According to the diving expert who assisted in the search for missing Nicola Bulley this morning, police did not ask him to investigate the area where the mother-of-two was discovered.
When she disappeared on January 27, Peter Faulding, 60, and his colleagues from Specialized Group International spent three days searching the River Wyre.
Ms. Bulley, who is said to have been recovered yesterday in reeds a mile from where she went missing in St. Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, was nowhere to be found.
A riverside and wade search, according to Mr. Faulding, an expert registered with the National Crime Database, would have been the only way to locate her there. In actuality, Lancashire Police was responsible for these.
His sophisticated sonar, which costs £55,000, can only scan in water; it cannot pass through reeds.
This morning, Mr. Faulding said: “While identification has not yet been legally verified, I would want to express that my sympathies are with Nicola Bulley’s family and friends during this very trying time.
The SGI underwater search team was entrusted with searching the river a mile upstream from the bench where Nicola’s phone was discovered, in the non-tidal portion of the river, upstream of the weir. We exhaustively examined the riverbed over the course of three days utilizing high frequency side scan sonar, and we can certainly state that Nicola was not on the riverbed during those days.
On the first day, we spent four hours searching the riverbed where Nicola was discovered. The next two days, we searched upstream beyond the weir. Both the police’s underwater and land search teams spent three whole weeks looking for Nicola without success. Unluckily, a member of the public made a terrible finding that hasn’t yet been positively identified as Nicola.
Unfortunately, the find was made in reeds at the river’s bank, beyond the scope of our investigation since side scan sonar cannot penetrate reeds above or below water. We were not engaged with or given the duty of doing a riverside and wade search, which would be the only method to search this region. The distinction between these two search areas has led to a great deal of misunderstanding and unwarranted criticism of Specialty Group International and my staff.
“My earlier statements that I would discover Nicola in the river still hold true. At SGI, my staff and I made every effort to help this family in the best possible ways. I’m certain that I can speak for everyone who has contributed to this challenging quest.
Former Scotland Yard Superintendent Nusrit Mehtab seemed to support Mr. Faulding as he launched his forceful defense.
She said, “Very significant issues regarding Lancashire Police’s decision-making need to be answered.
There were three searches and a private search, so how did they miss it.
“They shared the information with the general public while not disclosing it to the private search regarding the vulnerabilities.
“They didn’t appear to be able to grasp what was going on,” I said.
Authorities said that since they are awaiting official identification, they are unable to determine at this time if the corpse found on Sunday is that of Ms. Bulley, who has been missing.
‘We were called today at 11.36am to reports of a corpse in the River Wyre, near to Rawcliffe Road,’ a spokesperson added.
A corpse was regrettably found when an underwater search team and specialized cops arrived on the site, entered the water, and searched the area.
We cannot yet confirm if this is Nicola Bulley since no official identification has been made.
The steps to identify the corpse are still being taken. The cause of the death is now being investigated.
“Nicola’s family has been updated on the situation, and we are thinking about them at this really trying time.” Please respect their right to privacy.
There is still a large cordon in place and a tent has been set up.
Once the two hikers discovered the corpse, police immediately launched a thorough search. Detective Superintendent Smith arrived just as the devastating find was verified by the police.
Upon speaking with authorities, the male walker was spotted with a pale face and pointing to a protrusion of trees and vegetation along the river, stating, “There’s certainly a corpse there.”
Before embarking on the river on February 6, forensics specialist Peter Faulding volunteered his assistance in the hunt for the missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley.
Before his crew from Specialist Group International got going, he promised that “our sonar would discover a corpse on the river.”
Speaking at the site on February 6 during searches, he remarked, “I can find anything with that and if Nicola is here, I am happy that we will locate her if she is in the river.”
The expert, who has experience working on high-profile cases such as the Kate Prout case from 2011, reiterated his convictions in additional interviews.
Nonetheless, despite the best efforts of his team, the expert came to the conclusion that Ms. Bulley was not in the river after three days of searching.
He posted video of the still river on February 10 as “evidence” that she was not in the water.
Mr. Faulding said, referring to the film, “The log remained at that location for 20 minutes, and it really spiraled and went up six feet and came back to the same place.”
According to his experience, the river was roughly a foot higher on that particular day, but he added, “I’d be extremely shocked [if she was there] since a corpse normally sinks to the bottom pretty fast.”
If Nicola had fallen off the bank, she would have landed on rocks and in roughly 2 feet of water, where she could have stood up.
Police searches that went as far as Morecambe Bay were criticized by Mr. Faulding because he thought it was “impossible” for a corpse to have drifted so far.
He said, “I have this inherent talent to locate stuff,” in an interview with the Daily Mail on February 11. And I would have located her if she had been there.
Notwithstanding some criticism, I can still hold my head high since all of the high-profile cases I worked on were well recorded.
I’m not daydreaming; I’ve been there and done that, so I can talk from experience, he remarked.
I’ve assisted several families who lost loved ones in puzzling situations throughout the years, and I am aware that the hardest thing of all is “not knowing.”
“If there is any way I can assist with that, I will.”
Ms. Bulley’s boyfriend Paul Ansell was among the family members with whom Mr. Faulding discussed parts of his chats.
I advised him to consider all of his alternatives, no matter how difficult they may be, and that I had to be absolutely honest with him. As a creature of habit and a lovely woman, Nicola was a potential target for abduction.
He subsequently added: “She may have ran off with a boyfriend, she could have walked from the bench to the main road and into a vehicle,” albeit there is no proof of this. Everything in this situation, however implausible it may appear, looks unlikely.
However how distressing it may be, it is crucial to be honest about these matters. In the instances I’ve worked on, nothing can be ruled out. That is the reason I was brought in.
According to Mr. Faulding, the Nicola Bulley case is one of the most puzzling he has ever been engaged with.
Throughout his 25 years of search and recovery, he said, “I’ve never experienced anything exactly like that.”
According to Peter Faulding, who spoke to MailOnline on February 14, if Ms. Bulley had fallen into the River Wyre, she would have only gotten to waist-deep water.
She wouldn’t go very far if she fell down the bank. She would only have been waist deep and the rocks would have kept her there. People frequently pass by, so she may have remained standing there and requested assistance.
“Experienced police divers have searched that exhaustively, and she would have needed to be pushed really hard from behind to have flung herself into the deep water.”
On February 15, he also criticized police for failing to disclose Ms. Bulley’s “vulnerabilities,” which included her struggles with alcoholism.
The search specialist expressed his frustration that police had not mentioned that Ms. Bulley may have entered the river in another way and said that he had based his search on the assumption that she had fallen into it.
On TalkTV, Mr. Faulding said to Jeremy Kyle: “If she had jumped in, meant to commit suicide, or walked out, it would affect my whole approach.”
She could have found herself in the ocean.
Mr. Faulding told The Times that he found it “absolutely appalling” that he hadn’t been informed of this.
Someone has to take responsibility for this since it is awful.
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