Nicola Bulley's final text message, sent just minutes before she disappeared, has been revealed as the investigation into the mum's disappearance continues.
The 45-year-old disappeared after dropping off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school in St Michael's on Wyre in Lancashire on January 27, and was last seen shortly after walking her dog Willow along the banks of the River Wyre. Her phone was found less than an hour later on a bench, still logged into a Microsoft Teams work call.
Willow was found wandering "bone dry" and agitated. Nicola had disappeared without a trace – but the Mirror reports the mum-of-two had texted a friend moments before she vanished to set up a playdate.
A friend, who asked not to be named, told our sister paper: "She booked a playdate: 8.57am, she sent a text message to a friend whose mortgage she had just recently signed off on to arrange for the girls to go for tea this week. You wouldn't have done that if you were going to get up and go missing."
The information had been revealed at a meeting in the village hall on Sunday morning before residents began their first community-organised search. Meanwhile, Lancashire Police is set to conduct an internal review into their investigation of the disappearance.
Head of crime Detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables will head up the probe, which comes after police were fiercely criticised for "sexist" disclosures of Nicola's vulnerability as they stepped up their investigation. Officers had disclosed that the mum had struggled with alcohol after reaching menopause.
Dame Vera Baird, a former victims' commissioner, told BBC Radio 4 she felt the force had made a "dreadful error" in releasing the details, while Home Secretary Suella Braverman was reportedly "concerned" about the disclosures. The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had received a referral from Lancashire Police about contact officers had with Nicola on January 10, more than two weeks before she went missing.
A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: "A review of the investigation is diarised and will be conducted by our Head of Crime Detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables. She is also PIP 4 accredited and has attended the national reviewer course."
The Information Commissioner John Edwards plans to quiz the force about its decision to release information about Nicola's issues prior to her disappearance.
In a statement, Mr Edwards said: "Data protection law exists to ensure people's personal information is used properly and fairly. This includes ensuring personal details are not disclosed inappropriately.
"Given the high-profile nature of this case, we will be asking Lancashire Police to set out how they reached the decision to disclose this information in due course."
Nicola's family has also urged people to stop "making wild theories up" about her disappearance. Social media users have posted unfounded claims about the mum and her family since she disappeared.
In a statement, her family said: "Although we know that Nikki would not have wanted this, there are people out there speculating and threatening to sell stories about her. This is appalling and needs to stop.
"The police know the truth about Nikki and now the public need to focus on finding her. The public focus has to be on finding her and not making up wild theories about her personal life."
On February 3, the force told the public of its main hypothesis that Ms Bulley had fallen into the River Wyre in a "10-minute window" between 9.10am and 9.20am on the day she disappeared. The search for her has since been extended to the sea but she has not been found.
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