Specialist police divers have returned to the spot where missing mum Nicola Bulley was last seen walking her dog to carry out a more thorough search of the area. A team of frogmen have been trawling beneath the surface of the River Wyre, while other officers searched the banks along with a fire service boat team who brought search dogs to scour the water.
The mum-of-two, 45, was walking her brown spaniel Willow along the river in the village of St Michael's in Lancashire on Friday morning at about 9.20am, the Mirror reports. A member of the public stumbled across her dog running loose on its own, which she recognised as Nicola's pet and the mortgage advisor's phone was also found discarded nearby on a bench.
The local phoned the school where Nicola's daughters attend and staff then contacted her husband, Paul Ansell, before the police were phoned. A huge search has been ongoing to trace the mum for almost a week.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue teams returned to the river bank by the bench today with a 20ft long probe attached to an underwater camera. At around 10.40am, a specialist underwater unit arrived with oxygen tanks and long yellow cables dressed in blank.
Police divers are extensively searching the area of water, which is thought to be 18ft deep, as officers have confirmed they don't believe there is any third-party involvement. However, Nicola's parents, Ernest, 73 and Dot, 72, say they were told there was no sign of a slip or fall and they fear that someone has taken her.
They revealed that it was completely out of character for Nicola, who has two young girls, to disappear and that she had been looking forward to various exciting events coming up. The mother has not been seen or heard from by her family since Friday and the community are growing increasingly concerned about her wellbeing.
Her disappearance has shook large parts of the country as specialist officers alongside volunteer groups have launched a huge search to locate her. Ernest and Dot, have vowed that 'we will never stop looking for her'.
Nicola's father said: "I asked the Sergeant from Fleetwood a few days ago, 'is there any chance of her being taken' and she said 'I don't think that's the case'. I said 'how can you know that?', it's such an isolated area, the only way that has happened is if it was someone who knew her."
While Nicola's family are hopeful she will return, Ernest confessed: "We just dread to think we will never see her again, if the worst came to the worst and she was never found, how will we deal with that for the rest of our lives."
Nicola is described as white, 5ft 3in tall, with light brown shoulder-length hair, and speaks with an Essex accent. On the day of her disappearance, she was wearing a long black gilet jacket with a hood, black jeans and olive-green ankle wellies. Her hair was tied into a ponytail.
Anybody who has seen Nicola, or has information about where she might be, is asked to call 101, quoting log 565 of January 30. For immediate sightings please call 999.
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