Police investigating the case of missing woman Nicola Bulley have revealed the mum had health issues which had "recently resurfaced".
Lancashire Police said on Wednesday evening: "Sadly, it is clear from speaking to Paul and the family that Nicola had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause and that these struggles had resurfaced over recent months. This caused some real challenges for Paul and the family."
A press conference held earlier today revealed police were treating Nicola as a "high risk" missing person due to some "vulnerabilities", reports the Mirror.
In a public update held today, police said they had been "inundated" following her disappearance on the morning of January 27. Nicola had been walking along the River Wyre in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, when she disappeared.
In an updated statement, police said: "We have described how Nicola had some vulnerabilities at the time she went missing and we just wanted to expand on that a little.
"Sadly, it is clear from speaking to Paul and the family that Nicola had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause and that these struggles had resurfaced over recent months. This caused some real challenges for Paul and the family.
"As a result of those issues, a response car staffed by both police and health professionals attended a report of concern for welfare at Nicola’s home address on January 10th. No one has been arrested in relation to this incident, but it is being investigated.
"It is an unusual step for us to take to go into this level of detail about someone’s private life, but we felt it was important to clarify what we meant when we talked about vulnerabilities to avoid any further speculation or misinterpretation.
"We have explained to Nicola’s family why we have released this further information and we would ask that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said that the mortgage adviser was "high risk" due to her "vulnerabilities" that partner Paul Ansell had made them aware of.
She added that out of respect to Nicola's family and the "unimaginable pain and distress" they are going through, she would not go into anymore detail about those vulnerabilities.
She said: “It’s normal in any missing person investigation that you obviously gather as much information at an early stage about the person in question, which is no different and we did that with Paul.
“I’m not going to go into the details of those individual vulnerabilities. I’ve asked you to respect the family, who are going through unimaginable pain and distress at this moment.
“But those vulnerabilities based our decision-making in terms of grading Nicola as high risk and have continued to form part of my investigation throughout.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - sign up to our daily newsletter here .
READ NEXT:
Nicola Sturgeon confirms she will resign as First Minister after leading Scotland since 2014
First pic of teen victim as 19-year-old charged in connection with death in Edinburgh
Mum shares pictures showing devastating effect drugs had on daughter before death
Scot who tied up and brutally murdered Asda worker wife with 11 hammer blows is convicted
Suspicious men spotted in grounds of Scots school as kids evacuated
Scots neighbour writes cheeky note in hope of getting furniture removed for free
