Nicola Bulley latest news: Partner of missing dog walker says family in ‘hell’
Specialist dive company boss looking for missing Nicola Bulley speaks out
Someone in the village must know something about Nicola Bulley’s disappearance, Nicola Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell has claimed.
Speaking to Dan Walker in an interview on Channel 5, Mr Ansell said: “Whatever has happened in my eyes has to be somebody who, who knows the local area, who knows that. And the fact that nothing’s been seen or heard, I just truly believe that it’s something in the village.”
Mr Ansell explained that he and his wife had done the same walk for years. “And you see the same faces every single day, and on the very odd occasion when you see somebody that you know, you, you don’t know, they, they stand out like a sore thumb.”
Mr Ansell also grew emotional as he discussed his wife’s disappearance.
“It is horrendous because you, you people don’t just vanish into thin air. It’s absolutely impossible. So something has happened,”
He went on to beg for the search for his partner to be stepped up.
“My plea now is personally, I want every house, every garage, every out building, the land scrutinised. I want it all searched. I want it all scrutinised, every piece of it. And I’m, you’re not gonna appease me with anything else. That, that is what I want to happen.”
Locals have been standing on by the road in St Michael’s on Wyre, with banners showing Ms Bulley’s face and pleas for help.
“The local community are coming out again today to just raise that profile, trying to jog anybody’s memory, dashcam footage of Garstang Road, which is just outside of the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, just by the bridge that you go over,” said Emma White, a friend of Ms Bulley’s, talking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday.
“It is quite a key part of the village so people would remember going over it. Did they see anything?”
“We’re out with banners, we’ve got placards of Nikki’s face, we’ve got a moving eight-foot LED board with her face on it with the message ‘Bring Nikki home’.”
Ms White added: “It is just a rollercoaster, it is almost like torture — the despair, the unimaginable frustration in the sense that everyone has come together, working so hard: the police, the community, people on the ground.”
“You expect to be rewarded for when you put hard work in, so we just need something, anything, a piece of information that can lead us down a different inquiry.”
Joseph Rachman11 February 2023 10:41
The search is continuing to focus on the River Wyre, working on the theory that Ms Bulley fell in. Lancashire Police are leading the search helped by specialists and divers from HM Coastguard, mountain rescue, and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service. Sniffer dogs, drones, and police helicopters have also been deployed.
However, Ms Bulley’s family continues to question whether she fell into the river. Speaking to the press her broken husband, Paul Ansell, insisted that his “gut instinct” is that she is not in the river.
Joseph Rachman11 February 2023 10:02
Mark Bishop, 64, disappeared without a trace on January 7 2023. He was last seen near an Aldi supermarket in Newark, in Nottinghamshire,
Police believe he may have fallen into the nearby river after crossing over a bridge.
His niece Claire Arbuthnott, who lives in Edinburgh, said: “We are very unhappy because for the past few weeks the police have been saying he’s fallen in the river and that’s all they can tell us.”
She added: “Surely my uncle is just as important as this poor woman. My mother, Mark’s sister, cries pretty much every time we mention his name.”
Joseph Rachman11 February 2023 09:03
Someone in the village must know something about Nicola Bulley’s disappearance claimed Paul Ansell, Nicola Bulley’s partner, in an interview on Channel 5.
Speaking to Channel 5’s Dan Walker Mr Ansell said: “Whatever has happened in my eyes has to be somebody who, who knows the local area, who knows that. And the fact that nothing’s been seen or heard, I just truly believe that it’s something in the village.”
Mr Ansell explained that he and his wife had done the same walk for years. “And you see the same faces every single day, and on the very odd occasion when you see somebody that you know, you, you don’t know, they, they stand out like a sore thumb.”
Mr Ansell also grew emotional as he discussed his wife’s disappearance.
“It is horrendous because you, you people don’t just vanish into thin air. It’s absolutely impossible. So something has happened,”
He went on to beg for the search for his partner to be stepped up.
“My plea now is personally, I want every house, every garage, every out building, the land scrutinised. I want it all searched. I want it all scrutinised, every piece of it. And I’m, you’re not gonna appease me with anything else. That, that is what I want to happen.”
