The mobile phone found by a river that is believed to be Nicola Bulley's 'could be a decoy', claims a diving expert. Peter Faulding, founder of Specialist Group International, says the missing mother case is the most baffling he has ever worked on.
The Mirror reports that the dive squad is currently being used by Lancashire Police as the search for missing Nicola enters its 12th day. The 45-year-old disappeared on a dog walk in Lancashire last month and is yet to be found.
As the investigation continues, Mr Faulding spoke out on TalkTV last night about his squad's involvement. He said: "After 25 years of doing this kind of work, after hundreds of cases, I am well and truly baffled.
"When people drown they generally go down where they are. We normally find them within five to ten metres of where they went down even after a few days.
"This is the most baffling case that I have ever worked on. The police have nothing to go on.
"All they have is a mobile phone at the moment and they said it could possibly be a decoy."
On January 27, Ms Bulley left her home with her two daughters, aged six and nine, dropping them off at school at 8.26am. Officials claim that she then engaged in a brief conversation with another parent around 15 minutes later.
The mother then took her Spaniel, Willow, for a walk along the path by the River Wyre at 8.43am, heading towards a gate/bench in the lower field. She was seen by a dog walker who knew her at around 8.50am, and their pets interacted briefly before they parted ways, according to the force.
At 8.53am, Ms Bulley sent an email to her boss, followed by a message to her friends six minutes later, before logging on to a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am. She was then seen by a second witness at 9.10am, which was the last known sighting.
Her phone was back in the area of the bench at 9.20am before the Teams call ended ten minutes later, with her mobile remaining logged on after the call. At 9.33am, another dog walker found her phone on a bench beside the river, with Willow darting between the two.
According to police, Nicola was last seen wearing a black Engelbert Strauss coat, black jeans and had long green walking socks tucked into her trousers under ankle length green wellington boots. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and she was wearing a pale blue fitbit.
Last week, Superintendent Sally Riley said investigators were working under the main assumption that she accidentally fell into the river. However, she admitted there was no clear evidence of that.
Following the dive squad's foray into the case, Nicola's boyfriend, Paul Ansell, released another appeal and thanked Mr Faulding and his team for the efforts. He said :"I have two little girls who miss their mummy desperately and who need her back.
"This has been such a tough time for the girls especially but also for me and all of Nicola's family and friends, as well as the wider community and I want to thank them for their love and support. We are also really grateful to Peter and his team from SGI for coming up and helping support the work of Lancashire Police as they continue their investigation.
"If anyone has any information which could help find Nicola, I urge them to get in touch with the police and help us provide the answers we all so badly need."
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