Emmerdale viewers believe they've cracked the identity of the mystery figure from Friday's thrilling episode.

The episode ended with Tracy Metcalfe (Amy Walsh) tearfully leaving Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter) an anguished voicemail message.

As she spoke, someone in a hood lurked in the background, observing as police departed the accident location, implying that the body submerged had yet to be found.

In her emotional plea, Amy said: "Hi, Nate. It's me," followed by, "I don't know what made me think I'd get through to you at this time, but maybe I was hoping you'd sense that I wanted to hear your voice."

Then distressed, she revealed, "Look, whatever happened with us, whatever went wrong and...just...there was a crash and Suzy, Leyla, and Amy, they all died," reports .

Heartbroken, she continued, "And I just...and I just miss you so much," before ending the distressing call.

Before her demise on Thursday, Amy Wyatt (Natalie Jamieson) seemed to confirm that the unfortunate Nate's body lay in the water.

Audiences have been speculating wildly about the identity of the corpse, with a majority suspecting that Nate met his end and was disposed of in the lake.

Suspects mentioned include Caleb Milligan (Will Ash), possibly motivated by retribution for his fling with Tracy, and John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth), who may have been the last person to see him alive.

At the conclusion of Friday's episode, Caleb informed Ruby that he needed to step out because "there was something he needed to do." Observant viewers also caught him donning a dark-coloured hoody before exiting the house.

On a Facebook fan page, enthusiasts shared their speculations, with one writing: "When Caleb left on tonight's episode, he picked up a dark coloured hoodie and put it on and that's what the person stood looking at the lake had on at the very end."

Others concurred, stating: "I think it was Caleb looking at the lake at the end..," and "It looked like Caleb as he was wearing a dark hoody when he left Ruby."

Another simply stated, "I think Caleb."

A fan also pointed out the unusual ending, mentioning Tracy's call to Nate going to voicemail, followed by the sight of a hand in the lake and the police driving by after rescuing Suzy, indicating they're still far from locating Nate.

One viewer even proposed a radical theory: "So, did Tracy kill Nate? " This sparked a response from another fan, who exclaimed, "Why did I not think of this?"

Emmerdale is available to watch on ITVX.