A woman in the UK remains at the centre of a massive search operation, five days after she was last seen.
The mystery has deepened in the days since her disappearance after her phone was found three days later - still on an active work call.
Nicola Bulley, a mortgage advisor and mum-of-two, disappeared after being spotted walking the family dog Willow on the footpath of a river at 9.15am on Friday.
The alarm was raised when a member of the public later recognised the brown cocker spaniel on its own and phoned Lancashire Police.
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Police yesterday revealed details of a potential witness who they believe could be key to their inquiries into Nicola's disappearance.
In recent days, specialist officers have been trawling a river in small boats and combing through the grass.
As police continue their search, family and friends have said they remain hopeful Nicola will be found.
Earlier today, Lancashire Police appealed for a potential witness to come forward, who they believe may have seen Nicola around the time she disappeared.
They were looking for a man they believed was aged around 70 in the area at the time.
A spokesperson said in a statement: "We are especially keen to find a witness we believe was in the area at the time Nicola went missing.
"He is described as a man aged around 70, white, six ft tall, well-built who was walking a small white fluffy dog on a lead.
"He spoke to a woman in the area before walking in the direction of Rowanwater."
Officers have now found the potential key witness and are speaking to him.
The last sighting
Nicola was last seen on Friday, January 27 at around 9.15am on the footpath by the river off Garstang Road in St Michael’s on Wyre in Lancashire.
She is described as white, 5ft 3ins tall, with light brown shoulder-length hair. She speaks with an Essex accent.
Nicola 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.
The alarm was raised by a member of the public who recognised Nicola's brown cocker spaniel Willow.
They recognised Willow, who was loose from its lead and harness, and raised the alarm with the police at 10.30am.
Work phone call
On January 30, Lancashire Police said they found a mobile phone belonging to Nicola on a nearby bench, along with the dog lead and harness.
Superintendent Sally Riley told The Mirror that police had found Nicola’s phone still ‘active’ on the bench and began searching for her immediately.
Supt Riley said: "It was on a meeting call, and that was still live it was connected to the conference call and that hadn’t been terminated."
She was on a work call at the time she disappeared, but she appeared to have her camera off and was muted at the time.
Ben Pociecha, director of Exclusively Mortgages, told The Daily Telegraph that she had logged on to a team meeting at 9.01am on Friday.
"It seems as if she was muted and didn’t have her camera on. She was listening in whilst walking her dog," he said.
"There were numerous parties involved in this. A lot of people attended the call. The police are investigating the call."
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