Self-styled TikTok sleuth has been arrested for filming and uploading footage of Nicola Bulley’s body being recovered from the River Wyre.
The 34-year-old man from Kidderminster was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of malicious communications offences and perverting the course of justice, said Lancashire police.
“It relates to footage being taken from inside a police cordon close to the River Wyre on Sunday, Feb 19, which was subsequently posted online,” said the force in a statement.
The eight-minute footage went viral on the social media platform as public obsession with the mother-of-two’s mysterious disappearance reached feverish levels last month.
Ms Bulley, 45, vanished while walking her spaniel near the River Wyre, Lancs, on Jan 27. Her body was eventually recovered on Feb 19, around a mile downstream from where she was last seen.
But the intervening weeks descended into a toxic spectacle as the case attracted growing interest from the public. Theories about her fate began to circulate widely on social media.
Armchair detectives became fixated on the idea that Ms Bulley had been murdered or abducted. TikTok users arrived in the sleepy village where she disappeared, St Michael's on Wyre, to stage their own investigations for their online following.
A Lancashire Constabulary spokesman said on Wednesday: “We wanted to let you know that we’ve arrested a man on suspicion of malicious communications offences and perverting the course of justice in connection with our investigation to find Nicola Bulley.
“A 34-year-old man from Kidderminster was arrested this morning, with assistance from our colleagues at West Mercia Police, on suspicion of malicious communications offences and perverting the course of justice.
“He has since been bailed with conditions.
“Our priority is, and has always been, to support Nicola’s family and the wider community in St Michael’s. We hope this arrest provides reassurance that we take concerns seriously and will act on them.”
