The search for missing mother Nicola Bulley has taken a desperate turn as the specialist dive team ends their involvement after an exhausting two days with some speculating that she did not, in fact, fall into the river.
Peter Faulding, who led the search in the River Wyre in Lancashire, England, said his team had done everything possible and would withdraw from the search on Wednesday. The team used sonar equipment to search approximately three miles of the river, but found nothing.
“Wherever I am, I hope the lockdown comes soon,” Faulding told reporters. “The whole family is clearly distraught.”
Bulley, 45, disappeared on January 27 after dropping off her children at school. She was last seen walking her springer spaniel on a riverside path, but her cell phone was found on a nearby bench still connected to a work conference call and her dog was found between the bench and the river.
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Leanne Grace, a close friend of Bulley who now lives in Australia, pleaded with police and the public to consider other angles, as she insisted there was “no evidence” to support the theory that Bulley fell into the river.
“Despite the police hypothesis that Nicola may have fallen into the water, please note that there is no evidence to support this,” Grace wrote on Facebook. “There are still other avenues that have yet to be explored.”
Nicola Bulley has not been seen since she went missing while taking a walk along the River Wyre. (Lancashire Police)
“If anyone has any information, please contact the police immediately,” he continued. “No matter how small or insignificant you think she is hers. Nikki has to be out there for her. Please help her get her home to her family. We love you Nik.”
Police search teams on the River Wyre at St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, as they continue their search for missing woman Nicola Bulley, 45, who was last seen on the morning of Friday January 27, when she was seen walking her dog on a sidewalk. by the nearby River Wyre. Image date: Tuesday February 7, 2023. (Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
Faulding echoed Grace’s sentiment, telling reporters that his “gut feeling” was that Bulley did not fall into the river.
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“Personally, I don’t think she’s in the river, that’s just my gut feeling at the moment,” Faulding told TalkTV on Monday. “After 25 years of doing this type of work, after hundreds of cases, I am really baffled.”
Screen grab taken from PA Video of Paul Ansell, the partner of missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley, visiting the River Wyre in Lancashire on February 8, 2023. (PA Video/PA Images via Getty Images)
“When people drown, they usually sink where they are. We usually find them five to ten meters from where they sank, even after a few days,” he explained.
“This is the most baffling case I have ever worked on. The police have nothing to do.”
Workers at a private underwater search and recovery company, Specialist Group International, including CEO Peter Faulding (top right) in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, use sonar to search for missing woman Nicola Bulley, 45. years old, who was last seen on the morning of Friday, January 27, when she was seen walking her dog along a path next to the nearby River Wyre. Image date: Tuesday February 7, 2023. (Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
Unable to find her after two days, Faulding said he believed a third party was responsible for the disappearance and that her phone was left as a “decoy”, reported The Times UK.
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Police have expanded their investigation after confirming via closed circuit television (CCTV) that Bulley did not leave the field near the river, The Sun reported. Officials have asked drivers or cyclists with dashcam footage to share it, as the field itself lies within a CCTV blind spot.
Workers from a private underwater search and recovery company, Specialist Group International, using 18 kHz side scan sonar in the River Wyre, near St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, as they assist in the search for missing woman Nicola Bulley, 45-year-old, who was last seen on the morning of Friday, January 27, when she was seen walking her dog on a riverside path. Image date: Monday February 6, 2023. (Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
A family friend wrote online that the use of CCTV was the reason police never suspected Bulley’s husband in the case, The Telegraph reported.
Lancashire Police Superintendent Sally Riley told reporters police identified around 700 vehicles passing through the area on the day Bulley went missing.
Workers from Specialist Group International assist in the search along the River Wyre on Feb. 6, 2023. (Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)
“We are in the process of talking to all of those drivers to try to find out if they have any dash cam footage, what they saw that day, or anything else that might be of value to the police investigation,” Riley said.
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The area in which Bulley disappeared has been described by locals as “notoriously dangerous”, with the St. Michael’s Fishing Association telling The Times that “the combination of the depth and the cold that it is at this time of year It makes it very dangerous.”
“I certainly wouldn’t want to fall in there, and I’m a very good swimmer,” said a representative of the group, adding another local added that the banks are “very slippery.”
Fox News Digital’s Ian Leonard contributed to this report.
