Police searching for missing mum-of-two Nicola Bulley have recovered a body from the River Wyre today. Lancashire Police said they are currently unable to say if the body is that of missing Nicola, 45, but say that her family have been informed of the tragic development.
The 45-year-old mortgage adviser vanished in St Michael’s on Wyre while walking her dog after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at school on January 27.
The tragic discovery comes after activity surrounding the river ramped up this morning, with diving teams on the scene, police drones and helicopters and nearby roads blocked off.
In a statement, police said they were called at 11.36am to reports of a body in the water, close to Rawcliffe Road, St Michael's. An underwater search team and specialist officers have attended the scene and entered the water, where they recovered a body.
No formal identification has been carried out yet and procedures to identify the body are ongoing, Lancashire Police said. The death is being treated as unexplained.
A spokesman said: "Nicola's family have been informed of developments and our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times. We ask that their privacy is respected."
The investigation into her disappearance has attracted widespread speculation as well as criticism of the police response. The force came under fire after making Ms Bulley’s struggles with alcohol and peri-menopause public three weeks after she vanished.
In a press conference on Wednesday, they revealed the mother-of-two was classed as a “high-risk” missing person immediately after her partner Paul Ansell reported her disappearance, “based on a number of specific vulnerabilities”.
They later added in a statement that Ms Bulley, from Inskip in Lancashire, had stopped taking her HRT medication.
A public backlash and interventions from both the Government and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper followed, with Lancashire Police confirming a date had been set for an internal review into the investigation.
A police spokeswoman said: “A review of the investigation is diarised and will be conducted by our head of crime detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables.”
