Missing Woman Nicola Bulley 7

[LoveMAFS]

The chat appears to have gone quiet today after the last thread filled up, so I'm making a new one for anyone who wants to come together whilst we all hold our breath hoping for a good outcome.

It points to the fact she rushed into the water for some reason and dropped it. Yes there are other remote possibilities eg it was placed there as a decoy but these are very remote possibilities. Have you seen how steep the embankment is? Previously it was thought the harness was on the ground not half way down that sheer embankment.

The person or people who:

• found the dog alone
• found the harness on the ground
• found the mobile phone
• put the phone on the bench
• noticed that it was logged in to a teams call
• tied the dog up with string (that they had in a pocket, or found nearby)
• contacted someone else to deal with it because they had an appointment

must have told the police everything they can remember but they don’t appear to be talking to the press, through choice or advice? So much is speculation from so many varied and confusing reports.

@Oaktree55 Why would Nicola be holding the harness at all?

The police have said they have looked at the cctv and have searched any vacant caravans

@oakleaffy Not really, I think many of us are horrified that these threads continue. It's overstepped the mark, it's wrong on so many levels.

Harness was midway down embankment not just ground. I understand why her friends probably left this detail out as they want all avenues explored but it does rather change balance of probabilities!

It wasn't a tidal area though!

Someone on a previous thread made the reasonable point that maybe the woman who found the dog/phone/harness and didn’t say anything for an hour and a half is embarrassed, and is therefore keeping a low profile.

We can all say now, “Oh, I would have raised the alarm straightaway” but perhaps we wouldn’t because we were in a rush, and I suspect quite a few passers-by wouldn’t be bothered or would be oblivious. I remember the London Bridge attack and a woman was pictured just walking through the whole thing, eyes glued to her phone.

Another weekend, the unyielding march of time, it is just so unfair. My thoughts are always with those little girls.

Harness was midway down embankment not just ground. I understand why her friends probably left this detail out as they want all avenues explored but it does rather change balance of probabilities!

It doesn't change anything at all. There is no evidence that Nicola was ever at the bench. If she was, there would be no reason for her to pick the harness up even if she was going after Willow. The dog was dry when found and could have picked the harness up in her mouth and carried it anywhere in the time before she was found. She was found running between the bench and the gate. It's hardly a 'steep' embankment until the edge and the water at the edge is fairly shallow. That area of the river isn't tidal.

It’s annoying the last thread deleted as I commented on all of this. As a dog owner who knows there’s a weir close by and who treats their dog as their 3rd child (all from interview) it’s likely if said dog (used to swimming in river) appeared in trouble (lots of debris to get caught in) a devoted owner would quite possibly rush in to save said beloved pet (especially if they felt they were a strong swimmer and overestimated capabilities).

Human nature as a pet owner you’d grab harness/lead to secure dog.

Finally I’m not convinced dog hadn’t been in river we’re relying on one witness and said dog would dry fast particularly when agitated.

I agree. The harness being half way down the back makes her falling into the river much more likely than it felt before

ive not really followed latest developments, so catching up

just seen mention of a 'shabby red van'

wonder if thats something.

Who says dog was dry? One witness who at time won’t have been thinking “oooo I’d better notice if this short haired coat is danp”. The dog had been alone for 10/15 mins anyway easily time to appear dry through frantic exercise!

Can someone explain the bit about the harness being down the embankment? I’ve read it was next to the bench. Has that been corrected by someone?

You're speculating based on no evidence whatsoever - you're saying the witness was wrong or lied??

It is possible that she met her death in the river but not by drowning.

The water would be very cold at this time of year. Cold water drowning is a risk, and so is instant catastrophic cardiac arrest.

For the first, lungs would fill and the body would sink. For the second they would not and the body might float (and if at surface perhaps could go over the weir). But if floating, why wasn't she seen on that first afternoon of searching or found by thermal imaging (which they had out early on)?

I forget, did anyone manage to come up with a realistic theory to support "there's no evidence she was ever at the bench"?

How (and why) did the dog get to the bench if Nicola was elsewhere? Where was Nicola while unknown person was leaving her phone, dog and harness at the bench?

Accusing family members is clearly wrong, but I keep checking to see if there is any news, as I also sporadically check on Jonathan Spollen’s disappearance over 10 years ago.

Nicola’s is just so strange that It seems that abduction is much more likely than drowning.

I’m saying all this assertion that Willow had not been in river is based on one person who won’t really have been paying attention anyway. Willow apparently often swam. On the balance of probabilities the fact the harness was half way down embankment (not on path as implied previously) leads a reasonable person to surmise it could well have been dropped by the owner rather than dropped by the dog or a 3rd party.

That’s really odd.

Who says dog was dry? One witness who at time won’t have been thinking “oooo I’d better notice if this short haired coat is danp”. The dog had been alone for 10/15 mins anyway easily time to appear dry through frantic exercise!

Good point. Though, if my dog has been wet you can tell, even when she's dried off, as her fur looks different until it's been brushed.

That's the key question - why wasn't she found and hasn't been found in all subsequent searches if she entered the water at that point.

I presume they've fingerprinted the phone and the harness?

Read this and look at pic of dog. This dogs coat won’t have appeared bedraggled to the eye 10/15 mins after frantic running. I say this from experience. Perhaps damp to the touch but not to they eye definitely.

www.thesun.co.uk/news/21349489/nicola-bulley-paul-ansell-reveals-when-phone-found/