Nicola Bulley identified by dental records
The mum of two was pulled from the River Wyre in St Michaels on Sunday.
Nicola Bulley was identified by her dental records, the opening of an inquest into her death has heard.
Preston Coroner's Court was told maxillofacial surgeon Andrew Ian Edwards had examined the 45-year-old's dental records, which had been obtained by police from her dental surgery
Speaking at the opening of the inquest into the mother-of-two's death, senior coroner Dr James Adeley said: "He examined the body that was located in the River Wyre near Rawcliffe Road in St Michael's on Wyre at 2.15pm on February 20."
Dr Adeley said the surgeon found restorative work carried out was identical.
He added: "I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities, and more, that positive identification has been made."
The hearing, which lasted about five minutes, was not attended by Ms Bulley's partner Paul Ansell or any other family.
Dr Adeley said: "The family have been informed of the date, time and place of the opening of the inquest and have chosen not to attend for reasons I can quite understand."
"This will allow time to collate the facts of the case and allow the experts involved to finalise the findings from investigations that still need to be undertaken," the coroner said.
He said remaining evidence gathered by police and the post-mortem examination required "further evaluation" and a full inquest was likely to be held in June, once availability of a Home Office pathologist had been checked.
The 45-year-old mortgage adviser was last seen on Friday 27th January while walking on a footpath by the river in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire.
On Sunday (19th February) officers from Lancashire Police were called to reports of a body in the River Wyre, not far from where Nikki went missing.
After an intensive three-week search operation, Lancashire Police confirmed that the body found was that of Nicola Bulley.
A timeline of Nicola Bulley'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.
In a statement on Monday (20th February) Lancashire Police said:
"Today's development is not the outcome any of us would have wanted, but we hope that it can at least start to provide some answers for Nicola's loved ones, who remain foremost in our thoughts," Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson told a news conference.
"We recognise the huge impact that Nicola's disappearance has had on her family and friends, but also on the people of St Michael's," he added.
"We would like to thank all of those who have helped during what has been a hugely complex and highly emotional investigation."