A former police detective turned investigative reporter has explained why he believes there is such huge interest in the disappearance of mum Nicola Bulley.
Lancs Live reported that Mark Williams Thomas, who is now an investigative journalist, was appearing on the Channel 5 documentary 'Vanished: Where is Nicola Bulley'. Discussing the massive interest in the case, host Dan Walker pointed out that 175,000 people go missing every year.
Mr Williams Thomas responded: "Overwhelmingly they return, they return very quickly. There are some obviously that don't.
"There are certain cases that attract more media attention. Ethnicity, sexuality of the individual, male or female, and also their upbringing - if they they are middle class.
"There are certain people who fulfil the criteria and they get much more publicity. Don't forget - it's the public that will solve this. The police will pull the jigsaw puzzle together - but it is the public that will solve it."
It comes as police have urged people to refrain from indulging in commentary and conspiracy theories about missing mother-of-two Nicola . The 45-year-old disappeared while walking her springer spaniel dog Willow alongside the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre on January 27, sparking a major police search effort.
Yesterday (Friday, February 10), Lancashire Police appeared to call out social media sleuths for their “hurtful abuse of innocent people” in relation to the case. It said that speculation about her fate by “so-called experts” is “damaging” to the investigation.
On Twitter, the force stated: “We continue to see hurtful abuse of innocent people, including witnesses and local businesses.
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“There is also a huge amount of commentary from so-called experts and conspiracy theories which are damaging to the investigation and, worst of all, to Nicola’s family. It must stop.”
Her partner Paul Ansell says it has always been his “gut instinct” that she is not in the river. Speaking to Walker, Mr Ansell said he wants to keep “all options open” about her disappearance. He said: “We’ve always been very careful that we don’t want to say, ‘Oh, we think it’s that’, and then push that, when it might not be.
“The most obvious thing, of course has always been the river. It’s always been my gut instinct and her sisters, and family that that isn’t the case."
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