The partner of missing Nicola Bulley has said he is 100 per cent convinced she is not in the river as the search continues.
Two weeks on from her disappearance, partner Paul Ansell has told of the 'unprecedented hell' her family are going through in an interview that will air tonight.
He told presenter Dan Walker 'nothing seems real' and he is totally convinced she is not in the water as the family refuse to give up hope.
The interview will air at 9pm on Channel 5 as part of the 75-minute special programme ‘Vanished: What happened to Nicola Bulley', the Mirror reports.
Distressed Mr Ansel said she would not give up on anyone else and her family haven't given up on her.
"What we’re going through now is like unprecedented hell," he tells the presenter.
"But that hope and that positivity in me is stronger than ever, and I’m never, ever going to let go. Nicky would never give up on us ever.
"She wouldn’t give up on anybody. And we’re not gonna ever give up on her like, we’re going to find her.”
Mum-of-two Nicola, 45, was last seen walking her dog Willow after dropping her daughters off at school in the small village of St Michaels on Wyre, Lancashire on January 27.
A major search was launched by Lancashire Police who were seen combing the river bank, utilising diving teams, search dogs, drones and boats to no avail.
“Extensive searching, as you’re probably aware, has gone on in that river," he told Dan.
"The fact that the divers and underwater rescue team and all that were in that river on the day, and thankfully found absolutely nothing, in the part where you would have to presume is her last known location.
"Personally, I am 100 per cent convinced it’s not the river, that’s my opinion.”
"Because people don't just vanish into thin air, it's absolutely impossible. So something has happened.
"Something has happened. Find out what it is. Find out what it is.
"There has to be a way to find out what happened, there has to be. You cannot, you cannot walk your dog down a river and just vanish into thin air. Something happened that day, something.”
Despite there being no news two weeks on, Mr Ansel refused to point fingers and said he could not fault the police.
This afternoon the force are searching a bridge more than seven miles from where the mortgage adviser was last seen.
“I have to categorically say I cannot fault the police in any of this, they have been incredible, and the relationship that we have working on this is still very, very strong, it’s very good," he added.
"So this isn’t any criticism of them at all, I just want to make that clear.”
The bridge is about halfway to the estuary from the village.
Images show specialists in a small boat travelling around and under the road crossing.
It comes as the search has already expanded to the Irish Sea.
Police have said their "main working hypothesis" was that she fell in a river but a body has not yet been found. However, they insist they are keeping an open mind.
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