A close friend of Nicola Bulley has urged online trolls to stop causing "hurt and distress" as she laid out facts about her missing friend.
Nicola, 45, has been missing since January 27 after the mum-of-two disappeared while walking her dog Willow in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire. Doorbell footage from the day of her disappearance showed Nicola loading her car outside her home before driving her two children to school and going for a riverside walk.
Police believe she may have fallen into the river. Specialist divers have been combing the river while volunteers have searched the surrounding area along with police sniffer dogs, drones and police helicopters.
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There has been no sign of Nicola - and Lancashire Police admit there is no evidence to suggest she had fallen into the river. The police have also found no signs of foul play at the scene where Nicola's phone and dog were found. Friend Heather Gibbons previously said they are "not willing at this stage to accept" the theory she fell into the river.
Detectives said they were open to new information in the case and criticised the "totally unacceptable" online abuse of people helping their inquiry. In a public Facebook post, another of Nicola's friends, Tilly Ann, also addressed the "disgusting" comments made about Nicola's partner Paul Ansell.
Tilly said: "We can see the hurt and pain and can see how much he's struggling to hold back the tears. He is completely focusing on his girls because if he even stops to think about anything else, he will lose it and he doesn't want to worry his girls even more than they already are."
Tilly went on to list these 11 points that she thinks the public should know:
Paul and Nicola both mostly work from home which is why he was at home that day. They have CCTV and there is a reason why Paul has never been a suspect. Family and friends need these accusations to stop immediately. The fact that I've had to write this is disgusting to be honest.
They both do this walk regularly and Paul is very well known in the community and very well recognised.
The dog never has her harness on for a chunk of that walk, it's removed at the gate of the top field and then put back on at the gate when they leave.
They very rarely take the ball out for walks with Willow now because she is very very protective over the ball and haven't done for a while.
Nicola quite often would put her phone on loud speaker when talking.
The dog was found very close to the bench and the harness. The harness was found on the floor not on the bench.
Nicola is an incredibly strong swimmer.
Nicola drove to the school and then left her car there and walked to the river.
The dog was dry when found.
The dog has since been back.
There is CCTV at the back of the caravan park. The only camera that isn't working is the one that would have seen everything.
Tilly said she had permission from Nicola's family to make the social media post. She added Nicola's sister Louise has been living with Paul and their daughters while the search for Nicolas continued. Louise also urged everyone to "keep an open mind as not all CCTV and leads have been investigated fully".
A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: "We would urge people to remember that we are investigating the disappearance of Nicola, and the priority is Nicola and her family. We want to find her and provide answers to her family."
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