A witness has revealed new details about two men reportedly seen acting suspiciously close to the river in Lancashire where Nicola Bulley disappeared. The witness who saw the two men told The Sun they were "carrying fishing rods" and "were trying to hide their faces". The man, who did not want to be named, said: “It was very strange. It made me uneasy.”
He said that he saw the two men at round 7.45am on the day before Nicola vanished. The man told The Sun "they could just have been two normal fishermen" but "they seemed to want to hide their faces, which struck me as odd".
Describing their behaviour as "strange", the man told the newspaper he initially "thought they must be poachers". However, when he heard about Nicola's disappearance he decided to report his experience to the police.
He said police did not take a statement from him for another nine days. He told The Sun: "It's frustrating, it would have been much better if I had been spoken to straight away as it was fresher in my mind."
The man explained: “I first saw them at around 7.45am on my way to work on the Thursday, the day before Nicola Bulley vanished. I drive that way every day, so know the road well. I saw two men wearing dark clothing and hoods or hats and carrying fishing rods.
“They could have been just two normal fishermen and if I had seen their faces I wouldn't have thought anything of it. But I remembered that they seemed to want to hide their faces, which struck me as odd." The anonymous witness also told The Sun he had seen one of the men the following day in the same area which is the day that Nicola went missing.
He revealed he had been away that weekend so he didn't hear of Nicola's disappearance until the Sunday. He also claims that he had contacted the police about what he had seen on the Monday but they didn't get back to him for over a week.
The news comes as Nicola's friends and family have been leaving yellow ribbons with handwritten messages on a bridge close to where she disappeared. Messages including “We need you home Nicola”, “Praying for your safe return” and “I love you” have been tied to a footbridge over the River Wyre.
A large poster with a photograph of Ms Bulley has also been attached to the railings. It comes as the search for Ms Bulley, 45, a mortgage adviser from Inskip, has entered its 17th day. Lancashire Police are continuing to trawl the River Wyre towards the sea at Morecambe Bay, working on one hypothesis that Ms Bulley could have fallen in.
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The search has been aided by specialists and divers from HM Coastguard, mountain rescue and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, with sniffer dogs, drones and police helicopters. Ms Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell, said he wants to keep “all options open” about her disappearance, but his “gut instinct” tells him she is not in the river.
He described Ms Bulley as “fun”, “loving”, “the most loyal friend you could ever have” and an “exceptional mum” who “absolutely adores our girls”.
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