As the search for missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley enters its 19th day, no significant leads have yet been reported as to what has happened to the missing woman. The 45-year-old went missing while out walking her dog Willow in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, on Friday, January 27.
She had just dropped her daughters, aged six and nine, at school and had gone for a walk but hasn't been seen since. Extensive searches have been carried out in the area for the past two weeks but no clues to her disappearance have been found.
Lancashire Police have said officers are keeping an "open mind" as they continue appealing for information regarding Nicola's whereabouts. The force is still searching the river towards the sea at Morecambe Bay with the idea that the 45-year-old, from Inskip, may have fallen in.
Read more: Nicola Bulley police 'search caravan site' close to where mum went missing
In their latest official update on February 10, exactly two weeks since Nicola was reported missing, the force said: "At the present time there is absolutely nothing in all the extensive enquiries we have made that suggests anything untoward has happened or that there is any third-party involvement in Nicola’s disappearance, but the investigation is ongoing."
The police's leading theory that Nicola fell into the river Wyre has been called into question by specialist diver and private investigator Peter Faulding who worked with a team of divers to search the river for three days in the second week of the investigation. He them stepped down for the mission stating he believed they had done all that they could and that Nicola was not in the river.
Mr Faulding has since given an interview to The Telegraph newspaper in which he claimed police officers "are calling him and agreeing" with his doubts regarding the case. Mr Faulding said: “There is lots of odd stuff here. If she isn't found then I would say something is not right. Police officers have been ringing saying they agree with me, this is an odd one."
Here are some updates that have emerged in recent days in the search for Nicola:
Police seen at caravan park near where Nicola was last seen
Police officers were seen at a caravan park near to where Nicola went missing on February 13. The caravan site being visited by officers is believed to be one of several CCTV 'blind spots' identified in the search for Ms Bulley.
A friend, named Tilly-Ann, previously wrote in a Facebook post backed by Ms Bulley's family: "There's CCTV at the back of the caravan park. The only camera that isn't working is the one that would have seen everything."
As part of their ongoing investigation, detectives are believed to have now requested CCTV footage from a local garage that covers one of the exit points from the field where Nicola was last seen.
'Offensive' voicemail sent to local councillor as part of 'mystery' calls
A local councillor who lives near to where police are searching received a late night "offensive" voicemail, reports The Mirror.
Five of the six members of Inskip with Sowerby Parish Council, Lancashire, received nuisance phone calls - though all but one simply rang off as they answered, it was claimed. The flurry of "mystery phone calls" reportedly came between 12.45am and 3am on Saturday and have been reported to the police.
Referencing the voicemail, the insider told The Mirror: "The police have got a copy of that call." Describing the content of the message, they added: "Offensive, I wouldn’t say it was abusive, I would say it was offensive."
They said the caller did reference Nicola, but would not give specifics about what was said. I believe the police have identified the offender," they continued, describing them as "just some nutter".
Reports witness spotted ‘suspicious men' near dog walking route
On Sunday it emerged that a witness had reportedly told police that he spotted two men acting suspiciously near the spot where Nicola Bulley went missing. The witness reportedly came forward after spotting the pair outside the local church in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, on the day before Nicola went missing.
The report says that the same person told police that he saw one of the men in the vicinity of her usual route on the morning she vanished. It adds that officers have taken CCTV footage from a garage in St Michael’s on Wyre covering the 24 hours before the last sighting of Nicola, 45, who went missing while walking her dog Willow more than two weeks ago.
The witness who saw the two men told a national newspaper they were "carrying fishing rods" and "were trying to hide their faces". The man, who did not want to be named, told The Sun: “It was very strange. It made me uneasy.”
He said that he saw the two men at around 7.45am on the day before Nicola vanished. The man told The Sun "they could just have been two normal fishermen" - but "they seemed to want to hide their faces, which struck me as odd".
Describing their behaviour as "strange", the man told the Sun he initially "thought they must be poachers". However, when he heard about Nicola's disappearance he decided to report his experience to the police.
Nicola's parter says she is not in the water and it must be someone 'close to home'
On Friday, February 10, Nicola's partner Paul Ansell told Dan Walker in a Channel 5 interview that he believes the key to the mystery lies close to home. Mr Ansell said: "People don't just vanish into thin air. It's absolutely impossible. So something has happened. Whatever has happened, in my eyes, has to be somebody who knows the local area."
Mr Ansell said he and Ms Bulley regularly walked the path she disappeared from since they met 12 years ago. He said: "You see the same faces every single day, and on the very odd occasion when you see somebody that you don't know they stand out like a sore thumb. The fact that nothing's been seen or heard, I just truly believe that it's something in the village."
Ex-detective looking at case says ‘three options still on table’
An ex-detective looking into the disappearance believes there are "three options" still on the table, but believes two of them are now looking "far less likely". Mark Williams-Thomas, a former officer who is now an investigative journalist, appeared on the Channel 5 documentary Vanished: Where is Nicola Bulley and is spending time in the town of St Michael’s on Wyre this week.
Mr Williams-Thomas believes there are three situations still very plausible, but believes that it is looking more likely like "foul play" could be an option. He says: "For me the three options still remain very much on the table in relation to Nicola Bulley disappearance- all have some credence - although 1 and 2 are looking far less likely now . 1) She went into the water by some means 2) She left of her own accord 3) Foul play 3rd party."
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