Missing Woman Nicola Bulley 6

[ofwarren]

These threads are to discuss the disappearance of Nicola Bulley from St Michael's on Wyre.

No speculation without evidence please.

Here are some frequently asked questions, with answers:

1.Where do Nicola and her husband work?

They both work from home which is why he was at home on the day she went missing.

2.Where was the dog harness found / the phone?

Dog harness was found near the river edge not the bench, phone was on on/near the bench.

1. Has the river been searched?

Yes by the police and volunteers from the Specialist Search team

1. Had the dog been in the water, and maybe Ms Bulley went in after her?

Willow appeared distressed but ‘bone dry’, according to the woman who found her. There was no sign of her having gone in the river.

1. Why would she leave her phone on the bench?

Nicola’s phone was found on the bench, still connected to a conference call. So whatever happened, there was no time to end the call or to alert others on the call.

1. Why was she on mute with no video for her business meeting?

This was not unusual, She used to go on work meeting calls with video off and microphone

1. Where was her partner while she was out walking their dog?

He was at home at the time.

1. What about this abandoned house?

Its not abandoned. Its owned by a lovely family who have lived in the village for generations and would do anything they can to help in the search for Nikki.
It has been searched, inside and outside, from top to bottom by the police. This has been clarified with the family themselves and also with the police.
They have never refused entry to the police or told them they need a warrant to search.

1. Did Nicola have a dog ball with her?

No she didn’t she used to but stopped taking a dog ball on walks.

10. Was she swept out to sea?

The police Seargent has said it’s now a possibility Nicola’s body could have drifted out to sea.

11. We’re CCTV cameras working in the area:

The CCTV camera which would have captured everything unfortunately wasn’t working. But the police are actively working to identify 700 motorists travelling in the Garstang Road area on the 27TH of January.

12. Are there any other paths she could have gone down?

Apart from the river, there are only three exits, two of which are covered by CCTV. On her way in, she was seen by several people. No one saw her leave.

That’s hugely unprofessional of that police officer involved in the search to post that.

I think it is also significant that there have no appeals from the family since the early days. "Friends" of the family, yes. Not the family. If they thought she was out there and still alive they would be making direct appeals.

This is true, I guess that is the logical explanation. Is so sad, the poor little girls without their mummy.

Given some cops think it's OK to post pictures of murder victims to their mates on WhatsApp, hardly unsurprising really.

I find it hard to imagine that if it was deliberate then the place to choose would be a shallow meandering river with reasonable amount of walkers that knew her and a water loving dog.

I thought I understood where everything was here. Obviously not.

You're saying they could go through the kissing gate. Then across the field? Which field? Wouldn't they need to cross three fields and the camping field to get back to Rowanwater?

And haven't police said they've now got CCTV that covers entry and exit to Rowanwater?

The police do seem convinced she entered the water. So maybe she decided to end things. I just don't see a attacker messing with a dog that might bark or bite him, or struggling with a unwilling person to take her some where far in case he/she gets caught.

She might have left the phone and dog there. She might have walked miles. Everything is pointing at the moment to her disappearing by choice I'm afraid. Having a family wouldn't stop someone if they are in a bad place.

Yes it is does seem strange that the family have not been seen since, but on the otherhand her poor sister was subjected to some ludicrous and outrageous speculation on social media after their first interview. It must have been very upsetting and hurtful and I can understand why she wouldn't want to do it again, especially if there are close friends who are willing to speak for them.

Surely being in the river isn't the only place she could be if she didn't leave the area.
There are 2 caravan parks there and at least one residential estate.
The police say they have search 'empty' caravans and houses.
How do they know for certain that she wasn't taken on to Wyresdale, Rowanwater or The Oaks?
Is cctv thoroughly covering those areas? If it was, why did they feel the need to search the empty caravans?

She may well have left the area, but still can’t think of a reason why her dog wouldn’t follow without being restrained.

But its deeper in the middle so she would have to walk out because falling in its shallow. Or did she jump off the bridge or some thing. I cannot get my head round ppl that do that either but ppl do.

If the police do suspect this was deliberate and are looking for Nicola’s body, would they still have so many resources working on the case?

If they do suspect suicide is the most likely explanation, would they have 40 detectives working on the case? Genuine question, I don’t know how it works.

When this happens, as it does frequently locally to me ( someone goes missing who is suspected of being a suicide risk) then the police statement is quite different, as suicidal people can hide, or walk for miles, and finding them is crucial. My DH takes part in these searches regularly. One search went on for days but the man wasn’t found. The likely scenario was that he had taken his life in a remote place. Thankfully he did return home though, weeks later. So in the absence of a body, you can’t rule out the person still being alive, and then finding them in time before they might hurt themselves is the focus. The police statements normally reflect the fact that they are looking for someone vulnerable and need to find them. That is not the sort of statement they have given out here, so I would be very surprised if they thought she was at risk of suicide. (Apart from the normal level of risk with any missing person who may have been hiding their feelings from loved ones, something sadly common in men in particular).

But they do have to have officers checking other things that the public is not told.

They have to rule out foul play

So basically what is known that at approx 9.33am Willow the dog was found as was a phone. This information was passed on approximately 45 minutes later and then passed onto the school. The school rang Nicola's partner Paul who immediately alerted the police. I can understand why he did that.

Nicola left the house at 8.30am to take the children to school and also took the dog for a morning walk. If my partner hadn't returned sooner, I'd be worried and maybe texting, although if working from home might lose sight of the time.

It's a long time from her last sighting to when the police turned up and the lack of absence of other walkers in the area.

They might be looking for alternatives, such as walking off somewhere, rather than going in the river. The evidence for the river is getting weaker with every passing day

Unprofessional thing to be doing.

However, saying she may not be in there does indicate a less than convinced belief that she is. Which aligns more with Peter F than this officer's own force.

But its been 14 days if she has made it further out to sea it could be months.

there was something similar to NBs case on unsolved mysterious , a university student just got up and walked out of a party and has never been seen again, last sighting was near lake walking so casually ,
as it was winter they said if he fell in the water the body will show up later, nothing was ever found
I find such cases so scary ,How could someone just disappear with no Trace ,

They would surely at least have to tell them she was alive/safe?

I wonder how long Nicola's walk usually took her? If she works from home, was PA not expecting her back at a roundabout time? Would she normally have been on the way back towards the bench or even her car by 9.30am?

It seems that the more information I read, the more questions it poses. Obviously the police have probably asked all these in private and it's amounts to nothing but still makes me wonder.

And how about the statement the phone back to the bench at 09.20? I dont understand this part.. How can they know about it? Like is it by the sighting of NB back to the bench, someone put the phone back to the bench, or by movement tracking on the phone or how?

They used the mobile phone information to determine the phone was in the vicinity of the bench at 9.20