An expert diver who has been helping search for missing mum Nicola Bulley has denied giving her family false hope. Peter Faulding previously said that Ms Bulley was not in the River Wyre after he searched for her there.
He said: "If Nicola was in that river, I would have found her. She’s not there." Faulding, a forensic expert drafted in 10 days after Ms Bulley disappearance, hit back at the idea that he had given false hope to Ms Bulley's relatives, reports the Mirror.
The Specialist Group International chief said: "If I gave them false hope, then what about the police search teams there every day? I was there for three days as a volunteer." He added today: "I think that would be totally unfair to be honest with you, and I would sling the hook and give up searching."
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It comes as Lancashire Police confirmed a body had been found in the river in St Michael's near where Nicola went missing on January 27. The force said in a statement: "We were called today at 11:36am to reports of a body in the River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road.
"An underwater search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, entered the water and have sadly recovered a body. No formal identification has yet been carried out, so we are unable to say whether this is Nicola Bulley at this time."
Police helicopters and drones were seen circling above an area being pointed out by two dog walkers, a man and a woman. Faulding has also put forward a number of theories publicly and said Nicola might never be found, or that she could have been "pushed hard from behind" into the river.
He has also expressed the fact police chose to reveal Nicola's difficulties with alcohol problems and the menopause and said that he "would normally be given that information to make my job easier." Of the body found, police said it was being treated as "unexplained" and that Nicola's family had been informed of the developments.
Faulding has said he has been personally affected by the case and wrote earlier today: "Our thoughts are with Nicola's family and friends at this difficult time. #nicolabulley" He explained today: "The police search teams walked that river every day. Up and down, up and down.
"When we searched that part, she was not laying on the bottom of the river, but we were only there for one day. We are going down on with a boat towing the sonar. We're not searching reeds." Faulding also claimed Ms Bulley's partner Paul Ansell, 44, had privately shown frustration with the police's attempts to find her.
He said Paul was "lost" and "in pieces" and that "the kids are missing their mum," after they met during the search for Ms Bulley. Nicola went missing shortly after she had dropped her two children, aged six and nine, off at school.
She was last seen at 9.10am on the day of her disappearance, before her phone was found on a bench 23 minutes later. Her springer spaniel Willow was also found wandering nearby while was "bone dry" and "agitated".
