Police say Nicola Bulley had 'vulnerabilities' before she went missing and her case was quickly listed as 'high risk'. Officers say they will not go into the details of Nicola's vulnerabilities - but those vulnerabilities influenced their decision to list Nicola as high risk.
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith, the lead investigator in the Nicola Bulley case, refused to give more details of the mother-of-two’s “individual vulnerabilities”.
Referring to Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell, she told a press conference: “It’s normal in any missing person investigation that you obviously gather as much information at an early stage about the person in question, which is no different and we did that with Paul.
“I’m not going to go into the details of those individual vulnerabilities. I’ve asked you to respect the family, who are going through unimaginable pain and distress at this moment.
“But those vulnerabilities based our decision-making in terms of grading Nicola as high risk and have continued to form part of my investigation throughout.”
Asked if she hoped to find her alive, Det Supt Smith said: “I hope with all my heart that we find Nicola Bulley alive more than anything.”
DS Smith said the 'likelihood' is that Nicola went into the river.
Police say there is not a single piece of evidence 20 days on that Nicola Bulley left the area of the river, or that any third person is involved in her disappearance. Detectives have found no evidence of a “criminal aspect or third party involvement” in Nicola Bulley’s disappearance during extensive inquiries over the 19 days since she vanished, a police chief has said.
Lancashire Police Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson defended his force’s investigation into the case of the missing mother-of-two at a press conference on Wednesday.
Setting out the details of the probe in more detail than police “normally” would, he said the scale has been “unprecedented”.
Nearly 40 detectives have sifted through hundreds of hours of CCTV, dashcam footage and tip-offs from the public.
And Mr Lawson said: “There is no evidence to indicate a criminal aspect or third party involvement in Nicola’s disappearance.”
Detectives have sought to combat disinformation about her disappearance amid growing speculation about what might have happened to her and criticism of the police effort.
Ms Bulley disappeared while walking her springer spaniel, Willow, in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre after she dropped her two daughters – aged six and nine – at school on January 27.
At a press conference on February 3 Lancashire Police first told the public of their “main working hypothesis” that the mortgage adviser fell in the river during a “10-minute window” between 9.10am and 9.20am that day.
The force said her disappearance is not being treated as suspicious.
Her body has still not been found and detectives extended the search for her to the sea on February 3, saying finding her there “becomes more of a possibility”.
Detectives have been “inundated with false information, accusations and rumours which is distracting” them from their work to find Nicola Bulley, who is a “high-risk” missing person with “specific vulnerabilities”, Lancashire Police Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said.
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson said: "For this week the search effort is continuing. There will be a point in the days ahead where I need to review that."
Senior investigating officer Detective Supt Rebecca Smith said her “main working hypothesis” is still that missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley fell into the River Wyre.
At a press conference at Lancashire Police HQ, she said: “As soon as she was reported missing, following the information that was provided to the police by her partner Paul, and based on a number of specific vulnerabilities that we were made aware of, Nicola was graded as high-risk.
“That is normal in a missing person investigation with the information we were in possession of. As any senior investigating officer does, you form a number of hypotheses, that is scenarios which are possible from the information to hand.
“Those hypotheses included the one that she possibly could have gone into the river, that there could have been third-party involvement and lastly, that she could have left the area voluntarily.
“Those hypotheses have remained in place throughout, are reviewed regularly.
“At the initial stages based on the information I received, I made it clear that it was my working hypothesis at that time based with all the facts that the main hypothesis I was working on at that time was that Nicola had gone in the river.
“This has been misconstrued in the press and said that that was what I said. I said that was my main working hypothesis at that time, and that remains my main working hypothesis. I think it’s clear to see that the amount of effort, hours worked, resources that we’ve put into this investigation that we have always been open-minded. Those three hypotheses and scenarios have been continually reviewed, and continue to do so to this day.”
