Nicola Bulley: Partner 'distraught' as divers join search

Missing Nicola Bulley's partner has told how he is "extremely distraught" as a private diving team joined the search to find her.

The 45-year-old was last seen on a riverside dog walk in St Michael's on Wyre in Lancashire 10 days ago.

Police believe Ms Bulley may have fallen into the River Wyre.

Divers are scouring the water and a search continues involving mountain rescue, sniffer dogs and helicopters, but no trace of her has been found.

A team of divers from the private Specialist Group International (SGI) are now assisting with the search.

The firm's founder Peter Faulding said he had spoken to Ms Bulley's partner Paul Ansell earlier.

The forensics expert said: "I mean, Paul's extremely distraught. I've just spoken to him just now where we're staying.

"And you know, my thoughts go out to the family and friends. It's a very difficult time.

"I'm used to dealing with, you know, families of drowning victims.

"It's a horrible thing to be going through not knowing where your loved one is."

He continued: "If Nicola is here, I'm happy we will find her. If she's in the river."

He said his specialist equipment, a high-tech sonar which will scan the riverbed, has a "very high hit rate".

"If we can't find her in the next three or four days in this river, if she's not here, then I'm confident that she's not in this stretch of river. I'd be very confident of that," he said.

"We are going to be working our hardest. We'll probably be working under darkness tonight for a while and that's my intention to help the family."

Police said SGI's offer to assist in the search was "taken up after speaking with Nicola's family", adding: "We continue to lead an extensive and far-reaching multi-agency search using a wide range of specialist equipment and resources."

Family friend Emma White told BBC Breakfast she hoped the specialist team would be able to bring "answers".

She said: "Following the theory or hypothesis of the police that Nicola is in the river, we need some evidence to back that up either way."

Ms White said the family have been disregarding speculation and have focused on the many "acts of kindness" people have shown.

She added: "At the end of the day we have two little girls out there who have lost their mummy.

"Whatever people are saying or the speculation, our end goal is to bring Nikki back and bring mummy home."

On Sunday, the first images of the mother-of-two on the day she went missing were shared with the BBC by one of her friends.

Doorbell footage shows her loading her car outside her home on 27 January before driving her two children to school and going for a riverside walk.

She is seen on CCTV wearing a long dark coat, leggings and ankle boots with her hair tied in a ponytail.

Ms Bulley was last seen by another dog walker at about 09:10 GMT.

She had logged on to a work call beforehand.

Her dog and phone - still connected to the Teams call - were found at a riverside bench about 25 minutes later.

Supt Sally Riley said officers were "as sure as we can be that Nicola has not left the area where she was last seen and that very sadly for some reason she has fallen into the water".

She said there was no evidence of "anything untoward" happening to her or any third-party involvement.

Detectives said they were open to new information and criticised the online abuse of people who had been helping their inquiry, declaring it "totally unacceptable".

Ms Bulley's disappearance has drawn a lot of attention on social media with thousands of people commenting on the ongoing search, many sending support to the family and wishing her home safely.

But some people have been speculating about what might have happened by discussing the family's finances and relationships.

Ms Bulley's friend Heather Gibbons said "vile" theories being shared online were hurtful.

Supt Riley told The Sunday Times officers had found "no evidence of a slip or fall" near the bench where Nicola's mobile phone was found but said falling from a sheer riverbank may leave no trace.

Another of Ms Bulley's friends, Luke Sumner, said family and friends were "clinging to any sort of hope".

He added: "If it is a case of her being in the river, then chances of survival are probably very slim. But we have no evidence to say that she has gone into the river."

Speaking in Parliament earlier, Blackpool North and Cleveleys MP Paul Maynard criticised people for turning up at the scene and "hampering" the investigation.

Their presence, and the ongoing speculation, was "causing inordinate distress to Nicola's family", he said.

Home Office minister Chris Philp agreed, adding: "If anyone has any information at all, however minor or innocuous it may seem to them, please do come forward and share it with the local police."

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