As police continue to look for Nicola Bulley, her neighbors have expressed concerns about the “slippery riverbank” close to where the mother was last seen.
In St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, Ms. Bulley unexpectedly disappeared five days ago while walking her springer spaniel, Willow, down a towpath along the River Wyre.
The 45-year-phone, old’s which was still connected to the business call she was on when she was last seen, was discovered nearby on a bench.
Police assert that they are still “open minded” about Ms. Bulley’s disappearance but adamantly state that they do not currently think she was assaulted.
Her neighbors affirmed that the devoted mother would never have deliberately left her family, despite the surrounding town being gripped by panic.
Five days have passed since the mother-of-two went missing while out on a walk with her springer spaniel, Willow, in St. Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
Less than six miles from where Ms. Bulley was last seen, and more than two decades after a young child drowned in the same river, she vanished.
Reece Maybury, age 2, was found dead half a mile downstream from the family camp spot he had been using along the river.
The search for Ms. Bulley went on for a seventh day, with police saying they are “keeping an open mind.”
Ms. Bulley’s family is quite close-knit, a neighbor observed last night. They are really affectionate and will be in utter disarray. It’s a puzzle. They just don’t know where she is.
She has brought the dog there a ton of times, but the riverbanks can be quite treacherous, so we went on the hunt on Sunday.
You simply don’t know, do you, but I do know that she would have never, ever left those kids on her own will, she said. Everyone in the family is loving.
Nicola seemed like a devoted mother to me. You could never hope to meet a nicer group of folks than they are. She appeared like the sort of person who didn’t have a nasty bone in her body, therefore I believe everyone is sad.
She was so kind and cozy. She gave her everything for Paul and her girls. The whole family will be devastated.
Every week, her parents travel to Nicola’s house to pick up their grandkids before returning to this place. They are going through so much, and they really don’t know where she may be. I can’t even begin to understand.
It has left us feeling really unhappy. Nicola was a great individual who had a good family and work.
It happens while the grieving boyfriend of the missing mother tries to gently inform their two young daughters, ages nine and six, that “mummy is lost.”
The children of Ms. Bulley “cried their eyes out” last week while their father, Paul Ansell, sought to comfort them while also struggling with his own anxiety and anguish.
For the sake of his daughters, Mr. Ansell is attempting to be “as powerful as possible,” but he has also made an effort to teach the fundamentals to them.
According to The Sun, his father, David, said: “The children have been informed, “Mummy’s gone,” but they haven’t been given the whole information.”
They “totally bawled their eyes out” when they learned the news.
The mother of Ms. Bulley said, “Paul had to let the girls know what was going on.” He just said, “Mummy’s missing.” It breaks my heart.
Speaking from the family home in Inskip, Lancashire, Mr. Ansell said that he spent the whole day on Sunday looking for his 12-year spouse.
It’s simply endless torment, the engineer said. It is pure and simple unbelief. Even if we are experiencing it, it doesn’t seem genuine.
All we can say is that we must track her down. She has two tiny daughters that need their mother to return home. We must immediately get some encouraging news.
In the hours after her disappearance, Kev Camplin of Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue sprung into action, organizing a group of 25 skilled volunteers to explore the area that same day.
The abandoned home lies just across from the bench on the other side of the river, above a 10 foot garden wall, he told The Mirror. It’s quite upscale.
As a volunteer search and rescue team, we don’t really enter buildings, therefore we didn’t go inside the home. We may enter a barn or anything like that. We let the cops handle it.
“The owner was there for whatever reason while the crew was investigating the grounds. We requested him to go inside and he quickly looked around and found she wasn’t there.”
After getting a lunchtime alarm, the crew headed to the area about 1pm and kept looking until approximately 8pm.
The information was made public after Lancashire Police said today that they had located a “critical witness” who might assist in the search for the missing mother.
The witness, who was in the neighborhood walking a white fluffy dog, was “now being talked to,” according to the police.
According to a previous statement from the police, the guy “talked to the lady in the vicinity who located Nicola’s dog beside a bench in the field.”
According to reports, Ms. Bulley was last seen by a guy walking his dog nearby at 9.15 am. Police have talked with the guy.
The Times was informed by his wife, a 57-year-old software engineer, who was one of three individuals in the field the morning Ms. Bulley vanished.
He said that she appeared quite normal and that nothing about her was strange. I often said hi when I saw her. She always struck me as being really well-dressed with her bobble cap and beautiful Wellington boots. Just learning that she is absent is terrible.
In the aftermath of Ms. Bulley’s disappearance, villager Nicola Dewey informed the newspaper that she had missed her normal river stroll for two days in a row.
People are extremely startled by it. We are now locking our doors, even though it’s stupid,” she remarked.
