Major search operation to find Nicola Bulley continues

The 45 year old was last seen walking her dog in St Michael's on Wyre on Friday 27th January

Author: Jonny FreemanPublished 4th Feb 2023

Search teams are continuing to trawl the River Wyre near St Michael's in Lancashire to find missing Nicola Bulley.

They're working on the hypothesis that the 45-year-old mortgage adviser from nearby Inskip could have fallen in.

Multi-agency searches have entered a ninth day, as her friends and family hope for her return.

Detectives are also working behind the scenes to analyse CCTV and dashcam videos, and members of the public with footage which could be useful have been urged to come forward. Their search has been aided by specialists, divers, sniffer dogs, drones and police helicopters.

Police believe Ms Bulley went missing in just "a 10-minute window" while she was walking her dog, Willow, close to the River Wyre, after dropping off her daughters - aged six and nine - at school.

Ms Bulley had logged in to a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am, which ended at 9.30am with her phone still connected to the call.

She was seen by another dog walker at 9.10am - the last known sighting - and police traced telephony records of her mobile phone as it remained on a bench overlooking the river at 9.20am.

The device was found by a dog walker at around 9.35am, with Willow nearby.

Police have vowed to continue the search for Ms Bulley. They've urged the public to look out along the river for the items of clothing that Ms Bulley was last seen wearing.

This includes an ankle-length black quilted gilet jacket, a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat, tight-fitting black jeans, long green walking socks, ankle-length green Next wellies, a necklace and a pale blue Fitbit.

NICOLA BULLEY: TIMELINE OF SEARCH OPERATION

Below is a summary of the main information revealed so far on Nicola's disappearance

A timeline of Nicola Bulley's last known movements has been released by Lancashire Police:
8.43am: Ms Bulley walked along the path by the River Wyre, having dropped her children off at school.

Around 8.50am: A dogwalker who knows Ms Bulley saw her walking around the lower field with her dog. Their two dogs interacted briefly before the witness left the field via the river path.

8.53am: Ms Bulley sent an email to her boss.
9.01am: She logged into a Teams call.
Around 9.10am: Somebody who knows Ms Bulley saw her on the upper field walking her dog, Willow. Lancashire Police say they are trying to establish exactly what time this was.

9.30am: The Teams call ended but Ms Bulley stayed logged on.
Around 9.35am: Her mobile phone and dog were found at a bench by the river by another dogwalker.

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