The search for Nicola Bulley is now into its third week as police continue to scour the area where she was last seen and the River Wyre to find the missing mum-of-two.
Nicola was last seen on the morning of Friday, January 27, while out for a walk along the river with her dog Willow. Her disappearance has sparked a huge effort by the police, with specialist resources including underwater search teams, drones and helicopters all being brought in to aid the search.
Police have now extended their search to miles away from St Michael's where Nicola was last seen, saying that they are "keeping an open mind" about what could have happened to the 45-year-old. Here are they key areas being searched by police as the mystery of Nicola's whereabouts continues, The Mirror reports.
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Outside Nicola's home
Nicola left her home in Inskip at 8.26am on January 27 with her two daughters aged six and nine. The mum dropped them off at school at 8.40am, and Ring Doorbell footage from outside her home showed her putting dog Willow into the boot of her car to take her for a walk afterwards.
Images from the doorbell footage were shared by police to show what Nicola looked like at the time of her disappearance. She was last seen wearing a long, knee length black quilted gilet with a hood, and she had a black Engelbert Strauss coat underneath which had long sleeves and came to her waist.
She was wearing tight black jeans and had long green walking socks tucked into her jeans. She was wearing size five ankle length green wellington boots from Next, her hair was tied into a ponytail, and she was wearing a pale blue Fitbit.
Field in St Michael's on Wyre
Lower field
Police have ben searching the field in St Michael's on Wyre where Nicola walked Willow shortly before her disappearance. It's estimated that Nicola walked along the path by the River Wyre towards the gate into the lower field at 8.43am.
At approximately 8.47am, another dog walker who knows Nicola saw her with Willow walking in the lower field. According to Lancashire Police, their two dogs interacted briefly before the witness left the field via the river path.
Upper field
Nicola sent an email to her boss from her phone at 8.53am, followed by a message to a friend at 8.59am, and at 9.01am she logged into a work Teams call. Another witness who knows Nicola told police they saw her in the upper field walking her dog at approximately 9.10am.
Bench where Nicola's phone was found
Nicola's phone was found on a bench at approximately 9.33am by another dog walker, still connected to her Teams call, with Willow's lead and harness also found near to or on the bench. This bench was one of the key areas police initially focused on in their search as they hypothesised that she may have fallen into the river nearby.
Nicola's partner Paul Ansell said that the mobile phone and harness could be a "decoy", but stressed that there is no evidence to suggest any third-party involvement in her disappearance. Lancashire Police reiterated this in a statement on Friday, saying: "There is absolutely nothing in all the extensive enquiries we have made that suggests anything untoward has happened".
River Wyre
Police and private groups have spent several days searching the River Wyre, with no trace of Nicola so far. However, Lancashire Police said that it remains their belief that Nicola "may have fallen into the river for some reason", but added that they are continuing to "keep an open mind" and investigate all possible leads into the missing mum, which includes viewing CCTV and Dashcam footage.
Private search and recovery company Specialist Group International were brought in by Nicola's family to scour the River Wyre for three days, led by forensics search expert Peter Faulding, but have since exhausted their search. Mr Faulding said that he would be "surprised" if Nicola were to be found in the water, adding that the missing mum was "categorically" not in the area of the river searched by his team.
He said: "The bottom of the bank is very shallow, about two feet. If she fell in she could stand up in there, to the side at least. As the police divers searched initially I would have expected them to find her if she was in there that day. Bodies don't drift that far."
Shard Bridge
On Friday afternoon, police extended their search to underneath Shard Bridge - around seven and a half miles away from where Nicola was last seen. The bridge is about halfway to the estuary from the village of St Michael's. Pictures taken at the scene showed specialists in a small boat travelling around and under the road crossing.
Morecambe Bay
The search then moved to Morecambe Bay, with reports suggesting police are now concentrating on the mouth of the river as finding Nicola in the open sea "becomes more of a possibility". A statement from Lancashire Police read: "Our investigation to the disappearance of Nicola Bulley is continuing and we continue to search areas of the River Wyre and surrounding area.
"People may have seen less police activity today [Friday] than previously in the area of the river above the weir but that is not because we have stepped down our searches, it is because the focus of the search has moved further downstream into the area of the river which becomes tidal and then out towards the sea."
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