Nicola Bulley: Search continues in Morecambe Bay following latest police conference

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson said at a police press conference today (Wednesday): “We have had specialist searchers from the police and a range of other agencies including police divers, drones, police dogs, the police helicopter and we continue to search out into the sea.

"The River Wyre is tidal and flows out into the estuary at Cockerham Sands.

"This week the search effort is continuing which will be water and land based but there will be a point where I need to review that.

"There is no evidence that suggests any crime or any third party involvement. The investigation is ongoing.”

Nicola Bulley was listed as a "high risk" missing person due to a "number of specific vulnerabilities", detectives say reported Sky News.

Speaking at a news briefing today (Wednesday), Rebecca Smith, Lancashire Police detective superintendent, said "that is normal for a missing person with the information we were in possession of".

She said they were made aware of these vulnerabilities after speaking to Nicola's partner, Paul Ansell.

When asked for about what those vulnerabilities were, detective superintendent Smith refused refused to say.

Continuing she said it is still the police's "main working hypothesis" that Nicola Bulley fell into the River Wyre before going missing, adding that detectives are keeping an open mind on the mother-of-two's disappearance.

There remains "no evidence of a criminal aspect or third party involvement", said Peter Lawson, Lancashire Police assistant chief constable.

He added that detectives are looking through hundreds of hours of CCTV and dashcam footage, saying the scale of the probe into the disappearance is "unprecedented".

Ms Bulley, 45, was last seen on Friday January 27 while walking her dog Willow on a footpath by the River Wyre.

As part of the investigation, police have spoken to a number of witnesses who saw Ms Bulley before she disappeared.

Around a week and a half after she was last seen police said they were looking at 500 pieces of "active information" in the search.

Officers say they have been keeping an open mind but are working on the theory she fell into the River Wyre.

They focused their investigation on a crucial 10-minute window when her movements are unaccounted for - from 9.10am to 9.20am.

However, her partner Paul Ansell doubts the wisdom of focusing on the river search and said: "Personally, I am 100% convinced it's not the river, that's my opinion."

Mr Ansell believes "something happened" on the day of his partner's disappearance.

He told 5 News two weeks after the day she vanished: "There has to be a way to find out what happened, there has to be. You cannot... you cannot walk your dog down a river and just vanish into thin air."

Police and an independent underwater rescue team have been unable to locate the mortgage adviser as her family have been experiencing "unprecedented hell" while they wait for answers.

The river, which winds through the countryside on the edge of St Michael's on Wyre, has been described as "notoriously dangerous" at this time of year by a representative of St Michael's Angling Association.

"The combination of the depth and how cold it is at this time of year makes it very dangerous," the representative told The Times.

A sign on a tree near the bench where Ms Bulley's phone was found reads: "Danger, deep water."

Big rocks can be seen jutting out of the river, which appears calm at the sharp drop below the bench where Ms Bulley's phone was found.

Superintendent Sally Riley told reporters after Ms Bulley went missing: "At the point where the bench is located, there is quite a steep drop to the river, albeit not high. It is steep.

"Therefore, while I don't want to speculate as to what may have happened, it is our working hypothesis that she has entered the water accidentally."

She continued: "Anything could have happened with the dog whereby Nicola may have gone - and I don't wish to speculate, we don't know - but it is possible the dog was loose and off the lead and that there may have been an issue with the dog that led her to go near to the water's edge.

"She puts the phone down momentarily and Nicola may have fallen in. That is a possibility," Supt Riley added.