Police have extended the search for Nicola Bulley to the sea after divers were unable to find her in a river. Superintendent Sally Riley confirmed that the search has been extended to the sea after no trace of the missing mum was found in the River Wyre.
The 45-year-old vanished on a dog walk in St Michaels on Wyre on January 27, with her phone found on a bench overlooking the water. A major search effort has since been launched, which included drafting in independent underwater forensic experts Specialist Group International this week.
The Mirror reports that as the hunt for the missing mum continues, a top investigator confirmed yesterday detectives had ruled out any foul play. However, despite that statement and the help of an expert dive squad, officials have still been left stumped by the case.
Founder of Specialist Group International, Peter Faulding, previously stated his team's sonar could find Nicola in under an hour if she is in the river. However, he has since expressed doubts she ever fell in to the water whilst out on the walk.
The diving expert added that he considered it almost impossible that she would have been dragged down to the estuary, hypothesising that a body would become "snagged" within 500 metres of the entry point. His team yesterday trawled what they considered the "hot zone", as well several miles up and downstream.
However, neither they nor police specialists found any evidence of Nicola. Separate dive teams have since begun searching up towards Morecambe Bay, the officer overseeing the investigation revealed last night.
Miss Gibbons told the BBC: "Up to a certain level, we understand it's human nature, it's natural for everyone to have speculation, because the truth is in this, nothing is making sense. I know that the family are massively appreciative of all the police have done [and] we feel we have got the best of the best on that water.
"Hopefully it will be a completion, one way or the other, and if they find nothing, then maybe it's time to start looking down other avenues."
Lancashire Police Superintendent Sally Riley told a press briefing on Tuesday the force continued to rule out any "suspicious or criminal" element to the case. She said a team of 40 detectives are working on around 500 different lines of inquiry and are identifying more than 700 drivers who travelled through the village around the time Nicola disappeared.
Riley said: "This is normal in a missing person inquiry and does not indicate that there is any suspicious element to this story. The inquiry team remains fully open-minded to any information that may indicate where Nicola is or what happened to her."
But the police chief emphasised that detectives have not yet come across any evidence of foul play. She added: "Any criminal or suspicious element has been discarded.
"It is important to stress that any information that comes in that indicates otherwise is being checked out all the time. We are not closed in any way to any particular line of inquiry but all these extensive inquiries, however, have so far not found anything of note."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
