The family of missing 45-year-old dog walker Nicola Bulley say they have not accepted the police explanation that she accidentally fell into the river one week ago, and vanished without a trace.
Nicola Bulley's sister Louise Cunningham took to Facebook in an appeal for the public not to give up sharing information about Nikki after police said something "could have happened" with her dog that caused her to approach and potentially fall into the river, reports The Mirror.
The Mail reports that Ms Bulley's family had found the police assessment 'hard to contemplate' but continued to hold onto hope as the search continues.
Nicola had dropped her six and nine-year-old daughters off at school last Friday morning before taking spaniel Willow for a walk along a towpath in St Michaels on Wyre.
Superintendent Sally Riley said yesterday that the investigators' main hypothesis is that she accidentally fell into the river - but Nicola's sister said: "Please keep sharing my Nikki …Off the back of the latest Police media update, please can I add there is no evidence whatsoever that she has gone into the river, it’s just a theory.
"Everyone needs to keep an open mind as not all CCTV and leads have been investigated fully, the police confirmed the case is far from over."
Supt Riley told reporters in a press conference that officers are "as sure as we can be" that Nicola did not leave the area. Her phone was found on a bench and the dog was running around nearby without its harness or lead.
The device was still logged into a work group conference call, although with her camera and microphone muted, and the meeting had finished.
Supt Riley added: "At the point where the bench is located there is quite a steep drop to the river, albeit not high, it is steep.
"And therefore whilst I don’t want to speculate as to what may have happened, it is our working hypothesis that she has entered the water accidentally and that’s why there is no physical evidence on the field."
She confirmed the mum can swim, and said due to the different water depths searchers have been both wading in the River Wyre and diving underwater.
The superintendent said after a "thorough" search of the immediate stretch of water, investigators have not found any conclusive evidence.
She went on to say: "The dog was off the lead, this was normal for the dog to run about and Nicola was on a teams call, which again it would be normal for her not to participate in actively and just have the phone to listen in, effectively.
"Anything could have happened with the dog whereby Nicola may have gone - and I don’t wish to speculate, we don’t know - but it is possible the dog was loose and off the lead that there may have been an issue with the dog that led her to go near to the water’s edge.
"She put the phone down momentarily and Nicola may have fallen in. That is a possibility,"
She confirmed the dog was dry when found by other walkers.
"We don’t believe the dog was in the river because the dog, we believe, was dry and the witnesses have not described the dog swimming or jumping into the river.
"We don’t know why Nicola may have entered the water if she did," she added.
Multi-agency searches for Nicola have entered a ninth day. Search teams from Lancashire Constabulary are continuing to trawl the River Wyre.
Their search has been aided by specialists and divers from HM Coastguard, mountain rescue, and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service – with sniffer dogs, drones, and police helicopters deployed. Detectives are also working behind the scenes to analyse CCTV and dashcam videos, and members of the public with footage which could be useful have been urged to come forward.
Police believe Ms Bulley went missing in just “a 10-minute window.
Police searching for Ms Bulley on the River Wyre, in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire (Danny Lawson/PA)
Ms Bulley had logged in to a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am, which ended at 9.30am with her phone still connected to the call. She was seen by another dog walker at 9.10am – the last known sighting – and police traced telephony records of her mobile phone as it remained on a bench overlooking the river at 9.20am.
The device was found by a dog walker at around 9.35am, with Willow nearby. Friends of the family said on Friday that Ms Bulley’s daughters had been asking: “Where’s Mummy? How is Mummy?”
Her partner Paul Ansell, 44, said he would “never lose hope” of finding her. Police vowed to continue the search for Ms Bulley, to “bring her home”.
They have urged the public to look out along the river for the items of clothing that Ms Bulley was last seen wearing. This includes an ankle-length black quilted gilet jacket, a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat, tight-fitting black jeans, long green walking socks, ankle-length green Next wellies, a necklace and a pale blue Fitbit.
