Missing Woman Nicola Bulley 4

[ofwarren]

www.lep.co.uk/news/crime/nicola-bulley-day-13-latest-updates-as-search-for-missing-mum-continues-4017066

Lancashire Evening Post has just posted this update.

I’ve no doubt they’ve been working very hard. However if they had run a two-pronged approach from the start - one potentially criminal the other a potential drowning - they would have protected themselves from criticism as well as ensuring that if she didn’t turn up in the river, the forensics were all there.

I agree with this.

The whole river hasn't been searched, they have focussed mainly on where they " think" she fell in . Experts have been wrong and the body could have floated further than they think

Nor about his 'top of the range', really expensive and better than anyone else's £55k sonar.

It is better than anyone else's, that's why they bring him in!

But if the "undisclosed information" that is so compelling that all other avenues have been "discounted" and there is "no expectation of crimanality" in this case, to quote SI Riley from last night, then surely that would at least resign the family to sooner or later the body being recovered.

And anyway, if this information isn't about a criminal investigation, why not just release it and put away all the speculation for good. If they have definitive proof she is in the river, then that will shut everyone up who has been rubbishing them.

“Just my opinion” as you said.

There's a small structure in the videos where a person could hide or be hidden I guess? While planning next steps.

You mean the brick hut thing?
Someone has broken in to that today so there is obviously nothing in it.

So the professional understanding is:

• if she fell in below the bench it is highly unlikely the tide would have taken her away before people started searching for her.
• if she fell in somewhere else the tide might have been strong enough to carry her away but the pinch point is the Weir, beyond which she was unlikely to have been carried
• if she went in beyond the weir all bets are off as she could have been carried out to sea.

Would that be a broadly correct summation of the only available outcomes of her having fallen in the river?

One thing that doesn't seem to have been talked about very much is NB's state of mind before she went missing. Apart from when she was seen laughing and smiling in a field. Perhaps the police were able to rule out third-party involvement, because of something that her partner mentioned to them about her state of mind. Or something she had said. If he knew she was having some kind of crisis or mentally struggling with things, then maybe that's why his first instinct was to call the police as soon as he was informed that someone had seen the dog and her phone.

I'd say that's correct

Thanks @ofwarren, ignore me 😕

What stands out to me is the conviction of PF - he has categorically ruled out the river.

That is massive as he is extremely unlikely to stake his entire career as observed by the whole nation if he had any doubt. He could have just opted to say they had done their best and couldn’t find her.

Even introducing the possibility of a third party is extraordinary. Something or many factors must indicate to him that she isn’t and has never been in the river. It has not been said lightly.

That's my take on it although PF didn't 100% rule out the body going over the weir, but he said it was too shallow really.

Except that her partner also seems baffled, and some of the points made on FB by his friend Tilly Ann show that they believe the land search hasn’t been good enough

Maybe her body has got caught in the tree roots under there.

Why on earth people are trashing Peter Faulding I have no idea.

He offered his services for free after a few days of the police not finding Nicola in the river probably hoping to bring some closure for her family. Why the police didn't immediately accept his offer knowing his expertise and the higher spec equipment he had is not clear. Obviously they then did accept after further days of not finding her. He has done his search, nothing found and it is his opinion that she's not in the river which he is qualified to give as a FORENSIC underwater search team leader.

Obviously he's spoken to the press as they have approached him for his views, being an expert in this field and all, and the nation waiting with bated breath for this mystery to be solved.

I read up on another search his team worked on a few years ago, a young lad, where the river was much deeper and he was found in two days. Thankfully sparing his family more long days of agony before getting him back and being able to start grieving for him. He did that for free too.

I'm sure he wanted to go the same for Nicola's family.

Completely agree. I suspect some of the moaners might be "on the job" so are resenting him.

Yes the brick hut thing next to the bench. Our local park used to have similar and I always felt uneasy passing it as someone could hide inside.

Why? They don't have to shut anyone up, people will always speculate it's human nature. They obviously have reasons to believe that she is in the water and the family I guess will probably have been told as well. Mr diver man has not helped with his theory and contradicting our police who probably know the rivers well as do our rnli.

The river isn’t tidal between the bench and the weir.

PF doesn’t think she would have got as far as the sea because the river is slow where she fell and below the weir it’s quite shallow and rocky in places.

No-one has given an opinion as to whether she would have gone over the weir.

At least now, the police know for certain that she isn't in that stretch of water. He's removed any doubt.
I think he's been incredibly kind.

And yet he's now saying she could have gone out to sea?

PF's opinions about the river appear to directly contradict those put forward by Sally Riley. Opinions of other experts and locals seem to be broadly aligned with PF. The river also has electronic gauges with accessible data on water depth which again seem to support PF's theory.

Peter said its very unlikely she would have gone over the weir. He's said that in a few videos.

His quote isn’t that she’s not in the river it’s that she’s not in that section of the river.