Missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley had “in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol” which had “resurfaced over recent months”, Lancashire Police have said. Senior officers said earlier today that she was “vulnerable” and classed by police as a “high-risk” missing person immediately after her partner reported her disappearance, but they did not elaborate - until they issued a further statement this evening.
A police search involving specialist officers was launched within an hour of her partner Paul Ansell speaking to officers, and she was deemed “high-risk” based on the information he had given them about the mother-of-two, aged 45. Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith, the lead investigator for Lancashire Police in the case, told reporters at a packed press conference at force HQ this morning: “As soon as she was reported missing, following the information that was provided to the police by her partner Paul, and based on a number of specific vulnerabilities that we were made aware of, Nicola was graded as high-risk.
“It’s normal in any missing person investigation that you obviously gather as much information at an early stage about the person in question, which is no different, and we did that with Paul.
“I’m not going to go into the details of those individual vulnerabilities. I’ve asked you to respect the family, who are going through unimaginable pain and distress at this moment. But those vulnerabilities based our decision-making in terms of grading Nicola as high-risk, and have continued to form part of my investigation throughout.”
After earlier refusing to be drawn further on the exact nature of Ms Bulley’s “individual vulnerabilities”, they have this evening clarified the missing mum had “in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol”. Those issues have "resurfaced over recent months", the force said.
They said: “Sadly, it is clear from speaking to Paul and the family that Nicola had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause and that these struggles had resurfaced over recent months. This caused some real challenges for Paul and the family.
“As a result of those issues, a response car staffed by both police and health professionals attended a report of concern for welfare at Nicola’s home address on January 10th. No one has been arrested in relation to this incident, but it is being investigated.
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“It is an unusual step for us to take to go into this level of detail about someone’s private life, but we felt it was important to clarify what we meant when we talked about vulnerabilities to avoid any further speculation or misinterpretation. We have explained to Nicola’s family why we have released this further information and we would ask that their privacy is respected at this difficult time.”
The force has come under criticism after quickly ruling out foul play when Ms Bulley vanished after dropping off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school on January 27 in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire. She was last seen at 9.10am taking her usual route with her springer spaniel Willow, alongside the River Wyre.
Her phone, still connected to a work call for her job as a mortgage adviser, was found just over 20 minutes later on a bench overlooking the riverbank, with her dog running loose. Since she vanished, huge public and media interest has resulted in what police described as “false information, accusations and rumours” and an “unprecedented” search of both the River Wyre, downstream to Morecambe Bay and miles of neighbouring farmland.
Nearly 40 detectives have sifted through hundreds of hours of CCTV, dashcam footage and tip-offs from the public.
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson said: “There is no evidence to indicate a criminal aspect or third-party involvement in Nicola’s disappearance.”
Police said that while keeping an “open mind”, their “main working hypothesis” remains that Ms Bulley went into the river during a “10-minute window” between 9.10am and 9.20am that day.
