By Lucy Caulkett-
Police investigating the disappearance of Nicola Bulley are working on the main hypothesis that she has “sadly fallen into the river” as she walked her dog and there is no criminal involvement.
Bulley, 45,(pictured) a mortgage adviser from Inskip, Lancashire, vanished while walking her springer spaniel, Willow, after dropping off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school last Friday morning.
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Her mobile phone and the lead and harness for her dog were found on a bench close to the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre in the Lancashire countryside.
An unprecedented search operation had been mounted to no avail
At a press conference on Friday, Supt Sally Riley, of Lancashire police, said: “Our main working hypothesis is that Nicola has sadly fallen into the river, there is no third-party or criminal involvement and this is not suspicious but the tragic case of a missing person.
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“This is particularly important because speculation otherwise can be really distressing for the family and for Nicola’s children.”
Lancashire Police’s update this afternoon on the search for missing woman Nicola Bulley, 45, who vanished while out walking her dog last Friday said that an extensive police search has since taken place on land and water, but Ms Bulley has not been found.
Officers have searched 15km of water from the River Wyre to the sea
It was revealed the investigation is focusing on a 10-minute window – between 9.10am and 9.20am
Earlier in the week, a potential witness who was sought by Lancashire Police following the disappearance of Nicola Bulley has been identified, officers have said.
Cops released a CCTV image of a potential further witness they wanted to speak with and said they thought “the woman was in the area at the time” Ms Bulley went missing.
Lancashire Police said: “We have now identified the woman and would like to thank everybody who shared our appeal and phoned in with information.”
Lancashire Constabular urged a woman captured on CCTV who it believes was in the area at the time Ms Bulley was last seen.
“We would stress that the woman is sought as a witness and nothing more,” police said.
She is described as wearing a red and white coat with a fur hood, light-coloured trousers and a light bobble hat. She was also walking a small, white dog.
Ms Bulley was last seen on Friday at around 9.15am on a footpath by the River Wyre off Garstang Road in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
She was expected at work, but never turned up.
Her mobile phone was found on a bench nearby and was still connected to a conference call when it was spotted. More spooky is the fact that her dog, a springer spaniel called Willow, was found loose between the river and the bench.
On Thursday, Ms Bulley’s parents, Ernest, 73, and Dot, 72, said her disappearance was out of character, and she was in good health and enjoying her job.
“This has just emptied our lives at the minute, we just feel so empty,” he said.
“We appreciate everything everyone is doing to find her. The police have been brilliant, the local community has been outstanding. But at the end of the day we just want her back.”
He added: “We need the public to search their minds for anything they might have seen. The main thing is we want to find Nicola and get her back home.
“There are two young children there waiting for their mummy to come back. And if Nicola is out there and she’s watching this – come home, contact the police. We just want you back.”
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