A body has been found in the search for 22-year-old Brooke Morris, police have confirmed.
Ms Morris, from Trelewis, Merthyr Tydfil, disappeared after being given a lift home from the town centre in the early hours of Saturday.
Police officers carrying out searches of rivers and waterways near the town have located the body of a woman in a stretch of the River Taff.
Formal identification has not taken place but her family has been informed.
South Wales Police said her family was being supported by specialist officers.
Ms Morris was last seen at about 02:30 BST on Saturday after a night out, wearing a long-sleeved red top and jeans.
Police believe the rugby player did not go inside her house and instead went down a lane that leads towards a bridge that goes into Treharris.
Hundreds of people from the area, some on scrambler bikes or with dogs, had joined the search, co-ordinated from Treharris Phoenix RFC.
Police say the body was found in the River Taff downstream of Treharris.