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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Chiara Fiorillo

Nicola Bulley key landmarks and police search areas MAPPED as hunt enters third week

Nicola Bulley has been missing for over two weeks and despite an extensive police search of the area where she was last seen, no trace of her has been found so far.

The 45-year-old mum-of-two was walking her dog Willow in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, after dropping her children off at school on January 27.

She vanished in the area and her phone was found on a bench beside the river by another dog walker - and her pooch Willow was nearby.

Her disappearance sparked a major police search effort, which included specialist resources such as underwater search teams, drones and helicopters.

Nicola Bulley went missing in the morning of January 27 (Lancashire Constabulary / SWNS.C)

Earlier this week, private diving team Specialist Group International (SGI) began searching the river but the company's CEO Peter Faulding said they found no trace of Nicola.

Mr Faulding, who previously said he would be able to tell "in minutes" if Nicola was in the river, described her disappearance as the most "baffling" case he has ever worked on.

Lancashire Police said they believe Nicola fell in the river, but added they keep an open mind to look at "all potential scenarios".

But during an interview with Channel 5 yesterday, Nicola's partner Paul Ansell said he believes the missing mum did not enter the river and that the fact her phone was found on the bench could be a "decoy".

During the search for Nicola, specialist teams and cops have been focusing on the areas where she was last seen and other key places, in the hope of finding her.

Outside her home

At 8.26am on the day of her disappearance, Nicola left her home in Inskip with her two daughters, aged six and nine, to drop them off at school at 8.40am.

Ring Doorbell footage filmed outside her family home showed her wearing a coat as she put her dog Willow into the boot.

The images were shared by the police following Nicola's disappearance to show what she was wearing she went missing.

Nicola seen on her Ring Doorbell just one hour before she went missing (Lancashire Police)

She was last seen wearing a long, knee-length black quilted gilet with a hood. She had a black Engelbert Strauss coat underneath which had long sleeves and came to her waist.

Nicola was wearing tight black jeans and had long green walking socks tucked into her jeans, and size 5 ankle-length green wellington boots from Next.

Her hair was tied into a ponytail and she was wearing a pale blue Fitbit.

A map showing the field where Nicola was last seen by two witnesses (Lancashire Police)

Field in St Michael's on Wyre

Lower field

Search efforts also included the field in St Michael's on Wyre where Nicola walked her dog shortly before vanishing.

Cops estimate that at 8.43am, Nicola walked along the path by the River Wyre towards the gate/bench into the lower field.

At approximately 8.47am, another dog walker who knows Nicola saw her and Willow around the lower field.

Lancashire Police say their two dogs interacted briefly before the witness left the field via the river path.

Police officers in the field in St Michael's on Wyre (PA)

Upper field

At 8.53am Nicola sent an email to her boss, followed by a message to a friend at 8.59am and at 9.01am she logged into a Teams call.

At approximately 9.10am, another witness who knows Nicola saw her in the upper field walking her dog.

Although the search operation is ongoing and officers are trying to trace the missing mum, they say that some timings are approximate, including the exact time she was seen in the upper field.

Bench where her phone was found

A bench where Nicola's phone was found at approximately 9.33am by another dog walker was one of the search areas police focused on as their initial theory was that she may have fallen into the river for some reason.

According to Lancashire Police, the phone was back in the area of the bench at 9.20am and her Teams call ended at 9.30am but Nicola stayed logged on.

The bench where Nicola's phone was found two weeks ago (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

River Wyre

Peter Faulding's independent Specialist Group International (SGI) firm were drafted in earlier this week to aid Lancashire Police divers with their high-tech sonar equipment.

But he has now told the Mirror they have completed scouring the area of the river from where Nicola's phone was found - and where investigators theorise she likely fell in on January 27.

"We've done our job and we've cleared the areas that we were tasked with by Lancashire Police and we are happy that there is nothing in that water," he said.

Peter Faulding believes Nicola is 'categorically not' in the area of river where police believe she fell (PA)
Nicola's partner Paul Ansell with Mr Faulding at the River Wyre (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

But during a press conference in St Michael's on Wyre village hall, superintendent Sally Riley of the Lancashire Constabulary, said that while Ms Bulley has not been found, it does not necessarily mean she wasn't in the water.

"Our search has not found Nicola in the river and then a re-search in parts by SGI has found the same," she said.

Despite finding no trace of the woman so far, Superintendent Riley said that the police still believe that Ms Bulley could have fallen into the water.

Police divers and forensics continue to search the river Wyre (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Shard Bridge

Yesterday afternoon, police were trawling underneath the Shard Bridge - about seven and a half miles away from where Nicola was last seen.

The bridge is about halfway to the estuary from the village. Photos taken at the scene on Friday show specialists in a small boat travelling around and under the road crossing.

Morecambe Bay

The search operation then moved to Morecambe Bay, with officers reportedly confirming they are now concentrating on the mouth of the river and believe that finding Ms Bulley "in the open sea becomes more of a possibility".

A Lancashire Police statement read: "Our investigation to the disappearance of Nicola Bulley is continuing and we continue to search areas of the River Wyre and surrounding area.

A search and rescue team in Knott End-on-Sea, on the southern side of Morecambe Bay (PA)

"People may have seen less police activity today 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."

Lancashire Police added: "Throughout this investigation we have been keeping an open mind about what might have happened to Nicola, and we continue to look at all the potential scenarios to eliminate them. We are reviewing our decisions regularly."

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