Nicola Bulley’s Strava photos of her typical morning walk show that she typically kept a harness on her dog, even when they were in the water, which begs the issue of why it was discovered around where she went missing a week ago.
The mother of two was last saw last Friday morning walking Willow, a springer spaniel, close to the River Wyre in St. Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
By a seat where she was last seen, a phone, her dog’s leash, and the animal’s harness were discovered.
But as can be seen from images of the animal posted by Ms. Bulley on the fitness app Strava, the animal often wore a harness while it was outside the home.
In Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, police cordoned off the Skippool Creek parking lot near the River Wyre, and forensic investigators were observed removing evidence bags from the area.
Nine miles downstream from the location where Ms. Bulley vanished last Friday is the spot. However, a Lancashire Police spokeswoman said this afternoon that it was a part of an investigation into a suspicious car.
Later, the police said that they thought Nicola often took Willow’s harness off.
For the first time today, Ms. Bulley’s distraught boyfriend said, “It’s like she’s gone into thin air – it’s ridiculous.”
Engineer Paul Ansell said that he is concentrating on maintaining his composure for his two kids, who have been inquiring about their mother’s whereabouts a week after she vanished on a dog walk.
He said to reporters as he stood beside the River Wyre in Lancashire, the location of Ms. Bulley’s last known whereabouts, “My entire focus is my two children, just being as strong as I can for them.”
I’m concerned that focusing on anything else will divert my attention from it. I’m just praying to God that something, no matter how little, comes out of the interview yesterday.
I simply can’t believe we’re a week in and it feels like we’re no farther forward,’ he said, praising the neighborhood for its “amazing” support.
It just seems utterly impossible. like in a dream. I am unable to comprehend it. It seems as if she has disappeared at this very moment; it’s crazy.
She vanished, according to Mr. Ansell, and he “cannot wrap his mind around it.” Every scenario, he claimed, hits a brick wall. Each and every one of them.
“All we are doing is sitting there going over each scenario again.”
He stated that he “didn’t want to worry” about how he was doing since he was concentrating on taking care of his two girls.
The only thing we can conclude from the scenario, Mr. Ansell said, is that the amount of community support is extraordinary.
Knowing that is happening offers us a lot of comfort since we have no other options.
We’ll never give up hope, but it seems as if she’s disappeared without a trace. Simply ridiculous, I say.
Today it was revealed that Ms. Bulley, a mortgage advisor, wrote the SMS at 8:57 AM when she was walking her dog near the River Wyre and immediately before signing on to a Teams call.
At 9.10 am, when she was last seen, her phone and dog leash were discovered on a seat beside a river.
‘She arranged a playdate, 8.57, and sent a text to a friend whose mortgage she had just just approved to organise for the girls to go for tea this week,’ a resident of St. Michael’s on Wyre told the Mirror.
The local, who wished to remain unnamed, said that this was more proof that she had no desire to go missing willingly and stated, “You wouldn’t have done that if you were going to get up and go missing.”
Today, friends will get together to retrace Ms. Bulley’s movements in an attempt to stir locals’ memories.
Her situation has been referred to as “extremely unique” and “quite alarming” by Howard Millington, a veteran police investigator with a 30-year tenure with the Greater Manchester Police.
He stated: “I’ve no doubt it will have been immediately escalated” in an interview with Sky News. The resources for this have been adequately resourced by Lancashire Police at all costs.
The search for a lady wearing a red coat who was last seen on the River Wyre around the time Ms. Bulley disappeared last Friday morning was made public by police yesterday.
MailOnline can now confirm that Christine Bowman, a 67-year-old lady, informed police that she did not spot Ms. Bulley when she was out on a walk with her own dog, Snowflake.
Because she had previously talked to police on the day Ms. Bulley vanished and “doesn’t know anything,” Ms. Bowman said she was perplexed by the request to find her.
The neighborhood resident, who authorities had thought may be able to help with crucial details in the hunt for Ms. Bulley, does not go as far as the bench where the missing mother’s phone and dog were discovered.
The trailer park adjacent to the towpath provided the security camera video on which she was captured.
She doesn’t take her dog any farther down the pathway than that; that is how far she travels.
Additionally perplexed by the public appeal, Ms. Bowman told The Mirror that she had previously informed the authorities that she had no information to provide.
The retired instructor claimed: “It has terrified the local ladies.” They have begun bringing the dogs out instead, if they have spouses or companions.
The family of Ms. Bulley, who has been anxiously awaiting news of the inquiry, has been dealt a tragic blow.
A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said in the plea to find the lady yesterday that she was described as sporting a red and white coat with a fur hood, light-colored pants, and a light bobble hat.
