Nicola Bulley search: LIVE updates as search for missing mum who vanished in St Michael's continues

Supt. Sally Riley of Lancashire Police gave an update on the search for Nicola and answered questions from the press yesterday (Tuesday).

If you missed it, you can watch the full press conference below.

It was 45 years ago - to the very day - that 16-year-old Roger Jones vanished in the River Wyre after being catapulted into the water in a motorcycle crash.

The student from Fulwood was swept away in a fast-flowing brook which fed into the Wyre just yards upstream from where Nicola’s mobile phone was found.

His body was not discovered until two months later, washed up on a sandbank at low tide near to Shard Bridge, seven miles from St Michael’s.

And as the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the 45-year-old mother-of-two has been hitting the nation’s headlines, it has brought back harrowing memories for the Jones family who lost the youngest of their three sons on that January night back in 1978.

Read the full story here...

An awkward interview on TV news this morning as independent search expert Peter Faulding is accused of having ‘ulterior motives’ for lending his assitance to the search.

In response to the accusations by ‘keyboard warriors’, Peter told Talk TV: “I suggest they come out and look for dead people under dark murky waters on a freezing cold night and watch them get pulled out of the water.

“That’s my message to them. They are heartless individuals.”

You can watch the full interview in the Talk TV clip below.

Police say there is a “possibility” that Nicola left the area by one path not covered by cameras which is crossed by the main road through the village, and officers are trying to trace dashcam footage from 700 drivers who passed along the road at the time she disappeared, around 9.20am.

Nicola’s partner Paul has today visited the spot where police believe she fell into the River Wyre.

He was accompanied by a police officer and Emma White, a family friend.

He spoke with Peter Faulding, the underwater search expert called in by the family to help with the search.

Mr Faulding appeared to be taking him through aspects of his indepdent search for Nicola, now on its third day.

Police divers have also been conducting searches on sections of the river close to the bench.

Lancashire Police are now extending their search for Nicola out to sea towards Morecambe Bay, 21 miles away.

Superintendent Sally Riley said: “Our search of the river and the river banks extends out to sea particularly the area from Knott End out towards Morecambe.”

It is understood search teams will be sweeping the sea around Morecambe Bay today.

Lancashire Police say they “will not tolerate” people trespassing on land and breaking into empty or derelict property in search for Nicola.

Superintendent Sally Riley, who is leading the search for the missing mum, warned that amatuer sleuths risk being arrested if they break the law.

She said: “We will not tolerate criminal damage or burglary. We will be taking a strong line on that, as you would expect.

“There are some properties along the riverside which are empty or derelict.

“Whilst it may be well intentioned that people think that that could be a line of inquiry, I would ask them to desist from doing that.

“In some cases it may be criminal if they are breaking in and causing damage or committing a burglary.”

She said officers have already searched derelict riverside properties with the permission of owners.

We will be bringing you the latest updates, pictures and videos from the village of St Michael’s as the search for Nicola continues today.

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.