Searches for missing Nicola Bulley have now entered the 18th day as her devastated husband has expressed that his 'gut instinct' is that she is not in the river. Lancashire Police are said to be keeping an 'open mind' as the investigation continues into the mum-of-two who disappeared on January 27 while walking her dog in St Michaels on Wyre.
However, the force is maintaining their main hypothesis that the 45-year-old might have fallen into the River Wyre and have now expanded the hunt towards the sea at Morecambe Bay, the Mirror reports. Police have been aided by specialists and divers from HM Coastguard, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, mountain rescue, drones, sniffer dogs and police helicopters who have all been deployed to help locate Nicola.
The mortgage advisor was last seen walking her springer spaniel Willow near the river on the morning she disappeared after dropping off her two young daughters at primary school. Despite not finding any evidence of the mum falling into the river 18 days on, police are continuing to treat the incident as a missing person inquiry and have dismissed foul play.
Nicola's partner, Paul Ansell has described Nicola as 'fun', 'loving', 'the most loyal friend you could ever have' and an 'exceptional mum' who 'absolutely adores our girls'. As the investigation continues, there are eight main clues that may point to what happened to Nicola Bulley the morning of January 27 and where she is now.
Mum texted her friend a significant message before going missing
Nicola is understood to have sent her friend a text message about arranging a play date with their kids which was sent minutes before she disappeared. A pal who lives in the local village who did not wish to be named told the Mirror: “She booked a playdate, 8.57, she sent a text message to a friend whose mortgage she had just recently signed off on to arrange for the girls to go for tea this week.”
The friend argues that her message proves she had no intention of voluntarily going missing. She said the information was revealed during a meeting at the village hall before residents headed out on their first mass organised search.
Nicola was last seen wearing a gilet jacket, jeans and wellies
The mortgage advisor was last seen wearing a long ankle length gilet jacket with another coat underneath. She also had tight black jeans, green, long green walking socks and green wellies along with a pale blue Fitbit.
Julie Mackay, a retired Detective Superintendent who previously solved a 32-year-old murder, agreed with the police's theory that Nicola, who is of a small build, may have fallen into the river. Arguing that her heavy clothes would have weighed her down, she explained: "Generally wearing winter clothes makes it more difficult to get out, it will weigh you down.
"The cold water shock alone will knock you sideways even for an experienced swimmer. Supt Sally Riley, who is heading the search, also said that Nicola's wellies could have contributed to her falling in the river.
She said: "One would assume they fill with water when someone enters a river so all of that clothing is heavy, particularly on someone who is of slight build and only 5 foot three."
Mum was sighted by a number of witnesses on her way to riverbank
Nicola left her home at 8:26am on January 27 to drop her two daughters at school and had engaged in a brief conversation with another parent around 15 minutes later. She then took her dog for a walk along the river path and was seen by a fellow dog walker who knew her at around 8:50am.
She is then thought to have walked long a path past a lower and upper field and a hedgerow before she was sighted for the first time at approximately 9:10am before her disappearance.
Nicola logged onto a work meeting at 9.01am
Nicola had been in a Microsoft Teams call for work shortly before she went missing but it's understood both her camera and microphone were turned off. The mortgage advisor had sent her employer an email at 8:53am before logging onto the call at 9:01am.
Ben Pociecha, the director of Exclusively Mortgages, previously told The Telegraph: “It seems as if she was muted and didn’t have her camera on. She was listening in whilst walking her dog.
“There were numerous parties involved in this. A lot of people attended the call. The police are investigating the call."
Nicola's phone was found on a bench still logged onto call
Nicola's phone was later found on a bench by a dog walker and she was still logged onto the work call. Her dog Willow was found abandoned nearby and was running around off the lead alone.
Fears that Nicola's phone could have just been a 'decoy' have now risen as Nicola's partner, Paul Ansell believes her mobile was deliberately planted there. Channel 5's Dan Walker asked him: "But these are things that you naturally would think about because, you know, the team's call was still active at the time, wasn't it?
"And Willow's harness is on the floor and, you know, I'm sure these are things that constantly you are thinking about." Mr Ansell replied: "We always felt that the mobile phone and the harness could possibly be a decoy. Again, we don't have evidence."
Witness 'saw 2 suspicious men trying to hide their faces' on route
A new witness has come forward and claimed he saw two suspicious men who were 'trying to hide their faces' near Nicola's dog-walk route. The anonymous man said the strangers were carrying fishing rods and were wearing hats or hoods that covered their faces.
The witness told The Sun: “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." Lancashire Police had previously ruled out foul play and believe it likely she fell into the river.
Nicola's dog was found 'bone dry' next to river 'in an agitated state'
Willow was found walking around 'bone dry' on her own and appeared 'agitated'. The family dog was off her harness and Nicola's phone was found discarded on a nearby bench close to the river.
A local told the MailOnline: "I know the woman who found Willow. She said the dog was near the river bank and close to the bench that Nicola's phone was found.
"Willow was bone dry and so hadn't been into the water but the dog was in an agitated state." Supt Sally Riley earlier said: "I don't wish to speculate, in that we don't know, but it is possible as the dog was loose and off the lead.
"There may have been an issue with the dog that led her to the water's edge, she puts her phone down to go and deal with the dog momentarily, and Nicola may have fallen in. We assume the dog didn't get into the river, but we don't know why Nicola may have if she did."
Police told about 'tatty red van' seen on same day mum vanished
A concerned resident has reported that they saw a suspicious vehicle believed to be a Renault outside a barn in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire on January 27. The local witness told police they saw a 'tatty red van' which they described as the 'sort of van you can live in' parked in the village nearby to where Nicola Bulley disappeared.
The 55-year-old witness, who had not been named, told The Times they saw the "tatty red van in Hall Lane outside a barn". They admitted: "I didn’t think anything at the time, but when I saw Nicola had gone missing, I called 101 and spoke to an operator.
"I contacted the police again on Friday and spoke to a police officer. It could have been a Renault van."
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