A man who found Nicola Bulley's body in the River Wyre is a self-described 'spiritual medium' from Greater Manchester.
Jason Rothwell found the missing mum-of-two's body on Sunday, more than three weeks after she went missing. Her body was pulled from a stretch of the river which was less than a mile away from a bench where her phone was found on the morning of January 27.
According to the MailOnline, Mr Rothwell, from Oldham, and his friend spoke to police at the scene on Sunday who later recovered the body. The pair were pictured pointing to the river before divers waded in.
READ MORE: TikTok issues statement after Nicola Bulley's family slam 'press and public'
Mr Rothwell said he was not asked by Lancashire Police or Nicola's family to 'become involved in the case' but said he decided to use 'what ever “gift” it is we mediums posses to try and locate' her. In a post on Facebook, he wrote: "It is with great regret that I have to address this issue at this time.
"But due to wide number of private enquires and threads now circulating on YouTube and TikTok, I feel I should but put a brief statement. As has obviously become apparent, yes it is myself in the images in the media currently circulating relating to the case of Nicola Bulley and yes yesterday morning it was myself and a friend who reported and assisted the police in the recovery of a body from the river Wyre.
"Such as it is it would be inappropriate of me to discuss in any further detail anything we may know about that body at this time, considering a formal identification of that body has yet to be confirmed. I would also like to just say a huge thank you to Lancashire police for their help, support and the open mindedness with which they dealt with us, following our call, spiritualists or mediums are obviously not something the police come across every day and I appreciate the respect given to us both.
"It is also important to mention, I was not asked by the police or Nicola’s family to become involved in this case, but having seen the wild speculation and hurtful commentary that has been ongoing, and having previously assisted in the recovery of another individual, I decided to use what ever “gift” it is we mediums posses to try and locate Nicola Bulley. I would however stress again, I can not confirm that body we traced yesterday is that of the lady in question.
"My thoughts and prayers are with her family, friend and loved ones at this time and I do hope, that if it is indeed Nicola, they can find some peace with this. If it is not, I would send my prayers to the family off whomsoever it may be. I would add as a final note, I will not be giving any further information or commentary at this time regarding the work involved in finding this person nor is it my place to engage in any discussion on how that body came to originally be in the water."
Yesterday, Lancashire Police confirmed at a press conference that the body pulled from the river in Lancashire was that of the 45-year-old mum. The force did not address the widespread criticism it had received for releasing some aspects of Nicola's private life into the public domain.
Police also did not disclose why it took 23 days to find her body in the river. Nicola's family also paid tribute to her in a statement read by the force’s head of crime Detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables, where they said: “We love you, always have and always will.”
The statement read: "Our family liaison officers have had to confirm our worst fears today. We will never be able to comprehend what Nikki had gone through in her last moments and that will never leave us.
"We will never forget Nikki, how could we, she was the centre of our world, she was the one who made our lives so special and nothing will cast a shadow over that. Our girls will get the support they need from the people who love them the most."
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