She had a little white puppy on a leash. In the vicinity of where Nicola was last seen, on Allotment Lane, the lady was seen on camera at about 8:48 in the morning. She was also spotted close to the gate at the end of Allotment Lane.
Their paths did not cross, a friend said, and she is unaware of Nicola’s whereabouts.
According to a source from the St. Michael’s Angling Association, the river section where Ms. Bulley disappeared is infamous and’very hazardous,’ with a depth of roughly 15 feet, as the inquiry enters its eighth day.
According to him, it is quite perilous because of the depth and the extreme cold at this time of year, as reported by The Times.
“I’m a good swimmer, but I would not want to fall in there.” Police divers with specialized training have laboriously looked for evidence in the riverbank.
Louise Cunningham, Ms. Bulley’s sister, made a sincere appeal Wednesday, pleading for help to “bring my sister back.”
She stated, “Something has had to have been overlooked,” as she joined her family for a series of televised appearances. Someone must be aware of something. People don’t simply disappear without a trace.
“There has to be someone out there who knows something, and all we are asking is that if there is anything you recall, no matter how tiny or significant, that doesn’t seem right, please contact the authorities.” Please contact me so I can get my sister.
According to Ms. Cunningham, her family feels like they are “trapped in a nightmare.”
“We’re working in circles trying to figure out what occurred.” ITV News quoted her as saying, “We must maintain an open mind.”
We don’t know where she is. There is no proof that may lead us in any way.
“I’m hoping she’s still out there,” she said. We just want her back home. Her house is required by her kids. It’s very sad. Our family is so close-knit that we would do anything for any one of the members.
People don’t simply disappear, thus someone must be aware of something. Please contact the police if there is anything you think you may have witnessed.
On Friday morning, police published a comprehensive chronology of the 45 minutes before to Ms. Bulley’s disappearance.
After dropping off her girls, ages six and nine, at school, the mother of two initially began walking down the trail that hugs the River Wyre in Lancashire at 8:43 a.m.
She shared photographs of her spaniel Willow playing in the field and the river on her Strava account, indicating that it was a route she often traveled and was familiar with. Her family claims that she returned to her automobile, which she had parked in the same location around “1000 times over,” in approximately 30 minutes on average.
On Friday at 8:50 a.m., she ran across another dog walker on the route.
They briefly conversed as their dogs played since they were familiar with one another. A little while later, the witness walked down the river path to leave the area.
Ms. Bulley sent her employer an email at 8.53 am, and by 9.01 am, she had joined her Teams call. She was listening in while the audio and camera were both muted.
Around 9.10 am, a second witness saw Ms. Bulley off in the distance. Police are attempting to pinpoint this time period.
The Teams meeting finished at 9:30 a.m. Ms. Bulley continued to participate in the discussion. By 9.35 am, a different dog walker had discovered her phone and Willow abandoned on a nearby bench.
A lady in a red coat walking a white dog was seen on CCTV, and it is thought that she was at St. Michael’s on Wyre on the day Ms. Bulley vanished on January 27. The police said that she has been identified in an update.
When the dog walker discovered the phone earlier, she recognized Willow but couldn’t recall where from. She phoned her daughter, who alerted Ms. Bulley’s longtime boyfriend, Paul Ansell, about the situation.
On the Strava program, Ms. Bulley often tracked her walking routes and shared the timings and photos of her walks with her pals.
In November, she finished a 4.1-kilometer river run in over 42 minutes.
In pictures, Willow, her dog, can be seen bounding across the murky river that is now the focus of the police inquiry.
Yesterday, police searched the riverbank as divers looked in the water.
People don’t simply disappear into thin air, sobbed Ms. Bulley’s distraught family as they begged for assistance in finding her.
The 73-year-old father of Ms. Bulley added, “This has emptied our life.” We appreciate all the efforts being made to locate her. We now have some optimism that someone may discover anything.
“There are two little kids that want their mother back.” Come home immediately if Nicola is out there; otherwise, call the police or us.
The children believe that everyone is seeking for their mother and that her return is imminent.
He started to sob and said, “Don’t, it’s terrible… we’re such a tight family.
We’re a close-knit family, and the kids would sacrifice everything for us if we needed it.
We’re growing older, and as we get older, the grandkids and our own children become more and more precious to us. I really hope she returns home, so yes.
He expressed the wish of his family that their interview might’spark a light’ that would enable Ms. Bulley to be located.
Divers and underwater drones are among the specialized teams from the police and other emergency services who are still searching the region close to the River Wyre.
Officers are searching the riverbank close to the bench where Ms. Bulley’s cellphone was discovered and where her dog was subsequently recovered and rescued by a local.
The river’s overhanging trees and vegetation are also being examined for any intriguing objects.
This morning, a lone police diver spent an hour searching the dark water of the River Wyre with a headlamp.
