Police have been inundated with "thousands" of pieces of information relating to the disappearance of Nicola Bulley since she went missing 11 days ago.
Superintendent Sally Riley said during a press conference held on Tuesday afternoon that Lancashire Police are currently working on around 500 active lines of inquiry for the case, which includes going house-to-house in the nearby village, examining CCTV and dash cam footage, and speaking to "key witnesses". The work searching the river also continues, with Supt Riley saying that combing the fast-moving body of water makes the case "particularly complex."
The 45-year-old was last seen on the morning of Friday January 27, before she went missing near the River Wyre while out walking her dog after dropping her children off at school. Nicola, a mortgage adviser from Lancashire, logged onto a work Teams call minutes before she disappeared, and the last confirmed sighting of her was at 9.10am.
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The mum-of-two's phone and the harness for her dog Willow were found on a bench close to the river at 9.20am, while Willow was also found safe and dry nearby. Local members of the public have since been urged to be on the lookout along the river for items of clothing that Nicola was last seen wearing.
Police said on Friday that they believed Nicola had not left the riverside area, and reiterated this belief on Tuesday. Superintendent Sally Riley said: "Our main working hypothesis is that Nicola has suddenly fallen into the river, that there’s no third-party or criminal involvement, and that this is not suspicious but a tragic case of a missing person."
She added: "This is particularly important because speculation otherwise can be really distressing for the family and for Nicola’s children." However, Nicola's sister Louise Cunningham disputed this hypothesis, saying that there is "no evidence whatsoever" that Nicola fell into the river.
Speaking to Sky News, Louise said: "If I'm being honest, it feels like I'm just stuck in a nightmare. We're going round and round in circles trying to piece together what could have possibly happened and we've just got to keep such an open mind with everything because we just have no idea where she is."
Supt Riley urged the public to "dig back into their memory" to help find the missing mum and to get in touch with police with any relevant information. She also once again stressed the importance that the public, "particularly on social media and online, do not speculate as to what may have happened to Nicola."
Nicola is white, 5ft 3ins, with light brown shoulder-length hair, and was last seen wearing a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat, a long black gilet jacket with a hood, black jeans and olive-green ankle wellies, with a pale blue Fitbit. Anybody who has seen Nicola, or has information about where she might be, is asked to call 101, quoting log 565 of January 30, or email nicolabulleyinvestigation@lancashire.police.uk. For immediate sightings please call 999.
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