The search for missing mum Nicola Bulley has now entered its 12th day with still no real clues as what has happened to the mother-of-two. Despite extensive searches of the river and surrounding area no trace of the 45-year-old who was walking her dog after the school run has been discovered.
Her phone was left on a bench never the River Wyre in Lancashire and her dog Willow was found nearby. Police officers said they are working on the theory that the 45-year-old , who has been described by friends as a strong swimmer, fell into the river, but that line of investigation has been questioned by friends and family. Lancashire Police has consistently said there are no signs of any third-party involvement in her disappearance.
The mortgage adviser was last seen while walking Willow on Friday, January 27, in the Lancashire village of St Michaels on Wyre. Nicola - known as Nikki - left her daughters aged six and nine at school, before heading to the towpath overlooking the River Wyre.
A specialist water search team has been working on the river for the last two days, with expert Peter Faulding saying a number of things don't add up. Here are some unanswered questions:
1. The lack of CCTV
There were images of Nicola shared from her own door bell camera that showed her packing up the car ready for the school run, but there is a lack of CCTV from the towpath area. The CCTV camera at a residential park on the upper field of the path had one camera not working. If it had been working it would likely have been able to pick up what happened around the bench.
Superintendent Sally Riley says: "Several exits of the riverside area have CCTV covering them or exits are locked and therefore couldn't have been passed through by Nicola. There's only a very small area onto Garstang Lane toward the A586 which is not covered by CCTV and that's why we're appealing today for dashcam footage or for people who may have been walking on Garstang Lane or driving in the area to come forward if they can."
2. The 10 minutes not accounted for
Lancashire Police has said there are 10 minutes they cannot account for, between the last sighting of Nicola at 9.10am and 9.20am, when Nicola's phone was found on a bench still connected to the work call she was on.
On Tuesday (February 7) police gave up update on timings:
- 8.26am Nicola left her home address with her children
- 8.40am Nicola dropped her children off at school
- 8.43am seen on the river path towards the gate and bench on lower field
- 8.47am someone who knows Nicola saw her with dog, and the two dogs briefly interacted
- 8.53am she sent email to her boss
- 8.59am she sent message to a friend
- 9.01am she logged onto a teams call
- 9.10am last confirmed sighting of Nicola
- 9.20am Her phone was located on the bench
- 9.30am teams call ended
9.33am Nicola's phone and dog were found by a witness
3. Why no one saw anything
Police have revealed that more than 700 drivers are being approached in the hope they can offer clues in the search. Police are speaking to hundreds who travelled through the town of St Michael’s on Wyre around the time Nicola went missing.
A team of 40 detectives are currently investigating approximately 500 different lines of enquiry. At a press conference, Lancashire Police Supt Sally Riley said: ‘We have now identified around 700 vehicles that drove through the village on that morning on the 27th January at around 9.10am - 9.15am.
"We are in the process of speaking to all of those drivers to try and find out if they have any dashcam footage, what they saw on that day or anything else that may be of value to the police inquiry."
4. Question over the river
According to forensic search expert Peter Faulding, the part of the river where Nicola was last seen is not fast-moving. He has described it as 'black murky water' that can be difficult to see in.
He told the Blackpool Gazette: "It's not a fast tidal river. It's around two or three metres deep, but there are a lot of shallows."
Mr Faulding said he would have to check for any drains in the riverbed while re-checking all areas already probed by police., adding: '"You can search one day and the body can move down from another location so everything has got to be rechecked."
Superintendent Sally Riley, who is leading investigation, described the river as a "complex" area to search. She told a press conference on Tuesday: "It is not a still water it is a fast flowing moving water which is tidal in parts. This makes it particularly complex. We have already discounted particular areas of the river but as they are tidal we have re-searched them to make sure nothing has been washed back into those search areas.
"We have six people searching the river banks every day, these are specially trained search officers, who are systematically, methodically searching the river bank and open ground."
5. Why the area around the bench has not been cordoned off
Police reconfirmed on Tuesday that their belief remains that "Nicola sadly fell into the river, and this is a missing person enquiry."
Supt Riley said: "We believe Nicola remained in the riverside area." She added that the search was being extended out to the sea due to the nature of the river.
6. Why the phone was left on a bench
When Nicola's phone was found on a bench near to where she was last seen it was still dialled in to a work call and was alongside Willow's harness. Some people have suggested that she left it there to deal with something, with the aim of coming back to it once it was over.
Mr Faulding did say that the phone may have been left behind as a 'decoy' by a 'third party' involved in the disappearance. This comes after he noted that had she fallen in the water, her dog Willow - who was found at the scene - would have caused a disturbance.
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