The dog walker who found Nicola Bulley's phone on the morning she went missing says he knew something 'wasn't right'.
The man, known as Ron, said he was out walking his dog when he spotted the mum-of-two's phone alongside the river in St Michael's on Wyre on January 27.
Speaking earlier today, Ron told how he initially thought someone had left their phone on the bench while they went to do the toilet nearby, reports The Mirror.
However, when Ron, who walks his own dog in the same area almost every day, realised nobody was returning to the phone, he looked at the phone wallpaper and saw a picture of Nicola with her partner, Paul Ansell.
He said he didn't know the couple by name but did know them as Willow's owner - Nicola and Paul's dog.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, he said: "I got to about this red brick building here and I thought 'this is not right'. Then it was just a progression of things happening, you know.
"Because of the wallpaper on the phone, we found out who the couple was and the school was contacted and Paul arrived."
It comes as today, February 17, marks three weeks since Nicola Bulley was last seen.
This week, police revealed details of Nicola's reported personal "struggle" with the menopause and how it led to 'issues with alcohol'.
Police held a press conference where they said Nicola was categorised as "high risk" due to "a number of specific vulnerabilities".
At the time, they did not elaborate and sparked further speculation despite trying to use the press conference to squash any unhelpful theories.
However a few hours later they disclosed she had suffered "some significant issues with alcohol" in the past, which had resurfaced over recent months due to the menopause.
The disclosure of such personal information about a missing person has caused outrage with the force being heavily criticised.
Nicola's family have now released a statement in response to the disclosure.
They said: "We, as a family, believe that the public focus has become distracted from finding Nikki, and more about speculation and rumours into her and Paul’s private life.
"As a family, we were aware beforehand that Lancashire Police, last night, released a statement with some personal details about our Nikki.
"The police know the truth about Nikki and now the public need to focus on finding her.
"Due to the peri menopause, Nikki suffered from significant side effects such as brain fog, restless sleep and was taking HRT to help but this was giving her intense headaches which caused Nikki to stop taking the HRT thinking that may have helped her but only ended up causing this crisis.
"The public focus has to be on finding her and not making up wild theories about her personal life.
"Despite what some media outlets and individuals are suggesting, we are being updated daily and receive support from our family liaison officers
"Nikki is such a wonderful daughter, sister, partner and mother and is missed dearly - we all need you back in our lives.
"Nikki, we hope you are reading this and know that we love you so much and your girls want a cuddle. We all need you home. You can reach out to us, or you can contact MissingPeople.org.uk.
"Don’t be scared, we all love you so very much."
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