Nicola Bulley had “specific vulnerabilities” that make her a “high-risk” missing person, police have said.
Lancashire Police again insisted there is “no evidence to indicate a criminal aspect or third party involvement” in the search for the missing mum of two.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday , assistant chief constable Peter Lawson and senior investigating officer detective superintendent Rebecca Smith said officers were being distracted by “false information, accusations and rumours”.
Ms Bulley disappeared while walking her springer spaniel Willow in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire on January 27.
Mr Lawson said the force had gone through large amounts of information so far during their investigation and that they are continuing to search the river Wyre and into the estuary.
He said: “I would emphasise that it remains the case there is no evidence to indicate a criminal aspect or third party involvement in Nicola‘s disappearance.
“However, the officers involved in the investigation are the same experienced specialists and many senior officers who are concerned with the investigation of the most serious and complex crimes.”
Ms Smith clarified that her main “working hypothesis” at the time was that Ms Bulley disappeared into the river but that the force was open-minded. She also added that there is “further work” that officers are doing on Ms Bulley’s social media accounts.
Adding that this work “might show Nicola as being online” but that the force has control of the phone and that Ms Bulley is not using the social media accounts.
Ms Smith also said they had been "inundated with false information, accusations and rumours which is distracting" them from their work to find Ms Bulley, who is a "high-risk" missing person with "specific vulnerabilities".
She did not specify what those vulnerabilities were when asked, however.
Referring to Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell, she told a press conference: “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.”
Asked if she hoped to find her alive, Det Supt Smith said: “I hope with all my heart that we find Nicola Bulley alive more than anything.”
Police extended their search into the sea after being unable to find her body but believe the mortgage adviser fell into the river during a "10-minute window" between 9.10am and 9.20am that day.
Ms Bulley had logged into a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am, which ended at 9.30am with her phone still connected to the call.
She was seen by another dog walker at 9.10am – the last known sighting – and police traced telephone records of her mobile as it remained on a bench overlooking the river at 9.20am.
The device was found by a dog walker at 9.35am while her dog was also found nearby. The force said her disappearance was not being treated as suspicious.
A 49-year-old man from Manchester and a 20-year-old woman from Oldham have been arrested on suspicion of malicious communications offences in relation to emails allegedly sent to Wyre Council members.
The man has been bailed pending further inquiries until May 12 while the woman remains in custody.
On Monday, Wyre Council removed councillors' contact details from its website due to "inappropriate emails and phone calls" about Ms Bulley's disappearance.
Last week, Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell said he would not give up hope of finding her.
“People don’t just vanish into thin air. It’s impossible. So something has happened. Something has happened. Find out what it is,” he told Dan Walker on Channel 5.
He then added: “As a family, we’re not bothered about anything else. We just want to find her.”
