The forensic search expert brought in by friends and family to search for missing mum-of-two Nicola Bulley has described the case as "baffling" and the most "unusual" case he has investigated in his 25 years in the job. Among the concerns Peter Faulding has raised are that Nicola's mobile phone could have been placed on the bench by the river as a "decoy".
And he has said there is a chance that a third party could have been involved in her disappearance adding that if his team doesn't find anything on Tuesday (February 7), it is likely someone else was involved in Nicola's disappearance. He told TalkTV: "After 25 years of doing this kind of work, after hundreds of cases, I am well and truly baffled. Normally you would expect the divers to find them easily. 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."
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It has now been 11 days since the 45-year-old mortgage broker disappeared without a trace as she walked her dog Willow along a tow path on the River Wyre in Lancashire. Mr Faulding's company Specialist Group International (SGI) arrived at the scene on Monday, February 6 to use advanced sonar equipment as part of the search. No clues were uncovered and the search is set to continue on Tuesday. The group, which is based in Dorking, Surrey, and has been volunteering its services free of charge. Here are elements of the police theory that Nicola fell into the river about which Mr Faulding has expressed doubts.
The mobile phone on the bench
The forensic expert says that "the only thing the police have to go on" is the mobile phone on the bench, and he has raised the possibility that it could have been left there as a decoy. The phone was found still logged on to a work Teams call that Nicola had appeared to be listening in to. The camera and microphone had both been switched off.
Mr Faulding said that police had searched the immediate area of the bench on two occasions, and his teams are planning to search there again on Tuesday, February 7. He said police divers have already thoroughly searched that stretch of the river and wouldn't have missed anything. However, specialist equipment used by his team could help to "completely rule out anything".
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, he said: "I personally think, if I rule this stretch of river out today where we are working, I don't think she is here and there is probably a third party involved."
During an interview on BBC Breakfast this morning, Mr Faulding shared the his theory that Nicola's phone could have been used as a decoy. There has also been an issue with the CCTV that would have covered the area not working. He said: "If Nicola is not in that stretch of river today my view is that there is a third party involved and this was a decoy placed by the river. It could have been placed as a decoy there is not enough CCTV to cover particular areas here. The police are working hard in the background to cover everything."
He added: "The phone on the bench, I mean, you have to ask, normally someone would have a phone in their hand especially if they were walking around."
Nicola's dog, Willow, and why it was not more distressed
There has been much speculation about Willow the dog and whether Nicola had gone into the river to rescue her. The dog was found near the bench but was reportedly dry and not wearing her harness. Mr Faulding told GB News earlier this week: "We dealt with a drowning a couple of years ago where a gentleman went into a river and Ripley, his dog, was screaming by the riverbank when we got there.. When we arrived it was howling, and literally pointing exactly where he was. He stayed with his owner."
No-one heard any screams
He also said it '"feels odd" that no one spoke of the fact that Nicola was not wearing clothes that would have absorbed water quickly, there were no marks at the scene and that not one person heard screams. A number of witnesses who police wanted to speak to have been traced, but no further information about what could have happened has been gleaned.
The area has not been sealed off
Mr Faulding has also raised concerns that the bench where the phone was found has not been sealed off. He has concerns that clues to the disappearance could have been lost. He said: "People have been walking past the bench. There's no police tape up. This would normally be sealed off as a crime scene so potentially crime scene investigators can go in and see if there are any microfibres, evidence, slip marks down the bank etc and I don't believe that has actually happened here."
Nothing found in search so far
The police have said they are working on the theory that Nicola went into the river. The specialist team spent most of Monday searching an area of the river downstream from the bench, in the tidal section of the river.
Mr Faulding told BBC Breakfast: "On Tuesday, we are focusing on the area upstream from the weir (that is a bit further down the river) which is non-tidal and going about a mile upstream. This includes the area where the phone was found on the bench. I must state this area was searched on the day by police divers. These are very professional divers and they didn't find anything and that is the odd thing about this. That is what I can't get my head around. It is very strange."
Why you would have expected to have found a drowned body by now
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Mr Faulding said: "Bodies can get lodged in reeds and show up months later, the sonar won't go into the reeds. But then that's the idea of the divers and, as I said before, it was originally searched when she supposedly went in. He said police divers have already thoroughly searched that stretch of the river and wouldn't have missed anything. However, specialist equipment used by his team could help to "completely rule out anything".
He said: "Normally when we deal with drowning victims they go to the bottom and they will stay there for a while. The police divers have done a thorough search of that river twice and nothing was found. This is one of the most odd cases I've ever worked on. Underwater search - I'm a forensic diver as well - is a particularly difficult task. Generally, things aren't missed, they [police divers] have done it thoroughly. If anything is there, we will find it. A body will move after a time, but they searched that area and came up with nothing – that is what is weird here. We are baffled."
Why Nicola couldn't be in a different part of the river
When asked if Nicola could be in a different part of the river, Mr Faulding said: "Unless someone's put her in a different part of the river somewhere or she's fallen in somewhere.... It is a very short stretch. On a normal river we can scan ten miles a day for a body and locate it very quickly."
It is important to note that police often don't share all details of an investigation for investigative and operational reasons. Lancashire Police continue to appeal for witnesses and dashcam footage. Anyone with information or footage is asked to call 101, quoting log 565 of January 30. For any immediate sightings, please call 999.
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