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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Gaby Hinsliff

The ghoulish online sleuths are shameful, but that’s no excuse for how the police have treated Nicola Bulley

Police officers on a footpath in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, searching for Nicola Bulley, 12 February 2023.
‘All that the detectives’ announcement achieved was to start a wild guessing game for hordes of self-appointed online truthseekers.’ Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

She slipped through the smallest hole imaginable, an invisible rip in the fabric of a seemingly ordinary day. Nicola Bulley was there one minute, living a working mother’s familiar, multitasking life – walking the dog while taking a Teams call – and gone the next.

Barely 10 minutes elapsed between Nicola bumping into a friend and someone finding her dog, minus an owner. How can a woman just vanish? We all feel the shock, and perhaps some have questions. But this week has been a masterclass in how not to answer them.

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