The mystery of missing woman, Nicola Bulley, may never be solved after 'golden hour' claims a former detective. Howard Millington says police would have worked quickly during the missing mother case's 'golden hour' to rule out foul play.
The former detective superintendent says the 45-year-old may never be found if she has drowned in the River Wyre, as police fear. The Mirror reports that the mother vanished on a dog walk in St Michaels on Wyre on January 27 and still remains missing.
Mr Millington, who worked for Greater Manchester Police for 30 years, believes third-party involvement in the disappearance is highly unlikely. However, he admitted the case was "very bizarre", though is "probably going to end in a tragic outcome".
Lancashire Police recently announced the search had been extended up to the sea after scouring the river has so far proved fruitless. Superintendent Sally Riley said detectives ruled out any foul play, but admitted no significant evidence has been found.
A major search effort has been launched, which includes drafting in independent underwater forensic experts Specialist Group International this week. In their investigative efforts, Mr Millington says the police would have moved quickly during the case’s ‘golden hour’ to exhaust the majority of hypotheses.
The former detective says that if she was potentially snatched or attacked investigators would have said by now. Mr Millington said: “Witnesses haven’t heard any screams or seen any disturbance.
“No clothing has been found, along with the open nature of the area and the fact that it’s popular with dog walkers and this was nine o’clock in the morning, it’s light. All those things taken together lead to the most likely hypothesis being that she’s slipped and fell for whatever reason into the water.”
Following the start of the investigation, there were complaints that the bench where Nicola’s phone was found wasn’t initially cordoned off . However, the detective says this would only need to be done if there was cause to believe a criminal act had taken place.
Mr Millington added: “They’ll have done a meticulous search, there’s science behind it, it’s not just random. If it was treated as a missing person inquiry, there’s no suggestion of foul play.
"You would be more focused on searching for the person than preserving evidence of a crime that probably hasn’t happened."
He said if a third party was involved then there would be specific tell-tale signs - including blood staining or reports of suspicious people in the area by now. Mr Millington continued: “I am almost certain there has been nothing flagged up to the police
"Most people, if she had been murdered or abducted, most people in this country, it’s by somebody that’s known to them.”
Mr Millington says her family and friends would have been quickly spoken to and alibis confirmed to rule them out. He said: “If there was something worrying them, [police] would have gathered a vast amount of information so far.
“Then they would be saying they are keeping an open mind and including that it could be suspicious and they are not saying that. There’s no way they would be misleading the public, especially if there was a real concern around community safety.”
However, the ex-detective says if significant new evidence suddenly came forward, then investigators would be able to change their stance. But he did admit that finding Nicola could take an extended period of time if she had ended up in the sea.
Mr Millington said: “They can’t search forever. There’s not a lot else they can do.
"If she’s ended up in the estuary or the sea, it could take a while. It could even be never.
"I hope it isn’t but it’s possible.”
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