Missing mum Nicola Bulley was captured on camera making the last school run before she disappeared. Images from a doorbell camera, published by the Mirror, show her getting ready to set out on the 3.8 mile journey from her home on Friday, January 27.
Dressed in a pair of walking boots and a hooded raincoat, she is seen opening the boot of the family car as dog Willow leaps in the back. She then drove around 10 minutes from her home in Inskip to drop her kids off at school in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire.
She then set off on a walk with Willow, passing others as she walked alongside the River Wyre at around 9.10am – and hasn't been seen since.
Hundreds of volunteers joined a search for the mum-of-two as police continued to scour the riverbanks. Detectives are pursuing a theory that she fell into the water while walking Willow – a theory that remains contested by her family until proof emerges.
Numerous appeals by Lancashire Police have resulted in others who may have seen Nicola that morning coming forward, without any clear progress on working out where the mortgage advisor has gone. And it has been suggested that critical CCTV cameras that could have held the key to Nicola's fate may have been faulty.
Nicola was logged onto a Microsoft Teams work call with her camera off and microphone muted as she walked Willow at around 9.10am on January 27, passing another person at around 9.10am. Less than half an hour later, at 9.35am, Willow was found running off the leash and Nicola's phone was found on a park bench, still logged into the call, which had ended five minutes before.
Police, coastguard and fire and rescue search crews have spent nine days trawling the River Wyre for clues to the mum's disappearance. At present, third party involvement is not suspected and police are continuing to treat her disappearance as a missing person's case.
People lined the roads on Saturday, holding signs with photos of Nicola and appeals for dashcam footage. Volunteers gathered at St Michael's on Wyre tennis club, where they received a form to become part of the search party.
Heather Gibbons, 33, a family friend, has been helping to organise the group of mothers, searching 10 sections of the River Wyre. She said: "Nicola's case resonates with people, especially if you're a mum with children yourself."
Grandmother Ann Forrest, 72, of Fleetwood, Lancs, said: "I have been up and down the riverbanks a few times with my binoculars. I just wanted to do my bit to help. The family must be going through hell. It's a real mystery what's happened to her."
Businessman James Hill, 63, of Blackpool, said: "I gave up my normal Sunday walk to come here. As a fellow dog walker, her disappearance has really resonated with me. Life can change in an instant. I just hope she can be found."
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