Nicola Bulley's parents told their daughter "we pray every day for you" as they left a message on a bridge near where she vanished.
Mum-of-two Nicola, 45, went missing in the village of St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, on January 27. She had dropped her children off at school and logged into a Teams call while walking her springer spaniel, Willow.
A "bridge of hope" was set up by friends and family over the weekend. It has been inundated with notes from local people and schoolchildren.
READ MORE: Police called to Nicola Bulley's home weeks before she disappeared
On Thursday (February 16), two new messages had been written on yellow ribbons of hope, attached to the bridge near the footpath where Nicola was last seen, reports the Mirror. They were left by Nicola's parents, Ernie, 73, and Dot, 72 and her younger sister, Louise Cunningham.
The message from her parents read: "We pray every day for you. Love you, mum and dad xxx". Another from her sister said: "Nikki, please come home. I love you, Lou xxx"
Louise also shared a drawing of a woman covered in yellow hearts on her Facebook profile. The caption read: "Nikki you are outrageously loved."
It comes as Lancashire Police came under scrutiny yesterday for sharing the fact mum-of-two was categorised as "high risk" due to "a number of specific vulnerabilities". At the time, they did not elaborate and sparked further speculation despite trying to use the press conference to squash any unhelpful theories.
Hours later, police then posted on Facebook that she "in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause". They added these issues had "resurfaced in recent months".
This has sparked outrage from MPs and confusion from former police officers. Former detective Martyn Underhill told Sky News this morning he had never "seen such a level of detail" released in a missing persons case and questioned why officers were releasing it now.
Speaking to Kay Burley, Mr Underhill said: "You can understand why some people are saying it's victim blaming to protect their own reputation. I can't see how it progresses the case any further forward now we're three weeks in, to be frank."
Lancashire Police's statement was also criticised by MPs.
Labour's Stella Creasy said: "The decision to disclose this level of detail on a missing person's private life, with no evidence that this is assisting in finding her, is deeply troubling.
"The police need to be much clearer as to why any of this helps find Nicola Bulley or support this investigation."
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said she was "deeply uncomfortable" with the police releasing details about Ms Bulley's "so called 'vulnerabilities' on menopause and alcohol".
"I struggle to ascertain how this will assist Police in their search & investigations," she wrote, adding, "I do see how it would assist those wishing to victim-blame or diminish."
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