Joe-Warren Plant has said that times ahead will be "extremely difficult" for Jacob on Emmerdale in the aftermath of on-off girlfriend Leanna's death.
In shock scenes that aired last week, Leanna (Mimi Slinger) was thrown to death on her 18th birthday by evil Meena (Paige Sandhu), leaving Jacob, Leanna's dad Liam and the wider village devastated.
The teenager's death was later officially branded an accident by police - and while no-one yet seems to have suspected that foul play may be afoot, Plant has hinted that Jacob may start to piece things together.
"After her death he notices that the ring he had bought for Leanna has gone missing and hadn't been collected from the crime scene," he said.
"He is quick to then assume the possibility of her being attacked but the idea is quickly shut down by Meena, David and Liam.
"I think after the shock of the situation calms down it won't be long before before another event could possibly raise Jacob's questions and concerns again."
He continued: "I'm not really too sure what's next for Jacob going forward. No doubt it's going to take him a while to recover from what's happened.
"He hasn't been fully happy since everything that occurred with Maya and now he's had another layer of his character stripped away from him with the trauma of Leanna.
"But hopefully he can soon get back to his old happy, enthusiastic self."
Emmerdale continues weeknights on ITV.
> Picture Spoilers: Next week on Emmerdale (July 19-23)
Follow us on Twitter @SMEntsFeed and like us on Facebook for the latest entertainment news alerts.
