Nicola Bulley has been mentioned in an 'offensive' voicemail received by a parish councillor in Lancashire that was left in the early hours of February 11. Nuisance calls were reportedly made to five of the six members of Inskip with Sowerby Parish Council between the hours of 12:45am and 3am.
However, it's been claimed that all but one of the 'mystery phone calls' rang off as they answered, the Manchester Evening News reports. The missing mother-of-two has not been seen since the morning of January 27 when she was taking her dog for a walk in St Michaels on Wyre, just a few miles away from her home in Inskip.
The search for the 45-year-old along the River Wyre has now extended down to Morecambe Bay. A source close to the council said that the voicemail which has been sent over to the police was received by one of the councillors during this period.
They did not specify what the email was about but confirmed that Nicola was referred to in it. Branding the anonymous sender as 'just some nutter', the source said: "Offensive, I wouldn’t say it was abusive, I would say it was offensive. I believe the police have identified the offender".
When asked if the councillor who received the shocking call was shaken up, they replied: "No, we're not soft." The councillor's phone numbers have been taken off the council's public website as a result of the incident.
It's been confirmed that contact details for parish and town council members are also no longer available on Wyre Borough Council's website. Garry Payne, Chief Executive of Wyre Council, said: "Everyone is deeply saddened by the ongoing Nicola Bulley case and our thoughts are with the family and friends.
"We are supporting Lancashire Police where required and we urge everyone to remain respectful at this time." Cllr Michael Vincent, Leader of Wyre Council said: "We appreciate the emotional gravity of the situation.
"However we will not tolerate any form of abuse of any of our Elected Members of Wyre Borough Council or any of the town and parish councils within our borders or our staff. The community has shown great strength and resilience during the investigation and we urge everyone to continue to show compassion and empathy.
"It is a shame that we have had to take this step at such a difficult time and appropriate steps are being taken to ensure that residents are still able to contact their elected representatives." Wyre council has said that it will report any other abuse to the police as the force confirmed: "We are aware and it is being looked into."
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