Joseph Rachman11 February 2023 08:13
A total of nine woman are still registered as missing by the police. The oldest case is of Fatima Mohamed-Ali, 52-years-old, who disappeared without a trace seven years ago on 12 February 2016.
She left her home shortly after her husband left the house for work and was last seen on CCTV at around 7.58am that morning. She did not take any personal belongings with her such as a handbag, money or keys.
Sussex Police had searched woodland areas and rivers in Newhaven and the surrounding area as part of the investigation.
Joseph Rachman11 February 2023 07:56
Reminder of the timeline of her disappearance
8.26am- Nicola leaves her home address with her children
8.40am- Nicola drops the children off at school and has a brief conversation with another parent.
8.43am – Nicola walked along the path by the River Wyre towards the gate/bench into the lower field, having dropped her children off at school
8:47am (approximately) – A dog-walker – somebody who knows Nicola – saw her walking around the lower field with her dog. Their two dogs interacted briefly before the witness left the field via the river path
8.53am – She sent an email to her boss
8.59 am- She sent message to a friend
9.01am – She logged into a Teams call
9.10am (approximately) – A witness – somebody who knows Nicola – saw her on the upper field walking her dog, Willow. Work is ongoing today to establish exactly what time this was.
9.20- Her phone was back in the area of the bench
9.30am – The Teams call ended but Nicola stayed logged on
9.33am (approximately) – Nicola’s mobile phone and Willow were found at a bench by the river by another dog-walker.
Friends of Nicola Bulley hold appeal posters along the main road in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre (Owen Humphreys/PA)
(PA Wire)
Sam Rkaina11 February 2023 07:00
‘So-called experts and ill informed speculation’
Police investigators also criticised ‘speculation and conspiracy theories’ that the case has attracted.
“Our priority throughout this investigation has been on finding Nicola and providing answers for her family,” the spokeperson said. “They continue to be supported and regularly updated by specially trained officers.
“Unfortunately, we continue to see groundless and hurtful abuse of innocent people, including witnesses and local businesses, which is totally unacceptable
“We also continue to see a huge amount of commentary from so-called experts, ill-informed speculation and conspiracy theories which is damaging to the investigation, the community of St Michael’s and, worst of all, to Nicola’s family. It must stop.”
Sam Rkaina11 February 2023 06:01
Police downplay significance of ‘red van’
Lancashire Police said: “We are aware of reports in the media about a red van being reported to us.
“We would like to stress that while this has been reported to us and we are making efforts to identify the owner at this time there is nothing to suggest this was anything other than one of many hundreds of vehicles in the area that morning.
“The inquiry team are working through hundreds of pieces of information and reports such as this in the media can distract them from genuine enquiries.”
Sam Rkaina11 February 2023 05:03
Force insists – again – there is nothing to suggest third party involvement
“Throughout this investigation we have been keeping an open mind about what might have happened to Nicola, and we continue to look at all the potential scenarios to eliminate them,” the police statement continued. “We are reviewing our decisions regularly.
“Based on all the work we have done up to now our belief remains that Nicola may have fallen into the river for some reason, but we are continuing to investigate all possible leads, and this involves viewing CCTV, Dashcam footage and speaking to people who are providing us with information.
“It remains the case that at the present time there is absolutely nothing in all the extensive enquiries we have made that suggests anything untoward has happened or that there is any third-party involvement in Nicola’s disappearance, but the investigation is ongoing.”
The police Search and Rescue team on the river bank near to Shard Bridge on the River Wyre in Lancashire (PA)
(PA Wire)
Sam Rkaina11 February 2023 04:02
Police explain ‘less activity’ on river
Lancashire Police issued a lengthy new statement on the ongoing search on Friday night.
It stated: “It’s now exactly two weeks since Nicola Bulley went missing and our search for the mum-of two is continuing.
“Specialist resources including underwater search teams, drones, mounted and the police helicopter will be out today as we comb the River Wyre and down and out into the sea.
“People may have seen less police activity in the last day or two than previously around the river above the weir at St Michael’s but that is not because we have stepped down our searches, it is because the focus of the search has moved further downstream into the area of the river which becomes tidal and then out towards the coast.”
Sam Rkaina11 February 2023 03:03