A former detective has said he was ‘surprised’ police divers were asked to return to the spot where the body of Nicola Bulley was found.
Nicola, 45, tragically went missing while walking her dog on January 27 in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire. She vanished after dropping off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school, the Mirror reported.
Nicola was missing for 23-days before police discovered her body, which was found less than a mile from where she went missing. Former Met detective Peter Bleksley called the decision for divers to return to where she was found on February 19 "extremely rare".
Senior Coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley asked Lancashire Police divers to return to the spot where the mum of two was found. Police are there to determine the cause of death, but Bleksley said is it strange for officers to be sent to a scene more than once.
He told MailOnline: "It's quite common for the CPS in a complex case to send police officers to interview a witness, but it's extremely rare for forensic officers to be sent to a scene twice. The police only ever get one chance to get it right.
"Here they are, many weeks after Nicola's body was found by a member of the public - not the police - and they're back there again at the behest or instructions of the coroner."
Mr Bleksley, who appeared on Channel 4 show Hunted, added: "Throughout the hunt for Nicola Bulley, in my opinion, Lancashire Police got the messaging very wrong and now the imagery is not great. How thorough, how professional, how good were the initial searches?
"Clearly, the coroner has questions of the police, hence these specialists are back trying to find something that they manifestly didn't find all those weeks ago."
Bleksley claimed police wanted to avoid "the embarrassment of an angler" stumbling across something they were unable to find. Forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd also speculated that police may be looking for a missing object, but former detective superintendent Julie MacKay said she was unsure if this would be the case.
Ms MacKay said police could be gaining information on the river and its height and flow, saying: "It would be interesting to note the height of river levels today compared to the date that she went missing. It may be that they are gathering in formation regarding flow levels, height of the river, speed and how obstructions are presenting.
"If the river levels are not the same then there must be a new piece of information that is relevant and the Coroner is seeking to either corroborate, explain or discount it."
Police focussed on the scene where Nicola's body was found after a tip from two dog walkers. On the day she was found, a man and woman were seen pointing to a spot in the River Wyre - and police helicopters and drones were seen circling above.
An inquest into her death will be heard on June 26.
A spokesman for HM Coroner said: "The investigation will take time to complete to ensure that as complete a picture as possible of the facts concerning Ms Bulley's death is presented at the inquest. This will assist the family in understanding what occurred."
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