Nicola Bulley update as Lancashire Police answer questions about missing mum's disappearance

Lancashire Police Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson defended his force’s investigation into the case of the missing mum-of-two during a televised press conference at the force’s HQ in Hutton, South Ribble.

Setting out the details of the probe in more detail than police “normally” would, he said the scale of the investigation has been “unprecedented”.

During the 30-minute briefing, it was confirmed that “not one piece of evidence has been found” to suggest a “criminal aspect or third party involvement”.

For the first time, it also was revealed that Nicola’s partner Paul Ansell told police the missing mum had ‘specific vulnerabilities’ which had informed their investigation from the outset.

Senior investigating officer Detective Supt Rebecca Smith said she was unable to elaborate on what those ‘vulnerabilities’ were, describing them as ‘private and personal’.

But she explained: “Those vulnerabilities based our decision-making in terms of grading Nicola as high risk and have continued to form part of my investigation throughout.”

During the press conference, Det Supt Rebecca Smith sought to combat disinformation about Nicola’s disappearance amid growing speculation about what might have happened to her and criticism of the police effort.

She said her “main working hypothesis” remains that the mortgage adviser fell in the river during a 10-minute window between 9.10am and 9.20am that day, but said this theory has not limited the scope of the investigation.

She reiterated that all leads are being thoroughly investigated but the force has yet to find any evidence that a third party was involved.

Asked whether she was confident that Nicola would be found alive, Det Supt Smith said: “I hope with all my heart that we find Nicola Bulley alive more than anything.”

You can watch a repeat of the full press conference in our video player.

What was said at today’s press conference?

Det Supt Smith said: “As soon as she was reported missing, following the information that was provided to the police by her partner Paul, and based on a number of specific vulnerabilities that we were made aware of, Nicola was graded as high-risk.

“That is normal in a missing person investigation with the information we were in possession of. As any senior investigating officer does, you form a number of hypotheses, that is scenarios which are possible from the information to hand.

“Those hypotheses included the one that she possibly could have gone into the river, that there could have been third-party involvement and lastly, that she could have left the area voluntarily.

“At the initial stages based on the information I received, I made it clear that it was my working hypothesis at that time based with all the facts that the main hypothesis I was working on at that time was that Nicola had gone in the river.

“This has been misconstrued in the press and said that that was what I said. I said that was my main working hypothesis at that time, and that remains my main working hypothesis.

"I think it’s clear to see that the amount of effort, hours worked, resources that we’ve put into this investigation that we have always been open-minded.

"Those three hypotheses and scenarios have been continually reviewed, and continue to do so to this day.”

“However, I have to stress this because this has been continually misconstrued, I cannot be 100% certain of that at the minute because we are continuing, it’s a live investigation, and there is always information coming in.

“But we are in the 20th day, we have had a thorough, dedicated, meticulous investigation and there is not one single piece of information that’s come to note that would suggest that Nicola has left those fields.”

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson added: “I would emphasise that it remains the case there is no evidence to indicate a criminal aspect or third party involvement in Nicola’s disappearance.

“However, the officers involved in the investigation are the same experienced specialists and many senior officers who are concerned with the investigation of the most serious and complex crimes.”

‘Specific vulnerabilities’

Det Supt Smith refused to give more details about Nicola’s “individual, specific vulnerabilities” around which police have based their decision-making in terms of treating Nicola as a ‘high risk’ missing person, and not the victim of crime.

She said: “It’s normal in any missing person investigation that you obviously gather as much information at an early stage about the person in question, which is no different and we did that with Paul.

“I’m not going to go into the details of those individual vulnerabilities. I’ve asked you to respect the family, who are going through unimaginable pain and distress at this moment.

“But those vulnerabilities based our decision-making in terms of grading Nicola as high risk and have continued to form part of my investigation throughout.”

The glove

Police also confirmed a glove found near to where Nicola Bulley disappeared does not belong to her.

Detective Supt Rebecca Smith said: “In terms of the glove that has been recovered, you’ll no doubt be aware that TikTokers have been playing their own private detectives and have been in the area.

“A glove has been recovered that is not believed to be relevant to the investigation, it is not Nicola’s but we have got that in our possession.”

Derelict house and red van

She said reports of a red van in the area on the morning of Nicola’s disappearance was not being treated as suspicious and added that a nearby derelict house had been repeatedly searched.

She said: “The derelict house which is across the other side of the river has been searched three times, with the permission of the owner, and Nicola is not in there.

“The red van, we’re really grateful to members of the public for ringing into the inquiry, we wouldn’t have got this far without everyone’s help.

“But it’s also really obvious that we are being inundated with false information, accusations and rumours which is distracting us from our work.”

She said reports of a red van in the area on the morning of Ms Bulley’s disappearance is not being treated as suspicious.

Amateur sleuths and TikTokers

Amateur sleuths and social media video-makers have “distracted significantly” from police efforts to find Nicola, said police.

Det Supt Smith said the investigating team has been “inundated with false information, accusations and rumours” about Nicola disappearance which are “distracting” them.

She was asked if “social media video makers and wannabe detectives have been an annoyance or a hindrance in the enquiry”.

She said: “Yes, it has significantly distracted the investigation. In 29 years’ police service I’ve never seen anything like it.

“Some of it’s been quite shocking and really hurtful to the family.

“Obviously, we can’t disregard anything and we’ve reviewed everything that’s come in but of course it has distracted us significantly.

“But as long as we are prioritising, which we do constantly on the information that’s coming in, that will not distract us from the priority actions that we’ve been completing.”

Where does the investigation go from here?

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson said at some point in the coming weeks the force will need to ‘review’ its approach to the case in terms of the allocation of resources.

He did not specify when this is likely to happen, but said the investigation would inevitably be scaled-down.