River where Nicola Bulley's body found being searched…

River where Nicola Bulley's body found being searched for 'missing object', expert says

A forensic pathologist has claimed that specialist divers that were searching the river where mum of two Nicola Bulley was found were looking for a "specific artefact".

The 45-year-old mortgage advisor was found more than three weeks after she was last seen on January 27 when she had been walking her dog Willow in St Michael’s on Wyre after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, to school.

Nicola’s disappearance resulted in a huge search being launched involving police, firefighters, mountain rescue, underwater teams and the local community all combing through the massive area she could have disappeared in.

Her body was tragically discovered on February 19, just over a mile from where she went missing. Specialist police however were seen last in the area on April 4, less than one mile from where she was last seen.

One forensic pathologist who worked on high-profile cases such as Stephen Lawrence who was also called as an expert for Harold Shipman's trial, Dr Richard Shepherd, explained to the Mirror that he believes there is an item police are searching for.

Dr Shepherd said: "I'm really struggling to see what they could be looking, for now, that would affect or influence the cause of death.

"When Nicola's body was found it would have been taken to the morgue and a formal post-mortem would have been carried out where it would have looked for natural diseases, any injuries, and samples would have been taken for alcohol drugs."

An inquest into her death is to be heard on Monday, June 26 at County Hall in Preston.

He added: "They must have a reason to do it though - my guess is there is something like an artefact of some sort that they are trying to make sure to find it

"My sense is they want to be absolutely sure that something they can't quite locate isn't still in the river. My feeling is they are looking for something specific.

"The last thing police want after the social media interest around this is for it to come out inquest there is something missing and then it gets randomly found by the public."

Asked if he thought it may be a possible reconstruction of events, Dr Shepherd said: "I think it's unlikely because once again rivers are so variable. Even if you get a model or a manikin to put clothes on or a real person you couldn't possibly repeat what happened that day.

"We know from years and years of people entering rivers and lakes and the sea that there is movement and there are things like reeds, and branches where a body can be held under in particular places and then something is altered and the body comes free so they wouldn't do a reconstruction in this context.

"I can't see what they are doing there in terms of the cause of death especially in something as changing as the river. Even if it is a house where it was kept sealed I'd still struggle to go back to find something to alter the cause of death."

Mum-of-two Nicola Bulley, 45, (Lancashire Constabulary / SWNS.C)

The HM Coroner confirmed in a statement that they had requested help from Lancashire Police to “produce information” on Nicola’s death.

A spokesman for HM Coroner told Lancashire Post: "The investigation will take time to complete to ensure that as complete a picture as possible of the facts concerning Ms Bulley's death is presented at the inquest.

"This will assist the family in understanding what occurred. As part of this process, HM Senior Coroner has requested Lancashire Constabulary produce information gathered during the search for Ms Bulley so it can be considered as part of the investigation.”

A police spokesperson told the Mirror: “We can confirm this is us carrying out some work at the direction of HM Coroner."

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