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.

"If you're sick of offlead dogs where they are supposed to be on lead (maybe because you have livestock) you might tie one to a bench if it was running about without an owner?"

Indeed.

"I'd immediately report it. No way am I going to tie up a dog I don't know."

You don't think she might've reported it before on one of the many off lead dog walks? You'd just leave it to chase your livestock?

The police are telling us a lot of baseless guesses and sharing lots of assumptions. I wouldn’t expect them to say very much at all - but they have certainly nailed their colours to the mast with their own speculation very very publicly.

Unlike countless MN posts? I am no fam of the police generally, although I also don't have a downer on them either, but I would take their "baseless guesses" which are based on facts (or the absence of facts) on the ground and actual evidence (or lack thereof) than the entirely baseless guesses of a bunch of would-be sleuths who have no facts or evidence at all.

Does anyone genuinely think that if - and IMO, it's a big if - she's been abducted, she's still alive?!

If it were my relative, I take them drowning in a river over an abduction any day of the week.

I said 'the public', not 'people on MN'. And I said 'enjoyment and curiosity '. I wasn't implying any wrongdoing, but nobody has a right to demand information about exactly what steps the police are taking in a current investigation.

You can't deny that some people are loving this and treating it like a TV show though.

Its all speculation - regardless

This point has been made several times, and many posters have chipped in to say that they have/know several spaniels that actually don't like water or getting wet.

My MILs springer hates water especially when it's cold.

"But why didn’t the dog follow her? If she left or was abducted, would the dog stay at the river?!"

Well unless it's a dab hand at opening gates it would have no choice.

Too much emphasis on what the dog would do. They're all different. Accept it. Just because yours/most/some/many dogs act one way, others don't.

I don’t see the problem with the presumably exasperated caravan lady tying up the dog. I’d probs to do the same - there’s no way I’d miss an appointment to play detective. I love my dog and I like to think in the same situation, somebody would do that for my dog is she were alone by a river and clearly no owner nearby.

The police do seem to be on the defensive.

If anything they should be being very transparent about their motives for completely ruling out any third party involvement from the beginning. They were adamant about that, but haven't been able to really say any reason except for that it is what they believe.

People, women especially, do not trust the police at the moment.

They aren't exactly reassuring anyone.

I don’t this is definitely true - but a few posters on these threads have said there are pictures on her social media of the dog swimming

There's no livestock in the area. Chickens are kept indoors now. The upper and lower fields do not have sheep.

"a few posters on these threads have said there are pictures on her social media of the dog swimming"

From a flat beach area, not a fucking leap from a height. And with a ball, that she's not allowed to have anymore. And with her harness on, that she doesn't wear anymore allegedly.

I think that some of the scepticism about the police and their ability to manage this case comes from those of us who can remember the Suzy Lamplugh disappearance, and that of Claudia Lawrence.

With hindsight, the police made a lot of errors.

She does!

I thought the woman who found the dog
and tied it told her daughter who said
” I know who it belongs to” and the woman then went back to get dog, which is how NB husband reported her missing to police so fast….

And also the fact that yesterday's press conference which was intended to take back control after SPI became involved with the case has only served to raise further criticism of the investigation.

hmm, that was with response to “some dogs don’t go into water” - so fairly relevant really

Are these enormous resources being employed purely because of the huge interest or because there is, indeed, undisclosed evidence of foul play or NB having orchestrated her own disappearance? Surely this extensive search in the water, either for recovery or elimination purposes, can't be to provide closure for the family when so many others go missing without this level of searching. Forty detectives, search teams, duvets, outside agencies etc. Is it all to assuage the public outcry? If it hadn't gripped the nation, because so many of us can see ourselves in her, would it have been " tragic accident, case closed "?

This

I know some people find the speculation distasteful, but what I see are scared women who are well aware that all women are vulnerable to violent men (NAMALT obvs) and that whilst we desperately need the police to protect us from this risk, we are also painfully aware that sometimes the police and the violent men are the same blokes.

Yes, her dog liked the water. Presumably that is why she took the harness off for the river walks, as harnesses get soaked.

• divers, not duvets!

People are curious, maybe morbidly so but i have seen no SM jokes about her disappearance (unlike other tragedies) so i don't think anyone is loving this etc.

People want to know the Police are acting properly but publicly going against what the family say they wanted and stating "no one else involved, focus is on the River" is probably not wise or sensible, esp when there is a path not covered by CCTV and the whole area not fully searched.

You can of course leave an area and not use any path.......

I hope she is found safe and well and there is an innocent explanation for all of this.

"There's no livestock in the area. Chickens are kept indoors now. The upper and lower fields do not have sheep."

@placemats there are sheep on the caravan site and I'm not sure how they've dealt with the chickens but the advice is as loose as to keep them under mesh. The issue with dogs roaming onto the site from the field has been a bone of contention for a lot longer than the recent avian flu.

Would it be locked, if it was on a Teams call?

(I don't know, don't have that make phone). Because I'd want to get someone on the way to the dog asap.

Also, I find harness off weird. Yes, good reason to take it off if the dog was thrashing round in undergrowth (less change of getting caught on something) but not for water - because if the dog got into difficulty, it gives you more to grab. As dog was dry though, that suggests he wasn't playing in the water

This is exactly what I asked yesterday - had the police searched further upstream from the point near where she was last seen, near the boundary exit with the site, rather than just from the bench, and it seems not.

They're not covering themselves in glory here.