Emmerdale fans are trying to work out what happened to Nate Robinson and who killed him, with a number of suspects and motives in the frame for the ITV soap’s shocking plot

There’s a murder twist unraveling on Emmerdale, following scenes that appeared to confirm Nate Robinson had been killed off.

In a shock turn of events, the recent limo crash led to a body being discovered in the lake by Amy Wyatt. Amy screamed before appearing to work out is was Nate in the lake.

In true soap fashion, Amy died before she could tell anyone what she had seen. Nate’s fate remains unknown, while the last we saw of him was his final scenes in September.

He vowed to leave the village behind for a new job in Shetland, following a run-in with his dad Cain Dingle and partner Tracy Robinson. Since then he’s cut off contact with his family including young daughter Frankie, asides text messages.

It’s not clear when Tracy last heard from him, while he seemed to send Frankie a birthday present in the post. Of course fans know this is Nate’s killer and Nate has been dead for months, most likely since September when he was last seen.

But who would have killed Nate and for what reason? How did he died? Ahead of the big reveal here are all the most likely suspects, and their reasons for possibly killing Nate…

John Sugden or Aidan Moore

We gave two names for John because some fans are still convinced John is not who he says he is. Ever since he was found with dog tags with the name Aidan Moore on them, viewers have predicted this is his real identity.

John claimed Aidan was someone he was in the army with who died. New theories suggest Aidan was killed by John, or that Aidan is John with the real John Sugden being killed.

But what does this have to do with Nate? John was the last person to see Nate alive as far as we are aware. In Nate’s final scenes onscreen in September, he was advised by John not to confront Moira or Cain about the affair allegations.

Nate told John he was right and that he was leaving and he was never seen again. In the days that followed John was seen constantly in his camper van, while he was also the one who told everyone Nate had left the village when he clearly had not.

Ross Barton

Ross wasn’t back in the village the day Nate left, and he actually wasn’t back for weeks. But a scene involving the troubled character recently left fans wondering if he was tied into Nate’s demise.

The was a scene in a barn recently amid his dodgy dealings with Jade where he fired a gun. He terrified his son Moses with Mack Boyd raging at him for endangering his son. Some viewers wondered if Nate died after somehow being shot in this incident, while there is nothing to suggest this is the case.

Caleb Miligan

Caleb and his nephew Nate hated each other by the time Nate left the village. Nate took revenge on his uncle after it emerged Caleb had been having a fling with Nate’s wife Tracy.

When Nate found out his beloved uncle and his wife had betrayed him he struggled to cope. Nate took revenge with the help of others by stealing and selling Caleb’s motors, and having his beloved car crushed.

After this the pair often clashed, and it was Caleb who wrongly accused Nate of having an affair with Moira, leading to Nate’s exit. Fans are now wondering whether Caleb and Nate had a final showdown before he left and whether Caleb accidentally or even intentionally killed him, before disposing of his body.

Criminal gang

Another theory is that the dodgy criminals Nate and Caleb had a run-in with at the car dealership months before his exit could be involved. Might they have wanted revenge and taken it too far?

It’s not clear why they would have come back or seek revenge on Nate over Caleb, but it’s a possibility. One fan said: “Is there a link between Nate’s death, Caleb and the drug dealers?”

Another wrote: “Could Nate’s murder have something to do with the drug dealers he helped the police catch when he worked as a driver for Caleb? That could be why Caleb ends up in hospital, too.”

Cain Dingle

Emmerdale seem to be trying to convince fans it’s either Caleb or Cain who killed Nate, after the clothing worn by the mystery person at the lake recently. Cain has seemed concern about his son’s lack of contact, and was shown trying to reach him back in September.

But this hasn’t stopped Emmerdale from hinting he could be involved, and fans are also exploring it as a possibility. Cain didn’t find out Nate was innocent until after the barn fire, when his wife Moira was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

So might Nate have had that final showdown with Cain he was after? Did Cain accidentally kill his own son? Of the hooded figure a fan speculated: “Cain was wearing a hoodie while Caleb wasn’t, red herring?”

Then there’s the fact Cain beat Nate up pretty badly before he left. Did Nate suffer fatal injuries and end up dying, leading to someone covering up the crime?

Moira Dingle

Another theory doing the rounds is that Moira accidentally killed her stepson during the barn fire stunt and maybe she doesn’t remember. She fired a shotgun that caused the fire, and then the barn exploded.

Everyone was so focused on saving Moira and Ruby Miligan, with Cain, John and Mack all running in at some point. It was repeated throughout the week that Nate was not near the farm when the explosion happened.

But what if Moira unknowingly killed Nate during the stunt? What if she then forgot or had no clue due to the blackouts she was experiencing? What if someone realised what she’d done and to stop her from going to prison, disposed of Nate’s body? After all, Nate had vowed to confront Moira moments before he ‘left’.

He’s not dead

There are a handful of other theories including Aaron Dingle, Joe Tate or Tracy being to blame, but this just does not seem likely. There’s also the theory that no one killed him as such and he died from injuries sustained from the fight with Cain or the explosion, but the fact his body was wrapped and weighed down in the lake shows intent.

But what if all the clues are a red herring and it’s not actually Nate in the lake? Of course there is the unlikely possibility that Nate really is in Shetland and is alive.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.