Missing woman

[MyOldCaravan]

BBC News - Nicola Bulley: Partner describes perpetual hell over missing mum
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-64450243

Just been reading about this. How awful for her partner and children. Really hope she is found soon

Thing is there are so many possibilities. Yes she could have been a victim of a crime, could have had an accident, could have harmed herself.

But she could also just have disappeared, or left for another man, not saying that it happened but it does happen.

The fact the police responded so quickly ales me think that there is a lot more to this which was known even before she disappeared which made her the subject of such a quick response.

@ofwarren & @itsnote how dangerous is the river currently? Quickly out of depth?Relatively easy to tumble in? Likely to be rapidly swept along? Swept out to sea? Banks too steep to climb out at that spot? If you screamed/splashed, you’d likely be heard by other dog walkers? Not super early, post school run, and by sounds a few dog walkers etc in approximate vicinity? Is it a super isolated spot?

This is attracting attention as all so odd & worrying. If there looks to be objective evidence she slipped down a very steep bank, & sadly likely drowned, why don’t the police openly say? If they suspect her being in the river is a strong possibility, why not openly say?

As a PP said, they started searching the river quickly, is it too deep etc to effectively search, seemingly no frogmen?

People can’t understand why the police seem adamant NOT an abduction on the one hand (despite, seemingly contradictorily saying keeping on ‘open mind’) but asking for dashcam footage etc on the other, & witnesses, etc

How can the police rule out she arranged to meet someone? Phone records etc? It’s very common to meet friends etc at a certain point on a regular walk. How can police rule out meeting someone on bench? & then, sadly, something going wrong.

As PPs have said, possibly it was a work call that criticised her or generally one that delivered bad news, so her becoming terribly upset, reaching breaking point & going off on own, possible. Police, of course, would have this particular context.

@MayThe4th it seems very odd to me that the first reaction was to call 999 on finding only a familiar dog? Before phone etc was discovered an hour later?

Wonder if the person who found the phone knew her from sight/to say hi to?
If I found a dog and I knew the human and knew they walked there often, I would be shouting their name and if there wasn't any response/sight of them then I would be worried

I feel like this should be bigger news, anyone who I’ve mentioned it to today hasn’t heard anything about it. why? The reality is that people go missing all the time. Hundreds of thousands of them every year.

And while the police aren’t looking for a third party why do the public need to know that a woman may have come to grief in a river?

It sounds harsh because obviously it’s horrendous for those who are left behind. But the reality is that it’s only news because it’s good media fodder.

I read the article in the DM which said her parents asked the police if someone could have taken her and the police said they don't think it's the case. Parents stated there was no sign of a slip or fall into the river and she was very 'upbeat' the night before when they last saw her.

Her parents seem to think her being taken is a possibility.

Hope this is not a major fuck up the police who didn't explore that thoroughly from the start.

'@MayThe4th it seems very odd to me that the first reaction was to call 999 on finding only a familiar dog? Before phone etc was discovered an hour later?'

I read that the person that found the dog contacted the school. The school then contacted the woman's partner to say the dog and phone had been found etc, he then called the police.

To note- people can often appear “upbeat” when they’ve decided to end their life or disappear.

making the decision can be a huge relief- and often the decision in those with MH issues is based on the logic that there children/spouse/world is better off without them there.

I work with suicidal people and the ones that cause them most concern when they go missing is not the ones with long MH histories, but those that go without warning and seemed fine before. They’re the ones who have been battling things internally, have no help in place to recognise their feelings, and their own minds convince them it’s for the best.

I wonder if where she had gone into the river (if she has) was not a slip as such but a purposeful act to enter the river to pull out her dog or another animal - and even then, her footsteps on the riverbank could have been stepped over many times if the dog was pacing over where he could last get her scent for an hour?

Also, there are lots of people here who know the area well, can we stop arguing over who knows it best? The facts are the school car park is about a 3 min walk away from the footbridge over the river and then the bench was maybe another 15 if that away from there, depending on how quickly you're walking, by the sounds of it.

The problem with the River Wyre is it splits and goes meandering all over the place and there's a lot of ground to cover and this is is why there's no resolution yet I don't think, but I'm pretty certain the answer is coming from the river :( I don't think there's any foul play.

Parents said she was 'upbeat' due to getting a new client for work so seemingly happy with work.

Women who found dog described it as 'worried' and then found Nicola's phone. She said she called her DIL as she thought she recognised the dog but wasn't sure who's it was. DIL knew who's it was and rang Nicola's DH who called the police.

It's in the DM just now. Not going to link as most MNers refuse to open it.

Oh the police will definitely have more information that won't be released. I naively assumed they said no third party was involved as there was evidence of a fall.
I agree I don't know how there can be no evidence of a fall but also such certainty about no third party. Unless there is evidence she has disappeared herself and that is why they don't suspect foul play. So many questions that we have no right to know the answers to but I would so love to know what the police know.

In the context of the interview, it is completely clear. A member of the public raised the alarm when they recognised the dog on its own. An hour after that the police found the dog and the phone.

@AmillionReasons you may be right, timeline seems to be a bit opaque.

The police said the phone was found ‘an hour later’. If partner then called her, presumably the phone would ring (call on Zoom/Teams or similar)?

Presumably he/they went on hunt for phone?

At that time in morning, if a familiar, leadless, harnessless dog was taken to our school & the mum’s car in carpark, I’d assume it had run off. I wouldn’t immediately call 999 & if the partner. Police unlikely to immediately (?) respond to this too? Unless back history we are not aware of, which may be why police have assumed no third party involvement.

If dog was dangling a lead I might be more concerned.

