Partner of missing Nicola Bulley issues heartbreaking…

Partner of missing Nicola Bulley issues heartbreaking statement says her two daughters ‘need her back’

The partner of missing Nicola Bulley has issued a fresh statement in which he said her two daughters “desperately” miss her and “need her back”.

In a statement released through Lancashire Police, Paul Ansell, said: “It’s been 10 days now since Nicola went missing and I have two little girls who miss their mummy desperately and who need her back.”

Ms Bulley, 45, went missing on January 27 in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.

Mr Ansell continued: “This has been such a tough time for the girls especially but also for me and all of Nicola’s family and friends, as well as the wider community and I want to thank them for their love and support.

“We are also really grateful to Peter and his team from SGI for coming up and helping support the work of Lancashire Police as they continue their investigation.

“If anyone has any information which could help find Nicola, I urge them to get in touch with the police and help us provide the answers we all so badly need.”

Underwater search experts, using specialist sonar equipment to search for Ms Bulley in the river, did not find anything on Monday.

Peter Faulding, the head of private diving team Specialist Group International, said his team of experts and divers, based in Dorking, Surrey, worked with Lancashire Police and searched “three or four miles” of river until it got dark.

“It’s a negative search, no signs of Nicola,” he told the PA News Agency.

Workers from Specialist Group International, a private underwater search and recovery company, on the River Wyre on Monday morning (PA)

He said his team will look through another stretch of river on Tuesday “towards where Nicola went originally missing”.

Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith, of Lancashire Police, said: “The team working on this investigation are completely dedicated and determined to find Nicola.

“As a mother myself, I can’t even begin to imagine what her two children are going through.

“Please be reassured that our sole focus is Nicola and that we are doing everything we can to find her.

“It is not possible to provide every piece of information to the public because to do so would detract from the investigation, but I’d like to thank everyone who has assisted us so far and for the support provided to Nicola’s family at this extremely difficult time.

“They are being supported and updated throughout.”

Ms Bulley had dropped her two daughters, aged six and nine, off at school and then went on her usual dog walk alongside the river.

Her phone, still connected to a Teams call for her job as a mortgage adviser, was found on a bench on a steep riverbank overlooking the water, along with the dog lead, with the dog harness on the ground.

Police say they think she fell into the river.