been told she was targeted by a stalker before she vanished.
Police said today they were still treating her as a missing person - not a victim of crime - and were searching an area close to where she was seen for the last time.
Extra officers have been drafted in as they search land and water along the Ouse between Lendal Bridge and Ouse Bridge in the city centre.
Superintendent Cain said: 'Understandably there has been growing and grave concerns for her safety which has triggered a great deal of police activity and interest from the media and the public.
'Some of that activity has played out on social media and has led to a number of theories about her fate, including potential links to the Claudia Lawrence case.
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'It is very important, not least for Megan's family and friends, to deal with the facts as they currently present.
'Those facts are based on evidence resulting from a variety of police inquiries to date.'
Police say Miss Roberts was with a group of friends who had been drinking 'for several hours' before leaving the Popworld nightclub, in York city centre, at around 2am on Thursday morning.
He said: 'All the group, including Megan, were heavily affected by alcohol.'
Mr Cain explained how the group were spread out and some of them ran down a street called Tanner's Moat, past The Maltings pub, where Miss Roberts - the last in the group - was spotted bumping into a row of cycle racks.
'CCTV evidence does not show Megan running back up the same street with the others to rejoin the main group,' he said.
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