"Also, there are lots of people here who know the area well, can we stop arguing over who knows it best?"

No and I don't know why you think you get to moderate here. Nobody is arguing over that. It's important that misinformation isn't spread. It's a very busy place traffic wise, although those fields are quiet. It's also important to know that it's not at the beginning of her walk. She'd have been around halfway through it.

This is something the people searching are stressing. Just because you can walk for miles, doesn't mean she ever did on her morning walk.

You'd expect some sign of a fall on the way down to the river there if that was the case so I can see why her parents would be concerned.

The police would come quickly to look for her, it's not unusual. There has been some confusing things in the media but that's because they're rushing to break a story, accuracy is secondary to that.

@Peverellshire

It seems that a woman found the dog, quite upset on the grass and the harness beside it. The phone was on the bench and she tethered the dog and left as she had an appointment. She rang her family member who recognised the description of the dog and called Nicolas partner. He then called the police.

There are dog walkers I meet who, if I came across their dog on its own, I would be worried about where they were, so that part isn’t in the least bit surprising to me. And I’d also spot signs of distress or ‘worry’ in the dog, in most cases as its behaviour would be quite different to how it usually behaves.
People do go in bodies of water after their dogs, even when they know they shouldn’t. Absolutely not a criticism of this woman, or anyone else. DH did it once - keys, lead and phone on the river bank, as our dog was stuck in a sort of eddy in the middle of a usually shallow river. He knew he shouldn’t, he lost his footing several times and seriously worried he might not make it out. But he couldn’t stand there and watch our dog drown. I can’t say I’d never do the same tbh.

I hope there is a ‘good’ outcome for this family.

@itsnote thank you.

Those that know the river at this spot, is it treacherous? Hard/impossible to climb out of if you fall in? Deep?

There must be more to this. There is no way I would go missing tomorrow and police showing up and it being on national news in a few hours.

It's always treacherous. It's freezing cold and tidal. Yes it would be hard to climb out, it would be slippy and steep. Plus, it's freezing.

You'd expect some signs of a fall though or an attempt to climb out. Or signs of the dog clambering back up the mud.

Low tide that day was at 0930 though, had it been high tide I would've instantly thought she'd been carried far along, potentially right out to sea. It does flow fast and sometimes (not that day) bursts it's banks. It's a long way along the river to the estuary at Fleetwood due to the meandering nature of the Wyre. That morning you'd have easily been able to stand at that point. Assuming no cold water shock of course.

People do drown in the waterways here, it's not uncommon. A man died just down at Glasson Dock not so long back. There is a man missing from Lancaster who was last seen on the riverbank in December. A man went missing further north in Cumbria and his dog was by the tidal river. I'm not sure if they ever found him.

I'm not surprised at the fast response from the emergency services. We're used to dealing with people in water and the nature of the tides around this part of the coast mean it's time critical if you suspect someone is in the water.

"There must be more to this. There is no way I would go missing tomorrow and police showing up and it being on national news in a few hours."

Walk into Morecambe bay and leave your belongings and dog on the beach and I guarantee you'll get a search team minutes after your belongings are discovered.

I have to disagree, depending on circumstances. Dog stressed and loose by a river, belongings left by that river…..the police round here would take that seriously.

@ImprobablePuffin totally, in the nicest way possible too as I’m just so desperate for some good news to come out of this but it all just seems such a mystery at the moment. I think sometimes people’s interest in these cases can be misinterpreted as ‘noseyness’ etc. People are interested as it’s so shocking and they desperately want to know the outcome for the person’s sake. They do end up speculating and it’s unfortunate as the family could possibly be on here/social media reading posts but I think people’s hearts are in the right place and they’re just trying to exhaust all possible options of where she might be

@itsnote thank you for the clarification. I wonder when river search was started? Is it a remote spot? It was after 9:00am, presumably walkers around & about? If you shouted you’d be heard? Water about waist deep?

I wonder why they want dashcam footage if they can find it? To see if she was distressed pre river walk?

The witness with fluffy dog, why so keen to find if they think no third party involved. Poss as on that stretch of river path at similar time?

’Keeping an open mind’ say police but not an open mind about third party involvement. Why so confident? Esp if no ‘river’ evidence?

Seems odd to be mid conference call.

Could it simply be a tragic case of reaching for a stick to throw for dog? But if you fell you’d likely shout, unless injured & likely signs of this as you said. So puzzling & perplexing.

Yes it would. It’s national news because it rarely happens. If it does it’s usually local for a day or two, but they’re found before the national press pick it up. There was a similar case I read a couple of years ago where a man’s phone and keys were found on a canal bank. Missing person enquiries were started but he was unfortunately found in the canal by police divers quite quickly.

it’s national news because it’s an unusual case that draws precisely the speculation we see on this thread. The circumstances with the dog wouldn’t normally point to suicide, there’s no evidence she went in the water or was abducted, so it’s caught imaginations of what happened.

missing person cases are usually more straightforward- it’s obvious they’ve intentionally disappeared or jumped into the sea, or fallen foul of a third party. Less to speculate on.

"Could it simply be a tragic case of reaching for a stick to throw for dog?"

It's possible yes but I believe the dog had a ball and thrower thing. It's rocky so banging your head would be possible. Waist deep? I'd say shallower at low tide. Shouting for help? Depends who is around and how your body reacts to sudden cold water.

Could she have decided to disappear? Hopefully. Thrown the ball in the opposite direction and dropped the thrower and simply left? Possible.

That's just the thing isn't it? So many possibilities. I would've expected them to find her at that time of day. The tide would be on its way back in but still relatively low and you just don't know.