Specialist underwater rescue teams have joined the search for missing Nicola Bulley. The mother-of-two's family had approached a private company and asked them to help police.
Officers have said they are working on the theory that the 45-year-old , who has been described by friends as a strong swimmer, fell into the river, but that line of investigation has been questioned by friends and family. Lancashire Police has consistently said that there are no signs of any third-party involvement in her disappearance.
Here is what we know as the search reaches its 10th day.
She was going for a walk after leaving her children to school
The mortgage adviser was last seen while walking her dog Willow on Friday (January 27) in the Lancashire village of St Michaels on Wyre. Nicola - known as Nikki - has left her daughters aged six and nine, to school, before heading to the towpath overlooking the River Wyre.
She had been on a work conference call and her phone was still logged in when it was discovered on a bench along the towpath. Her microphone and camera had been turned off for the call.
Several underwater searches have been carried out in the river next to the bench where her phone was found, but no traces of Nicola have been found.
Willow was also found near the bench, but was dry so investigators don't think she had been in the water.
Text to friend and CCTV footage
Over the weekend friends released images from Ms Bulley’s own Ring Doorbell showing her dressed in heavy outdoor clothing loading her car before driving her daughters to school. The pictures were released by a friend in a bid to find her.
She was wearing a long black coat and her blonde hair was in a ponytail. Nicola left the car at the school and walked over to the river.
A friend of the family revealed there's CCTV at the back of the caravan park next to the river. The only camera that isn't working is the one that would have seen everything.
Another friend has revealed Nikki texted a friend about meeting up the following week with her children. The friend told the Daily Express: “She booked a playdate, 8.57, she sent a text message to a friend whose mortgage she had just recently signed off on to arrange for the girls to go for tea this week.”
The friend said the message indicates that Nicola had no intention of going missing.
She said: “You wouldn’t have done that if you were going to get up and go missing."
Willow was found close to the bench
One of Nicola's friends shared some facts about the disappearance with the family's backing in an attempt to stop the online speculation and set the record straight regarding some of the conflicting information surrounding the case.
Tilly Ann said the couple often walked the dog along the towpath.
She said: "Willow 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.
"They very rarely take the ball out for walks with Willow and haven't done for a while because she is protective over the ball. The dog was found very close to both the bench and the harness. The harness was found on the floor not on the bench."
Specialist underwater team brought in
Nicola's friends are hoping that the team will give her family answers.
Private diving team Specialist Group International, led by forensic expert Peter Faulding, will help police search.
Speaking to broadcasters on Monday (February 6), Ms Bulley's friend Emma White said the family asked Mr Faulding and his company for help.
She told BBC Breakfast: "Following the hypothesis of the police that Nicola was in the river, we need some evidence to back that up either way and I feel Peter and his amazing bit of kit ... is going to come and sweep the river bed and give us answers."
Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, Ms White added: "We hope they uncover nothing, like the police have done for the last 10 days, and we hope Nicola is not in that river."
What the team will use
Mr Faulding said his team will use high-tech sonar, which can see "every stick and stone lying on the riverbed".
He told Sky News: "Let's get this water searched so it can be either confirmed or denied if Nicola is actually in this river."
He added: "This is a particularly long stretch of river for them (police) to do because they're doubling up as a dive team as well, so this is a huge task for the police."
The founder and chief executive of Specialist Group International, said he was confident his team would find Ms Bulley if she did fall into the River Wyre.
Speaking to reporters shortly after arriving in St Michael's on Wyre, Mr Faulding said: "If Nicola is here, I'm happy we will find her, if she's in the river."
He said his specialist equipment, a high-tech sonar which will scan the riverbed, has a "very high hit rate", adding: "I can find anything with that."
He said: "The clear evidence is the phone was by the river, the dog harness was by the river, so that's their (the police's) only clue at the moment and we've got to be allowed to eliminate this river, so we can either confirm or deny what's in here today."
Last known sighting
Lancashire Police believe Ms Bulley went missing in "a 10-minute window" on January 27 while walking her dog, Willow, in the village of St Michael's on Wyre after dropping off her daughters - aged six and nine - at school.
She logged in to a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am. The remote meeting ended at 9.30am with her phone still connected.
She was seen by another dog walker at 9.10am - the last known sighting - and police traced telephony records of her mobile phone as it remained on a bench overlooking the river at 9.20am.
The device was found by a dog walker at around 9.35am, with Willow nearby.
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