Nicola Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell breaks silence after body found in river where mum-of-two vanished
THE partner of Nicola Bulley has spoken of his “agony” after a body was found near to where the mum-of-two went missing.
In a message to Sky News’ Inzamam Rashid, Paul Ansell said: “No words right now, just agony.”
Mr Rashid previously revealed that Nicola’s family were ‘heartbroken’ by the latest development in the case.
Cops confirmed that they had recovered a body from the River Wyre, Lancashire, less than mile from where Nicola was last seen.
They have so far been unable to determine whether it is the 45-year-old, but a formal identification process in underway.
The death is currently being treated as “unexplained”.
In a statement, Lancashire Police said: “We were called today at 11.36am to reports of a body in the River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road.”
“An underwater search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, entered the water and have sadly recovered a body.
“No formal identification has yet been carried out, so we are unable to say whether this is Nicola Bulley at this time.
“Procedures to identify the body are ongoing. We are currently treating the death as unexplained.
“Nicola’s family have been informed of developments and our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times. We ask that their privacy is respected.”
The tragic discovery comes after police confirmed Nicola was treated as a high risk missing person when she disappeared.
Cops revealed Nicola had “vulnerabilities” at the time she went missing they were made aware of by partner Paul Ansell and her family.
These included “significant issues with alcohol” in the past that were brought on by her “ongoing struggles with the menopause”.
- Cops found a body in the river near where Nicola went missing
- Police confirmed the death was being treated as “unexplained”
- Dive expert Peter Faulding broke his silence to send support to her loved ones
- Mr Faulding insisted he did not give the family “false hope”
- A pal of Nicola’s revealed the hell of keeping the missing mum’s daughters in the dark
- Heartless trolls hacked the social media of Nicola’s partner Paul Ansell
- Read more on Nicola’s disappearance here
Nicola’s struggles had resurfaced over recent months, police confirmed.
A statement added: “This caused some real challenges for Paul and the family.
“As a result of those issues, a response car staffed by both police and health professionals attended a report of concern for welfare at Nicola’s home address on January 10th.
“No one has been arrested in relation to this incident, but it is being investigated.”
Officers have defended their decision to release the personal information after being slammed by MPs and former cops.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has ordered the force to explain why the details were revealed and police have now referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
They released a statement from Nicola’s family begging for the public to “focus on finding her”.
It read: “The police know the truth about Nikki and now the public need to focus on finding her.
“Due to the peri menopause Nikki suffered with significant side effects such as brain fog, restless sleep and was taking HRT to help but this was giving her intense headaches which caused Nikki to stop taking the HRT thinking that may have helped her but only ended up causing this crisis.”
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith reiterated this week that the police’s “main working hypothesis” was that she fell in the river.
But she revealed two other theories for her disappearance – Nicola leaving the area voluntarily and third party involvement.
Officers had moved their search for the mum 20 miles away to the coast after believing Nicola could have been carried out to sea.
Last Friday, Nicola’s partner Paul Ansell told Channel 5’s Dan Walker that “something happened that day” as people do just “vanish into thin air”.
He also spoke of his torment at her disappearance two weeks after she was last seen.
On Vanished: What happened to Nicola Bulley?, Paul said: “It just doesn’t feel real. I feel like I’m in the Truman show.
“Like, I honestly believe I’m going to wake up at any moment…how are we even in this? We are good people.”
Paul also said he feels “anger, loads of frustration, confusion, disbelief, surrealism” as the family goes through “unprecedented hell”.
Officers previously released a timeline of the missing mum’s final movements before she disappeared.