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Nicola Bulley: Dive team pull out as search extended

Police handout Nicola BulleyPolice handout
Nicola Bulley has been missing since 27 January

The search for Nicola Bulley has been extended after a specialist diving team said it had completed its work.

Peter Faulding, from Specialist Group International, said his team were pulling out as the mother-of-two was "categorically not" in the area of river where police believe she fell in.

Ms Bulley, 45, was last seen walking her dog by the river in St Michael's on Wyre in Lancashire 12 days ago.

The search has now been extended as far as Knott End and Morecambe Bay.

Mr Faulding, who was called in by the family to help with the search, said: "We've done very thorough searches all the way down to the weir. Police divers have dived it three times, extremely thoroughly.

"That area is completely negative - there is no sign of Nicola in that area. The main focus will be the police investigation down the river, which leads out to the estuary."

PA Media Search crews on the riverPA Media
The search has focused on a section of the River Wyre

He added: "If Nicola was in that river I would have found her - I guarantee you that - and she's not in that section of the river."

Mr Faulding told the media on Wednesday that he felt his team had "done all they can".

He said he could not understand why Nicola was not found on the first day she went missing, adding: "Wherever she is I hope closure comes soon."

Paul Ansell at the scene
Nicola Bulley's partner was pictured at the scene earlier

Police said they still believed Ms Bulley fell in the river, but remained "fully open-minded to any information that may indicate where Nicola is or what happened to her".

Officers are currently following about 500 lines of inquiry and seeking some 700 motorists seen in the area on 27 January.

Detectives have also analysed data from her Fitbit smart watch, they said.

On Wednesday, Ms Bulley's partner Paul Ansell visited the spot where police believe she fell into the river.

Ms Bulley had dropped her two daughters, aged six and nine, off at school and then gone on her usual dog walk alongside the river on 27 January.

Her phone, still connected to a Teams call for her job as a mortgage adviser, was found on a bench on a steep riverbank overlooking the water, along with the dog lead and harness on the ground.

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