New maps reveal vast scale of Nicola Bulley search that’s seen cops hunt in marsh and quiz hundreds of locals
NEW maps reveal the sheer scale of the search for Nicola Bulley – stretching from the village she vanished in, all the way out to sea.
The mum-of-two, 45, disappeared while walking her dog on January 27 in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
As the search for the mortgage advisor enters day-21 on Thursday – Lancashire Police said a massive land search was launched.
It includes St Michael’s and the surrounding area and covers a radius of roughly half-a-mile.
Cops revealed that police search teams were assisted by trained Counter Terrorist Officers who carried out extensive searches in the days after Nicola’s disappearance.
The National Police Air Service helicopter was deployed to the skies above St Michael’s, while firefighters, fire and rescue dogs alongside police canines and drones were rolled out.
Wyreside Farm caravan site and the caravans were searched thoroughly in the land search, with cops on Wednesday praising owners for cooperating with police.
The abandoned house – subject to huge attention by nuisance TikTok detectives – was searched three times with permission by the owners, police added.
The search has also stretched the entire River Wyre, whose banks Nicola, from nearby Inskip, is believed to have vanished on.
An intense search, assisted by Peter Faulding’s Sonar-equipped SGI, around the bench where Nicola’s phone was discovered was also conducted.
Underwater cameras and police divers were involved in this scour and searched down to the weir, which was waded by dive cops.
Below the weir police officers, firefighters and Mountain Rescue carried out surface searches downstream towards Great Eccleston.
Searches, with advice from the Environment Agency and other water and tidal specialists, continued on down river to the mouth supported by a helicopter.
Nicola Bulley cops today revealed:
- Nicola Bulley cops say the missing mum was deemed ‘high risk’ due to ‘vulnerabilities’
- Detectives revealed in a press conference today they are investigating three possible scenarios over her disappearance
- But cops insisted there is still no suggestion of a third party being involved
- Police are now taking over her social media accounts as part of the investigation
- Follow our blog for the latest news
Sonar was used continually down the river as far as Cartford Bridge, where a tidal stretch starts.
From here to the coast, a wide range of lifeboat services and Police Marine Units joined the search.
Volunteer Brits who own their own search dogs linked up with other teams in this area in an all-hands-on-deck effort to find Nicola.
‘HIGH RISK’
Efforts continued across Morecambe Bay, on the Irish Sea, searched “with the same level of intensity” as elsewhere.
Everyone from fisheries to the Coastguard helped here.
Since January 27, police say they have visited 300 premises, spoken to 300 people and received 1500 pieces of information.
They also identified 700 vehicles and received 50 dashcam submissions.
It comes as cops on Wednesday confirmed Nicola was treated as a high risk missing person after being made aware of “vulnerabilities” by her partner Paul Ansell.
And tonight police told how the mum-of-two had “in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol“.
They added this was brought on by her “ongoing struggles with the menopause” and that these struggles had “resurfaced over recent months”.
The issues had led to a police car and health professionals responding to a concern for welfare at the family home in Inskip on January 10.
No one was arrested in relation to the incident, but it is being investigated.
‘UNUSUAL STEP’
Explaining their decision to disclose the information, Police said: “It is an unusual step for us to take to go into this level of detail about someone’s private life.
“But we felt it was important to clarify what we meant when we talked about vulnerabilities to avoid any further speculation or misinterpretation.
“We have explained to Nicola’s family why we have released this further information and we would ask that their privacy is respected at this difficult time.”
Officers said at a press conference on Wednesday they would not be drawn on what these vulnerabilities were but have now released further information.
It comes as cops revealed a path Nicola Bulley could have taken if she had left the field where she was last seen.
Lancashire Police today confirmed their “main working hypothesis” remains that she fell in the river.
But they revealed two other theories for her disappearance – Nicola leaving the area voluntarily and third party involvement.
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said officers are unable to “complete” every step Nicola took as CCTV only covered part of the normal route she made.