Nicola Bulley diver hits back at criticism claiming he found body ‘after six minutes’

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A skilled diver insisted that he found Nicola Bulley's body in just six minutes, completely confident in his assertion. He was responding to a review that scrutinized the police's approach to the missing mother's case and accused him of not doing his part during the search.

An independent inquiry discovered that Peter Faulding made comments to the press that did not match up with what took place to Ms Bulley, and law enforcement officials believed that a few of his actions "created obstacles for the investigation".

Mr. Faulding conducted a personal investigation of the River Wyre to find the woman who had two children. She was discovered on February 19th, roughly one mile away from the location where she went missing while out walking her dog in St. Michael's area of Lancashire three weeks prior.

After investigation, it was determined that her death was unintentional. She fell into the river on the day she went missing and passed away quickly due to the frigid waters.

Peter Faulding is a member of a company called Specialist Group International, which specializes in searching and retrieving objects from underwater locations.

Mr. Faulding made an announcement on Tuesday. According to him, he and his company called Specialist Group International (SGI) went to St Michaels on Wyre to help look for Ms. Bulley on February 6th. They searched for her in a particular part of the river that day, but there was no trace of her.

The police instructed Mr Faulding’s team to search the "hot zone", a non-tidal area in front of the bench where Ms Bulley’s phone was found, down to the weir. Mr Faulding pointed out that if Nicola had entered the water in that location, chances were high that she could be found in that area, based on his past experiences.

After only six minutes of searching, at 10.34am, the diver claimed to have found something big that looked like a person. It was about 75 meters away from the bench. The diver had seen enough to recognize it as a potential human form.

Nicola Bulley disappeared from St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire on the 27th of January.

According to Mr Faulding, he informed the Search Adviser of Lancashire Police about his discoveries in less than 20 minutes. He also sent an image of what he had found and asked that SGI divers be sent to investigate the location as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, he asserted that his plea to dive was declined, maintaining that he was informed that the North West Underwater Search Unit (NWUSU) would carry out the dive later that day instead.

The leader of NWUSU informed his colleagues that the objective was discovered to be non-existent. He declared that he was left bewildered as it is rare for him to not locate a target, especially one that has a visible sign. He firmly believed that sonar shadows cannot be produced by something that is not there.

He claimed that his group had performed another scan of the identical region secretly, and it displayed the same result in the same spot at around 4:30 p.m. on that day.

The police commissioner for Lancashire, Andrew Snowden, and Chief Constable Andy Marsh, recently held a press conference in Preston to discuss how the police dealt with the Nicola Bulley case.

According to Mr. Faulding, he has worked closely with the police and police dive teams for a significant amount of time. He stated that he holds great respect for their work and instinctively trusts their abilities. Therefore, he has no doubts about their findings.

Even though I believed I had pinpointed a reliable objective, I eventually realized that I may have been mistaken. As a result, I spoke to the press later that day and declared that there was no evidence of Nicola's whereabouts and I did not believe she was located in the river.

According to Mr. Faulding, the request for Lancashire Police Search Adviser to rescan a specific section of the river was denied the next day because they claimed that the intended spot had already been checked.

As authorities in Lancashire searched for missing Nicola Bulley, a specialized police diving team mobilized to comb the River Wyre near St Michael's on Wyre. They bravely ventured into the waters in hopes of finding any evidence that could lead to Bulley's whereabouts.

He stated that they had conducted a comprehensive search of the designated areas of the river, but they did not find any other targets. Therefore, he made the decision to stop the search and left the location. Surprisingly, the Lancashire Constabulary did not ask for any of their search records or sonar data, and he did not have any further communication with them after leaving the scene.

Before the legal investigation, he checked his sonar data and stated that he was not invited for it. He found out that by enhancing the images, he was able to identify Nicola as the target he had located.

According to him, he managed to find Nicola at 10:34 A.M on the 7th of February 2023 in just six minutes of searching. By using an advanced sonar file, taken at 4:30 P.M on the same day, it is apparent that Nicola's body was discovered in a curled-up position on her right side with her legs bent.

Even though Ms. Bulley's remains were discovered in a distinct area of the river, Mr. Faulding stated that he thinks it's because "gas produced from her decaying body accumulated, causing her to rise to the top," and then flow down the river, pass over the weir, and reach the tidal region of the river. Eventually, she was placed in her ultimate position for eternity.

As per the unbiased evaluation, the diver who explored the particular location pointed out by Mr Faulding observed that it only consisted of "branches of trees beneath the water" and hence confirmed that no significant discovery was made there. The report further noted that the NWPUSMU had already conducted a search in the same spot in the past but came up with no fruitful outcome.

This section of the blog mentioned that the team in charge of reviewing the evidence consulted a top government expert in sonar. The expert provided their assessment, saying that they did not have a strong belief that the images captured showed a human body being harmed.

According to the report, the search team adequately investigated the discovery and found it to be negative. Two independent scientists provided their expert opinions, which were also taken into account during the review process.

The College of Policing released a report on Tuesday which stated that Mr Faulding had notified the Bulley family that he suspected he had found the place where a dead body had been left. This place is known as a body deposition site.

During the review, Lancashire Constabulary proposed that this had caused unnecessary emotional pain and anxiety and led to the police having to redirect their attention to the family to resolve the issue.

Nicola Bulley's partner, Paul Ansell, is seen in the photo on the right as he visits the riverside with Peter Faulding. Nicola Bulley, a mother of two who is currently missing, is thought to have disappeared in this area. Paul is working closely with authorities to try and locate her.

According to the report, Lancashire police believe that Mr. Faulding's actions and interaction with the media greatly affected the investigation and the public's trust.

The team who assessed the situation believes that some of his actions made it more difficult for the team in charge of the investigation.

He frequently made statements in public that conflicted with the strategies used for investigation and operation. This caused the community to become uncertain and diminished the confidence of the family in the search operation and investigation.

According to the report, Mr. Faulding stated that he was not given media guidance or assistance by Lancashire Constabulary and that he did not receive any direction to avoid interacting with the press.