A friend of missing mum Nicola Bulley has revealed what she said to her in a text message which is thought to have been sent just minutes before she disappeared. The mortgage advisor, 45 was last seen walking her dog Willow along the River Wyre on the morning of January 27, after she dropped her two daughters off at school in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire.
Today marks one week since the mum-of-two went missing and police have cordoned off part of her walking route as specialist divers search the river. It is feared that Nicola may have fallen into the river and been dragged downstream, although no conclusive evidence has proved this theory, the Mirror reports.
The pal, who wishes to remain anonymous, believes Nicola did not plan on going missing, as she revealed she had sent a text making plans with friends. She said: "[Nicola] booked a playdate [at] 8.57am, 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. You wouldn’t have done that if you were going to get up and go missing."
Nicola was last seen with her springer spaniel Willow walking along a nearby town path along the river from around 8.45am. It is understand that the mortgage broker signed into a work conference call on teams at around 9am but had her camera off and her microphone muted.
Around 40 minutes after she was last seen, Willow was found wandering around herself looking "worried" and was described as "bone dry". Nicola's phone had been abandoned on a nearby bench and was still logged into the work call.
Local residents are becoming increasingly worried about the missing mum and the update was revealed during a meeting at the village town hall on Sunday morning before a group headed out on their first mass organised search. Nicola's partner Paul is understood to have been at the meeting.
As previously reported, police advised the group to search upriver in a pincer movement. A second search of around 100 locals set out in the afternoon which included the headteacher from the children's primary school.
Two fellow dog walkers are reported to have seen Nicola shortly before her disappearance who was 'laughing and joking' with them. The news comes after Nicola's devastated mum revealed her daughter had also been making plans for a spa break with her sister Louise.
Dot, 72, said: "Louise had just booked Ribby Hall because they both had spa vouchers, she had just sent Nicola the night before the treatments. Louise booked it on Friday morning and sent it to Nicola but she never got back to her. They are very close."
Her father, Ernest, added that Nicola was content in her job and had a meeting with an important client before she disappeared. He added: "Her mind was great, we picked the children up the Thursday before she went missing, as we do every Thursday.
"We took them home, Nicola had had a meeting with her boss in Garstang and she said, 'Can you stay a bit later because I have an important client coming in on Zoom?' We said, 'No problem' and stayed.
"She had done her work and she was very upbeat about getting her mortgage sorted. I said, 'We better go now' and Nicola came to the front door, and I gave her a kiss and told her I loved her and that was the last conversation I had with her."
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