Nicole Bulley's heartbroken partner says he can't wrap his head around her disappearance which he described as like an "impossible dream".
The 45-year-old mortgage advisor vanished while walking her brown spaniel Willow along the River Wyre in St Michael's-on-Wyre, Lancashire, one week ago. As reported by the Mirror, the alarm was raised when someone recognised Nicola's dog running loose and found its harness and the mum's mobile phone nearby.
They got in contact with her daughters' school who then contacted her partner Paul Ansell. Speaking publicly for the first time, Paul told Sky: "I don't know how I am coping. I don't want to think about that. I am just focused on the girls.
"It's a week on as yet it seems like we are no further on. It just seems impossible like a dream.
"Every single scenario comes to a brick wall. Every single one of them. All we are doing is sitting there going round and round and round through each scenario."
He was focusing on looking after their two daughters, he added, and "didn't want to think" about how he was coping.
Speaking about the public support, he said: "It's amazing - it's the only thing we can take. it gives us a great amount of comfort.
"We're never gonna lose hope, of course, we are not. Right now it's like she vanished into thin air. It's just insane."
Seven days on it appears there are no leads into finding out what happened. Paul had previously told pals he's trying to hold it together for their daughters, aged nine and six, who "want to go out and find mummy".
The family friend, who did not want to be named, told The Mirror: "I am speaking to him most days. They are close friends of ours.
"He’s trying to be strong for the girls. They want to go out and find mummy. It’s utterly heartbreaking. He’s trying to hold on to hope that she will be found and brought home to them.
"He’s trying to balance keeping some form of routine for the girls and then trying to find Nikki. They just desperately want her home. The alternative is just too unimaginable and devastating."
Search efforts ramped up as divers were seen going into the river yesterday. Officers also appealed for a second potential key witness to come forward, who was later identified but said she hadn't seen Nicola that morning.
Nicola was last seen soon after dropping her daughters off at school and taking her dog for a walk. The dog was later found wandering alone "bone dry" and agitated on the trail with her harness on the floor.
Nicola’s phone, meanwhile, had been left on a bench overlooking the water, still logged into the call. Just moments before the meeting, during which she had switched off her camera and microphone, it is understood she texted a friend about meeting up sometime this week with her kids.
It's understood two fellow dog walkers saw her soon before her disappearance and she was "laughing and joking" with them. Nicola's disappearance was totally out of character according to family and friends.
It comes after Nicola's mum Dot told this week she had also been making plans for a spa break with her sister Louise. Nicola was happy with her job and had a meeting with an important client before she went missing, dad Ernest added.
Nicola is described as white, 5ft 3ins tall, with light brown shoulder-length hair. She speaks with an Essex accent. She was last seen 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 30th. For immediate sightings please call 999.
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