Director of Exclusively Mortgages Ben Pociecha reported that at 9.01am, Ms. Bulley logged into a team meeting. It seems that she was muted and that her camera was off. He informed MailOnline that she was listening in while out walking her dog.
Several parties were engaged in this. The call was attended by several individuals. The call is being looked into by the police.
Willow, who was subsequently seen wandering between the river and bench, was being walked by Ms. Bulley in the area.
The mortgage advisor has a southern accent and has resided in Lancashire for 25 years, although she is originally from a region close to Chelmsford, Essex.
Stephen Cunningham, Nicola’s brother-in-law, said that “the entire family” is “struggling to grasp what’s occurred and scared beyond words.”
The family of Ms. Bulley stated in a statement that they were “overwhelmed” by the community’s support and wanted to thank everyone for their continuous efforts to assist in the search for Nicola. The girls are anxious for their mother to return home to be with them, and your continuous efforts have given them solace as we wait for updates on Nicola.
“Please come forward and assist the police with their enquiries if you believe you may have any information that might help them locate Nicola,” the statement reads.
It happened shortly after Ms. Bulley published photos on social media of herself walking her cherished dog Willow near to the area where she went missing on January 27.
She stated: “This morning’s stroll was really gloomy and chilly; don’t forget your gloves!” Quite eerie, too! Willow had the finest fun, however, and she set me up for the day.
Today, specialized search teams explored the surrounding countryside and the River Wyre in St. Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, in an attempt to find the mortgage counselor.
Villagers helped in the hunt for Nicola, a mother of two.
Mick Peter, 37, looked during his lunch break. It has an effect on the whole community, he added. I just came out to provide assistance. Dog walkers like this nice spot very much.
I always see other folks out walking when I take my dog for a daily stroll. There must have been something observed. I hope she arrives safely.
The family is incredibly close-knit, according to a neighbor. They are really affectionate and will be in utter disarray. It’s a puzzle. They just don’t know where she is.
She has brought the dog there a ton of times, but the riverbanks can be quite treacherous, so we went on the hunt on Sunday.
You simply don’t know, do you, but I do know that she would have never, ever left those kids on her own will, she said. Everyone in the family is loving.
Nicola seemed like a devoted mother to me. You could never hope to meet a nicer group of folks than they are. She appeared like the sort of person who didn’t have a nasty bone in her body, therefore I believe everyone is sad.
She was so kind and cozy. She gave her everything for Paul and her girls. The whole family will be devastated.
Every week, her parents travel to Nicola’s house to pick up their grandkids before returning to this place. They are going through so much, and they really don’t know where she may be. I can’t even begin to understand.
It has left us feeling really unhappy. Nicola was a great individual who had a good family and work.
Any information on her whereabouts would be appreciated by police. White, 5 feet 3 inches tall, and with light brown shoulder-length hair, Ms. Bulley is characterized.
She was dressed in a long, hooded, black gilet jacket, black trousers, and olive-green ankle wellington boots at the time of her disappearance. A ponytail held back her hair.
Police said they are keeping a “open mind” regarding what transpired but do not think Ms. Bulley was assaulted in a Monday update.
The children, who are nine and six years old, would be dropped off at the neighborhood primary school by Mr. Ansell or Ms. Bulley, also known as Nikki, before Willow was taken for a stroll along the river.
On Friday, Ms. Bulley ran her children to school before going for a dog walk, according to the police.
Mr. Ansell, who immediately called 911, said, “I received a call from the school reporting someone who had located Willow, Nikki’s phone, and the dog leash and harness on the bench.”
Ms. Bulley’s phone was still on a live call when it was discovered, according to Lancashire Police Superintendent Sally Riley, who spoke to the Mirror. It was still linked to the conference call, which was still active.
At a news conference, the officer said that worries regarding Ms. Bulley are intensifying with time.
The police are maintaining an an open mind about what may have occurred, but we do feel that the probability is that Nicola has disappeared, and this is not a criminal investigation, she added.
We have launched a fairly thorough search for Nicola. We have a huge area to look through. People do go missing, but it’s obvious that as time passes, our concerns about Nicola grow.
But we really hope that we may find a way to attempt to return her home soon and in good health.
We make an appeal to anybody who may have been passing through the hamlet of St. Michael’s last Friday morning at about 9.15am, who may have dashcam film that might be helpful to us, or who may have seen anyone walking their dogs nearby or on the tow route. They may call 999 if they have seen Nicola, or they can dial 101.
With assistance from the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, the Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue team, and the North West Underwater Search Team, searches have been conducted by Lancashire Police using a helicopter, drones, and dogs.
Additionally, locals in the area have organized searches.
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