A friend of Nicola Bulley’s said she struggled deciding not to tell the missing mum’s young daughter she was missing as her “world was going to fall apart”.
The 45-year-old mortgage adviser vanished in St Michael's on Wyre while walking her dog after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at school on January 27.
Hope she was to be found alive by police disappeared Sunday morning as police revealed a body had been found in the river, ahead of formal identification taking place.
Days after Nicola disappeared Nadia Fell had been looking after her friend’s six-year-old daughter as the search went on.
She revealed she struggled not telling the child what was happening.
She told the Mail on Sunday: “She didn’t know what was going on at that point, everyone was like, 'Just let’s not tell her'.
"Everyone was holding on to a little bit of hope. I was sitting there thinking, 'Your world is soon going to fall apart' and it was just horrible.
“The basic line is that she’s missing, she’s lost and she [her daughter] understands those words.”
Lancashire Police discovered a body in the river on Sunday morning, less than a mile downstream from where Nicola was last seen, following a tip-off from two dog walkers.
Formal identification is yet to be carried out, but the mortgage adviser's family have been informed.
As her partner, two daughters, mum, dad and sister awaited the news, they came together and said: "We have to be strong."
Sky News correspondent Inzamam Rashid said he had been in contact with Ms Bulley's partner, Paul Ansell, via text.
He wrote in a message: "No words right now, just agony."
"We're all together, we have to be strong", Mr Ansell added.
The search for Ms Bulley has captivated the entire nation, and attracted widespread speculation as well as criticism of the police response.
On Sunday, a police spokesman said officers were called to reports of a body in the river at around 11.35am.
"An underwater search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, entered the water and have sadly recovered a body," a statement said.
"No formal identification has yet been carried out, so we are unable to say whether this is Nicola Bulley at this time.
"Procedures to identify the body are ongoing. We are currently treating the death as unexplained.
"Nicola's family have been informed of developments and our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times. We ask that their privacy is respected."
A man and a woman walking their dog discovered the body and called police, it is understood.
