Lancashire Police cordon off riverside where missing mum Nicola Bulley was last seen

Police today cordoned off the scene where missing mum Nicola Bulley’s phone was found as their search enters its seventh day.
By Matthew Calderbank
Published 2nd Feb 2023, 14:58 BST
Updated 2nd Feb 2023, 15:07 BST
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Officers have taped off a footpath leading to the riverside bench where the 45-year-old’s phone was discovered and where her Springer Spaniel dog was found alone and loose last Friday (January 27).

Police divers are concentrating their search efforts on the stretch of river close to the bench – see our video above – but have yet to find any evidence to suggest she might have entered the water.

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Today (Thursday, February 2), police divers disappeared under the water, making sweeps of the river as more officers with underwater search equipment arrived.

Officers have taped off a footpath leading to the riverside bench where the 45-year-old’s phone was discovered and where her Springer Spaniel dog was found alone and loose last Friday (January 27)Officers have taped off a footpath leading to the riverside bench where the 45-year-old’s phone was discovered and where her Springer Spaniel dog was found alone and loose last Friday (January 27)
Officers have taped off a footpath leading to the riverside bench where the 45-year-old’s phone was discovered and where her Springer Spaniel dog was found alone and loose last Friday (January 27)

Before they arrived, flowers were found left on the bench with a hand-written message: “My thoughts and prayers go out to your family and Willow. Love a fellow dog walker.”

Sniffer dogs, drones and a police helicopter have also been used to search the river, which cuts through farmland.

You can see the latest pictures from the scene here.

Police are also appealing for a second potential witness, a woman in a red coat, who they believe was in the area at the time Nicola was last seen.

Flowers were found left on the bench where Nicola's phone was found, with a hand-written message: “My thoughts and prayers go out to your family and Willow. Love a fellow dog walker.”Flowers were found left on the bench where Nicola's phone was found, with a hand-written message: “My thoughts and prayers go out to your family and Willow. Love a fellow dog walker.”
Flowers were found left on the bench where Nicola's phone was found, with a hand-written message: “My thoughts and prayers go out to your family and Willow. Love a fellow dog walker.”
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You can read the new police appeal – which includes a CCTV picture of the woman – in our report here.

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Police confirm timeline of Nicola’s last moments

At 8.43am – Nicola walked along the path by the River Wyre with her dog Willow, after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at the village school.

Police divers are concentrating their search efforts on the stretch of river close to the bench – see our video above – but have yet to find any evidence to suggest she might have entered the water.Police divers are concentrating their search efforts on the stretch of river close to the bench – see our video above – but have yet to find any evidence to suggest she might have entered the water.
Police divers are concentrating their search efforts on the stretch of river close to the bench – see our video above – but have yet to find any evidence to suggest she might have entered the water.

At around 8:50am (approximately) - A dog-walker – somebody who knows Nicola – saw her walking around the lower field with her dog. Their two dogs interacted briefly before the witness left the field via the river path.

She then sent an email to her boss at 8.53am before she was seen again at around 9.10am, when somebody who knows Nicola saw her on the upper field with her Willow.

She has not been seen or heard from since.

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At around 9.35am, Willow was found near the bench by the river by another dog walker, along with Nicola’s phone, which was still connected to a work's conference call.

Nicola is white, 5ft 3ins tall, with light brown shoulder-length hair and speaks with an Essex accent.

She was last seen wearing a long black gilet jacket with a hood, black jeans and olive-green ankle wellies. Her hair was tied into a ponytail.

Anybody who has seen Nicola, or has information about where she might be, is asked to call 101, quoting log 565 of January 30. For immediate sightings call 999.