Police investigating the disappearance of missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley have said their "main working hypothesis" is that she fell into the River Wyre and that "this is not suspicious but a tragic case of a missing person".
Mum-of-two Nicola went missing last Friday morning, January 27, while walking her dog. She has not been seen since despite large-scale search efforts.
Superintendent Sally Riley told a press conference that it was believed that Nicola disappeared in a "10-minute window" in the village of St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire.
The last confirmed sighting of her took place at 9.10am that day when she was seen on Upper Field walking her dog. Her dog was off the lead, which was normal, the superintendent added.
At 9.20am police believe her phone was on a bench while connected to a work Teams meeting, which ended 10 minutes later.
Superintendent Riley told a press conference: "The inquiry team has undertaken a number of dashcam, CCTV and ring doorbell footage. This has allowed us to eliminate any trace so far of Nicola having left the riverside, which is really important.
"We believe that Nicola was in the riverside area and remained at the riverside area. We remain open to any inquiries that might lead us to question that, but at this time we understand that she was by the river.
"Our main working hypothesis therefore is that Nicola has sadly fallen into the river, that there is no third party or criminal involvement and that this is not suspicious, but a tragic case of a missing person. This is particularly important because speculation otherwise can be really distressing for the family and for Nicola's children."
Superintendent Riley added: "We only have a 10-minute window in which we cannot account for Nicola's movements."
She gave a list of clothing and accessories police are searching for in connection with Nicola's disappearance.
She told the press conference: "I do have an update on the clothing that Nicola was last seen wearing, and this is something that the public who live in the area, or who walk their dogs on the river path near to St Michael's or downstream of St Michael's towards Morecambe Bay, can look out for.
"They are an ankle-length black quilted gilet jacket, a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat which was worn underneath the gilet, tight-fitting black jeans, long green walking socks tucked into her jeans, ankle-length green Next wellies, a necklace and a pale blue Fitbit. It's really important that the public pay heed to those very specific clothing descriptions please, because factual sightings of those items would be very useful to us."
She added: "I would also appeal to the public to keep themselves safe in this inquiry. People going out at night in the darkness could fall into the river and face other hazards. Likewise, if they go out in boats on the river, please only do so if you've got experience in that."
