Nicola Bulley search expert says case is most unusual

7 Feb 2023

Nicola BulleyImage source, Police handout

Image caption,

Nicola Bulley disappeared while walking her dog near the River Wyre in Lancashire

A search expert looking for Nicola Bulley says he has not seen such an unusual case in 20 years of his work.

Peter Faulding, head of a team of underwater experts searching the River Wyre, said another stretch near where she went missing would be scoured.

Ms Bulley, 45, was last seen walking her dog by the river in St Michael's on Wyre in Lancashire 11 days ago.

Her partner Paul Ansell issued a fresh appeal on Monday, saying her daughters missed her desperately.

Mr Faulding told BBC Breakfast: "It is so unusual.

"Normally when we deal with a drowning victim, they are where they go down.

"I would expect to find Nicola in the water right in front of the bench where she went down. She would not have moved, maybe two or three feet.

"In my 20-odd years of doing this, I have worked on hundreds of cases, I have never seen anything so unusual."

Media caption,

Search team leader Peter Faulding describes why he is so perplexed

His search teams are now focusing on the "key area" around the bench where her phone was found.

The forensic expert also told BBC Radio 5 Live: "This is baffling. Even the police are confused.

"The police divers would have found her that day if she had fallen in at that point."

Detectives investigating the disappearance are focusing their efforts on a river path.

Image caption,

The private underwater search team setting off as they explore a "key" area

The force said sightings showed her movements from the school, where she dropped her two daughters off, along the river path and into the field.

They urged drivers or cyclists on Garstang Road to contact them.

Mr Ansell said in a statement released by Lancashire Police on Monday: "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.

"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."

A team of divers from the private Specialist Group International (SGI), headed up by Mr Faulding, searched "three or four miles" of river until it got dark on Monday.

Image source, Emma White

Image caption,

Nicola Bulley has not been seen since 27 January

In an update Lancashire Police said: "We can say with confidence that by reviewing CCTV, Nicola has not left the field during the key times via Rowanwater, either through the site itself or via the piece of land at the side.

"Also, we can say that she did not return from the fields along Allotment Lane or via the path at the rear of the Grapes pub on to Garstang Road.

"Our inquiries now focus on the river path which leads from the fields back to Garstang Road - for that we need drivers and cyclists who travelled that way on the morning of 27 January to make contact."

Police believe Ms Bulley may have fallen into the River Wyre, but they "remain open minded" and are continuing to carry out a "huge number" of inquiries.

Image source, PA Media

Image caption,

Searches of the River Wyre are continuing

The force said officers have "spoken to numerous witnesses, analysed Nicola's mobile phone and Fitbit and searched the derelict house on the other side of the river as well as any empty caravans in the vicinity".

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 and harness on the ground.

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