Nicola Bulley search: What we know about her disappearance

Nicola Bulley vanished on a riverside dog walk in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire on 27 January. Police believe she tragically fell into the water, but no trace of her has been found.

What do we know about her disappearance?

That Friday morning looked like any other day for Nicola Bulley and her family.

She carried out the usual morning routines. She loaded up her car with her dog Willow before driving to the local school to drop off her two daughters, aged six and nine.

The 45-year-old left her parked car in St Michael’s on Wyre and took Willow for a riverside walk.

But she never returned and, despite a major search, her family still do not know why.

Ms Bulley walked along the path by the River Wyre at 08:43 GMT and was seen by a fellow dog walker, who knows her, when she was in the lower field.

She went on to send an email to her boss and logged into a Teams conference call for her job as a mortgage adviser, as she would normally do.

She was last seen by another dog walker at about 09:10, when she was on the upper field.

About 25 minutes later her phone, still connected to the call, was found on a bench on a steep riverbank overlooking the water, along with the dog lead and harness on the ground.

Detectives believe she fell into the river. They are treating the case as a missing person inquiry and do not believe her disappearance was suspicious.

“We believe that Nicola was in the riverside area and remained at the riverside area,” Supt Sally Riley, who is leading the investigation, has said.

Despite this belief, the detective has said they remain “fully open-minded to any information that may indicate where Nicola is or what happened to her”.

A force spokesperson said they could “say with confidence” that Ms Bulley had not left the field “via Rowanwater, either through the site itself or via the piece of land at the side” and did not return from the fields along Allotment Lane or via the path at the rear of the Grapes pub on to Garstang Road.

Inquiries are now focussed on the river path which leads to Garstang Road, an area not covered by CCTV.

Officers are currently following about 500 lines of inquiry.

They are also seeking some 700 motorists seen in the area at the time of her disappearance, as they hope dashcam footage will help provide answers.

They have used police divers in the river, drones and helicopters as part of the search, spoken to several key witnesses and made a number of appeals.

Detectives have also analysed data from Ms Bulley’s mobile phone and her Fitbit smart watch, and searched derelict houses and empty caravans in the vicinity.

The River Wyre, which is about 32 miles (52km) long, flows through Lancashire to join the Irish Sea at Fleetwood.

Police have now extended their search in the water to Morecambe Bay and Knott End.

Ms Bulley’s family had requested the help of a specialist diving team, Specialist Group International (SGI), which assisted the police in the search of the river.

After a few days, SGI said it had completed its work and left the scene.

The firm’s founder Peter Faulding said his team was pulling out because he believed Ms Bulley was “categorically not” in the area of river where police believe she fell in.

“We’ve done very thorough searches all the way down to the weir,” he said.

“If Nicola was in that river I would have found her – I guarantee you that – and she’s not in that section of the river.

“That area is completely negative – there is no sign of Nicola in that area.”

He said police divers had already dived it three times “extremely thoroughly”.

Mr Faulding added: “The main focus will be the police investigation down the river, which leads out to the estuary.”

After police revealed they believed Ms Bulley had fallen into the river, her sister, Louise Cunningham, urged people to keep looking for her and to “keep an open mind”.

She said on Facebook there was no evidence she had fallen into the river and it was “just a theory”.

Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell visited the spot where police believe she fell in with the members of the dive team, including Mr Faulding.

He said Mr Ansell was “extremely upset” but had wanted to see where the believed entry point was.

In an earlier appeal, Mr Ansell said he had “two little girls who miss their mummy desperately and who need her back”.

“This has been such a tough time for the girls especially, but also for me and all of Nicola’s family and friends.

“It is as though she has vanished into thin air.”

Hundreds of volunteers have been helping in the ongoing search, with some of Ms Bulley’s friends organising teams of people to scour the area.

The turnout for the search had been “amazing”, Ms Bulley’s friend Heather Gibbons, said.

Meanwhile, thousands of people have been following and commenting on the case online, with many sending love and best wishes to the family.

Others though have been sharing speculation, described by Ms Gibbons as “vile” and “incredibly hurtful”.

She added: “The speculation is massive. I mean it’s human nature – everyone’s going to have their thoughts, their theories, everyone will be speculating.

“But to see some of the vile speculation online – some of the theories that are incredibly, incredibly hurtful – I don’t think people are realising that the family are sitting at home and are able to access and see all of that.”

She said she was concerned that “as [Ms Bulley’s daughters] get older, they will be able to look back and they will be able to see everything that was said”.

Ms Gibbons also said the area appeared to have become a “tourist spot”, beyond those helping search.

She said some people had been turning up to “do personal social media things” which was “hard” to see.

Police too have condemned social media abuse of those helping with the inquiry, saying it was “totally unacceptable”.

A statement added: “We would urge people to remember that we are investigating the disappearance of Nicola, and the priority is Nicola and her family. We want to find her and provide answers to her family.”

Mr Ansell said he would “never lose hope” of finding her.