'No words right now': Nicola Bulley's family 'heartbroken' after body found amid search for missing mom
INSKIP, LANCASHIRE: Police have found a body in the search for dog walker and mom-of-two Nicola Bulley near the spot where she went missing. The body was discovered in the northern English village of St Michael’s on Wyre river in Lancashire, on Sunday, February 19, 2023, police confirmed. The body has still not been formally identified.
In a statement on social media, Lancashire Police said, "This morning, Sunday, 19 February, you may be aware of police activity around the river near to St Michael's. We want to provide you with an update on that activity. We were called today at 11:36 am 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."
RELATED ARTICLES
Where is Esra Uyrun? Dublin woman weeps for sister who vanished like Nicola Bulley in 2011
"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 on-going. 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 statement by Lancashire Police further read.
'No words right now, just agony'
Bulley, who disappeared on the morning on January 27, worked as a mortgage adviser. She had reportedly dropped her two children off at school and was walking her dog. The dog was later found alone and Bulley's phone was discovered next to the River Wyre. It was still logged into a group work call.
Bulley's family is reportedly "incredibly heartbroken by this significant development," and her partner Paul Ansell told Sky News that there are "no words right now, just agony." "We're all together, we have to be strong," he added.
How was the body found?
Although professionals have been searching the area of the River Wyre since Bulley's disappearance, it was a man and woman, out for a walk, who discovered the unidentified body. They called emergency services after spotting something in an outcrop of trees and undergrowth along the bank. Police soon arrived at the scene. A witness saw the man pointing towards the area and telling a cop, "It was a body. It is down there. It was a body of a woman. There is definitely a body down there."
One of the policemen launched a drone to take a closer look, and a force helicopter was seen on the scene shortly after, the Daily Mail reported. "In many respects, the police have been vindicated. A lot of people online — armchair sleuths — have been suggesting something more nefarious than what happened," Nazir Afzal, former chief crown prosecutor for northwest England, told The Times.
"I'm no expert on underwater search teams. But there was an underwater search team. They said it was very difficult circumstances in which to try and locate the body. The experts know what they are doing. But, clearly, questions will have to be asked about why the body wasn't located earlier. They've already referred themselves to the IOPC. Now the IOPC should be expediting their inquiry. Public confidence has been damaged by what's happened," Nazir added.
An eyewitness described the atmosphere after the discovery of the body and said, "Police cars were flying down the road with the blues and twos going. They cleared the entire road. One of them said to me “You need to get out, there has been a significant discovery.”" Some claimed cops threatened onlookers with arrest if they refused to move.
Search expert Peter Faulding is now being questioned as he was the last person to scour the area on February 6. After his three-day investigation ended, he said, "If Nicola was in the river, I would have found her. She’s not there." After the body was found, he said it would be "totally unfair" to say he gave the family "false hope" if it turned out to be Bulley's.
"A body could lodge in the reads under debris, and you wouldn’t see it on any form of sonar, either the police or our sonar. If a body gets lodged in the reeds it usually gets found by a dog walker, that is normal," he said.