Detectives have laid out in detail the last known movements of missing dog walker Nicola Bulley as they continue to search for the mother of two.
Ms Bulley, a 45-year-old mortgage advisor, disappeared whilst walking the family spaniel on her usual route around the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, where her two daughters are at primary school.
Her sister Louise Cunningham told Sky News: "If I'm being honest, it feels like I'm just stuck in a nightmare.
"We're going round and round in circles trying to piece together what could have possibly happened.
"It's like she's just vanished into thin air. We just want her home, we need her home, her children need her home. It's absolutely heartbreaking."
Her father Ernie Bulley, 73, spoke of the "pain" the "close-knit family" are feeling.
"This has just emptied our lives at the minute, we just feel so empty," he said.
"We appreciate everything everyone is doing to find her. The police have been brilliant, the local community has been outstanding. But at the end of the day we just want her back."
He added: "We need the public to search their minds for anything they might have seen. The main thing is we want to find Nicola and get her back home.
"There are two young children there waiting for their mummy to come back. And if Nicola is out there and she's watching this - come home, contact the police. We just want you back."
The family, who are originally from Essex, all now live in the north of England.
Ms Bulley's partner, Paul Ansell, did not appear in video alongside the family, but had previously told reporters they were living through “perpetual hell” that “doesn’t feel real.”
Mr Ansell is an electrical design engineer who has been with Ms Bulley for 12 years. They live in Inskip with their two daughters.
Police on Thursday spoke to a new witness in their appeal for information.
A woman, who at the time of Ms Bulley’s last sighting, was wearing a red and white coat with a fur hood, light-coloured trousers and a light bobble hat, has been questioned by Lancashire Constabulary.
It is thought she lives locally and may have key information that could assist officers but was "sought as a witness and nothing more".
She was walking a small white dog in the area at the time Nicola was last seen.
On Thursday, the police released a timeline of Ms Bulley’s last known movements detailing the path she took along the River Wyre, once she’d dropped her children off at school.
The last sighting of her, in the “upper field” near the Village of St Michael’s on Wyre, was at approximately 9.10am, but officers say they are still working to establish the exact timings.
It is believed she walks her usual route around the village often, and has in the past shared a map of the route on social media.
The police investigation is yet to yield answers, as Ms Bulley's family and local community grow increasingly desperate.
Intense multi-agency searches are still ongoing, with specialist resources from the police, Coastguard, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and volunteers from Bowland Mountain Rescue.
Search efforts have involved police dogs, underwater drones and divers extending the full length of the River Wyre.
Land searches are also combing heavy grassland in a "significant area" around the river off Garstang Road.
Specialist divers returned to the scene on Thursday while police cordoned off a stretch of the footpath leading up to the bench where the phone had been left.
Superintendent Sally Riley, of Lancashire Constabulary, said: “We know that Nicola going missing has caused a great deal of concern for the wider local community, as well as obviously being an awful time for her family.
“This remains a missing person inquiry and at this time there is nothing to suggest any third-party involvement in Nicola’s disappearance.
“I appreciate that there are unanswered questions about what has happened to Nicola, but I would urge people not to speculate or spread false rumours. We will share updates when we can, but we must be factual.
“Nicola’s family are being kept up to date with events and are being supported by officers.
“We are really grateful for the community’s help and cooperation so far, but I’d like to stress again parts of the riverbank are treacherous, especially after the recent rain, and we would ask that nobody puts themselves in danger and that the police and partner agencies’ efforts to find Nicola are not compromised."
Detectives also spoke to another key witness earlier this week, a male in his 70s, who was walking in the same location as Nicola when she was last seen.
Ms Bulley’s disappearance was first noted when her dog, named Willow, was found running loose by a local business owner, who then discovered her mobile phone on a bench.
The phone was still connected to a work conference call when it was found.
The dog’s harness and lead were on the ground. The dog was apparently dry at the time.
Nicola joined the conference call at 9.01am. The call ended at 9.30am, but Nicola’s phone stayed connected to the call until it was found along with her dog.
It is thought Ms Bulley had stayed muted throughout the call, with her video turned off.
Hundreds of volunteers have joined the search this week, scouring 12 miles of the River Wyre, from the village where Ms Bulley disappeared to where the estuary meets the sea at Morecambe Bay.
The community search, organised between friends of Ms Bulley and the police, saw people travel to thev area from across Lancashire and beyond.
Friends of Nikki insist she knows the area along the river well, is a good swimmer and would never leave her two daughters.
Mrs Bulley’s friend Heather Gibbons said ”It’s just really concerning , but you have got to hold on to hope and get through this.
“The situation is that you have got two little girls who need there mum home.”
Nicola is white, 5ft 3ins tall, with light brown shoulder-length hair. She speaks with an Essex accent. She was last seen wearing a long black gilet jacket with a hood, black jeans and olive-green ankle wellies. Her hair was tied into a ponytail.
As well as Inskip and St Michael's on Wyre, she also has links to Thornton Cleveleys.
In pictures: Search for Nicola intensifies