Just after 12:30 this afternoon, she left the bank without discovering anything noteworthy.
The process of preparing to enter the river and take over the underwater search was seen by a second police diver.
‘The underwater crews are doing what is known as an arc search, in which they monitor the riverbed by travelling side to side from bank to bank,’ a police source told MailOnline.
“As of yet, nothing noteworthy has been discovered, but it will be a lengthy, exhaustive procedure.”
About nine miles east of the Fleetwood estuary is a section of river close to where Ms. Bulley lived in the community of St. Michael’s on Wyre.
Last Friday at about 9.15am, Ms. Bulley was last seen walking her dog Willow along the River Wyre in Lancashire while on a business call.
She had been considering treatments for a spa vacation with her sister Louise the night before she vanished, according to her mother Dot.
Her parents were watching her girls at the time while Ms. Bulley was on a business call. She had lately acquired a new customer at work, therefore she was “upbeat.”
She walked to the front door, and I gave her a kiss and told her I loved her, and that was the last communication I had with her, her father Ernest said in a statement to The Mirror.
Ernest and Ms. Bulley’s mother, Dot, 72, both said that their daughter’s disappearance was unexpected and that they had enquired of the police as to whether there was “any possibility” that she had been kidnapped.
The pair denied any unusual occurrences when asked about their daughter’s mental condition in recent days.
They were aware of no health issues she could have, and she was content with her work.
Dot said that Ms. Bulley, who “lived for her children,” had also just purchased tickets to attend their gymnastics and choral performances.
Ernest sobbed as he described how difficult it was to be in the same room with his granddaughters, who are six and nine years old and who are still trying to find out where their mother is.
He added, “I can’t keep it together when I look at the kids, so I have to leave the room.”
They want to know where their mother is and when she will return home. It’s very difficult.
According to the kids’ relatives, when their father Mr. Ansell attempted to explain to them that “Mummy is missing,” they were “crying their hearts out.”
“We don’t know how much further we can continue until they catch on. They believe that Mummy will return soon, but if this continues, I’m not sure what we will say to them.
Given that there were “no indicators” that Ms. Bulley had slid or fallen into the water and no hints as to where she could be, Ernest and Ms. Bulley’s extended family have questioned if she was carried from the river bank.
When Willow was discovered, she was “bone dry,” indicating that she had not gone into the water, but she showed signs of being upset.
Police said they are still ‘open-minded’ about Ms. Bulley’s disappearance, but they don’t think she was assaulted at this time.
Rescuers have concentrated their efforts on a tidal section of the river thus far out of concern that she may have fallen in and been carried nine miles away to Fleetwood.
Friends of Ms. Bulley claim that the devoted mother would never have deserted her family on purpose.
The spot where Ms. Bulley’s phone was discovered is next to a sign that warns, “Danger – deep water,” even though some parts of the river are just 18 inches deep.
The family began to wonder whether someone had stolen her when Ernest remarked that there was “no evidence” of someone falling or sliding into the river.
I questioned the Fleetwood sergeant a few days ago, “Is there any possibility that she will be seized,” he continued. I don’t believe that’s the case, she said.
The spot where his daughter went missing is in “such a remote region,” so the grandpa wasn’t fully satisfied by the answer.
We just fear the thought of never seeing her again. How would we handle that for the rest of our life if the worst happened and she was never found?
The worst times, according to Ms. Bulley’s mother Dot, were at night.
Our hardest time is when it gets dark, she said, according to The Mirror. We find it quite difficult to consider asking “Is she OK?” and “Where is she?”
Even though the police have informed the family that they are working on it “24 hours a day,” Dot and Ernest still wake up throughout the night because they are so terrified that they are unable to go back asleep.
Yesterday, it was seen that specialized search teams were once again combing the river, this time with a police sniffing dog’s assistance.
The animals can explore enormous bodies of water, including rivers and lakes, and they can complete a search in 10% the time it would take using traditional search methods.
On each side of the river, officers searched the area for hints on the river bank. The bench where cops discovered her phone still connected to a business conference call located on one side of the river.
A missing person poster asking for information regarding her whereabouts has joined the danger notice alerting of deep water attached to a tree behind the bench.
“I must emphasize at this time that this remains a missing person case and at this time there is nothing to indicate any third-party involvement in Nicola’s disappearance,” said Superintendent Sally Riley.
Mr. Ansell claimed he spent the whole Sunday looking for his spouse of 12 years while speaking from the family home in Inskip.
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 aftermath of Ms. Bulley’s disappearance, villager Nicola Dewey told The Times that she had missed her customary 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.
Ms. Bulley, who has a southern accent and has resided in Lancashire for 25 years, is originally from a region close to Chelmsford, Essex.
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