Nicola Bulley's partner Paul Ansell describes…

Nicola Bulley's partner Paul Ansell describes desperate moment he realised she was missing

Nicola Bulley's partner has described the desperate moment he realised she was missing as he also discussed negative comments he has been receiving. He took part in an intimate TV interview with Yorkshire journalist Dan Walker during a Channel 5 documentary which aired on Friday night, February 10.

Nicola Bulley has been missing for two weeks. The mum-of-two disappeared after walking her dog Willow down the River Wyre in Lancashire, Yorkshire Live reports.

Now, Paul Ansell has spoken of the moment he realised that something wasn't adding up. During the interview, Paul also spoke of what he wants to see done to help find her.

Police have since called off the river search for Nicola after expert divers found no trace. Lancashire Police say they are keeping an 'open mind' on all options, as they are still treating it as a missing person enquiry.

Paul described the usual family routine, and the moment he panicked when Nicola didn't return home. Usually, she returns around 10am after dropping the children off and walking the dog, but on January 27, this wasn't the case.

He said: “She is usually back 10am average, so I go into the office at 10, thinking she would be back in a minute, I was going through some emails. It got to about 10.15, and I thought she was later than usual, she has come back at 10.15, 10.20 before, it’s not often but she has come back about 10.15.

“I wasn’t massively concerned, then it got to 10.30, and I thought she was quite late, more late than usual, tried ringing her phone, there was no answer, tried WhatsApp and there was no answer, I started to get a bit panicky."

Paul ran down the river looking for her, he was handed the dog Willow by another walker who found her, they also gave Paul Nicola's phone which was still logged into a work call. Paul says there are currently no way of explaining what has happened to Nicola.

He added: “I thought I would go out, find her, come back, and go to the gym, the phone rang and it was the receptionist at school. They said it was a bit of a weird one, but they had found willow, her phone, and the harness

“I thought I was going to find her and see her and then I got that call. Got in the car, drove down her, ran down the river, somebody handed me, Willow, handed me Nicky’s phone and I expected to look around and there she is.

“Nothing, nothing, I had rung 999 on the way, because I knew something was wrong, the police rang me when I was on the bench, they said I needed to get home, they need someone at the house.

“A police officer had come to the house, and although I was still extremely worried or concerned I expected them to say we found her, but that never happened, the day then just spiraled and the end of the day came and no answers, and here we are, two weeks later."

Some people have questioned why Paul did the interview, responding to this, Paul said: “I am pleading with them, just please, anything, no matter how tiny, just please just come forward with it please, because that could be the key to finding her.

“And, as a family, we are not bothered about anything else, there is nothing else, we just have to find her. “