Nicola Bulley's family have spoken for the first time since police revealed the missing 45-year-old has 'health issues'.
The mum-of-two vanished into thin air on January 27 while walking her springer spaniel Willow in the village of St Michael's on the Wyre in Lancashire.
Lancashire Police investigating her sudden disappearance said they believed she had entered the river - but despite a thorough search by specialist teams she was not found.
Yesterday, 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.
Statement by Nicola Bulley's family in full
"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.
"Although we know that Nikki would not have wanted this, there are people out there speculating and threatening to sell stories about her.
"This is appalling and needs to stop.
"The police know the truth about Nikki and now the public need to focus on finding her.
"Due to the peri menopause Nikki suffered with 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."
