Nicola Bulley: Community ‘in shock’ over dog walker’s disappearance – as friends strive to protect daughters
The daughters of Nicola Bulley are asking “where is she and is she coming home?”, a friend of the missing dog walker has told Sky News.
People gathered at St Michael’s Church in Lancashire on Sunday to light candles for the mother-of-two as her family, friends, and search teams continue searching for the 45-year-old mother, who has been missing since 27 January.
Speaking to Sky correspondent Katerina Vittozzi, Jill Peck said: “It’s hard for them, they’ve got all the same emotions as everybody else and they want to see their mum, and they don’t know where she is.”
The church is just a few minutes walk from the primary school where Ms Bulley dropped off her children, aged nine and six, on the morning she went missing.
Ms Bulley walked from her children’s school to a path by the river. Pic: Google
“We’re Nikki’s friends but we’re all a group of mums,” Ms Peck said, “most of our children all attend the same school.”
In an attempt to “keep things as normal as possible for the kiddies,” Ms Peck said pre-planned events, like a school disco on Friday night, have gone ahead, with Ms Bulley’s children attending.
“If something was in the diary, it’s been kept in the diary,” Ms Peck said, “they are aware that something is happening but we’re trying to keep it away from the school.”
“They just desperately want her home and that is all they are asking all the time is ‘where is she and is she coming home?'”
She continued: “And everybody just wants to be able to give an answer, which we can’t do obviously which is probably the most difficult thing.”
The bench where Nicola Bulley’s phone was found, on the banks of the River Wyre
‘They are just a lovely family’
Meanwhile, Reverend Andrew Wilkinson told Sky News’s Midlands correspondent Lisa Dowd that the local community is “in shock” over Ms Bulley’s disappearance, but “hope is what is keeping everyone going” as the search to find her continues.
He said much of the younger community attended church on Sunday, as well as family and friends of Ms Bulley.
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‘This is a tremendous shock to all of us’
The vicar said Ms Bulley’s family “want to try and keep as good a profile as possible”.
“It encourages us all in our searching and all the endeavours that we do here. They are just a lovely family,” he said.
Rev Wilkinson added that the family “thoroughly enjoy the level of support” they have been receiving.
People have lit candles at St Michael’s Church as the search for Ms Bulley continues
“And it is remarkable actually what is being achieved here and the profile that it has,” he said.
“They still are looking for and hoping for that good news.”
Officers believe Ms Bulley, 45, fell into the River Wyre while she was walking her dog.
But her family and friends have claimed there is “no evidence whatsoever” behind the police’s theory.
Police speak to ‘key witness’
Earlier, police said they had spoken to a “key witness” who was seen pushing a pram on Friday 27 January, when Ms Bulley went missing.
The woman was spotted on CCTV walking in the Lancashire village of St Michael’s on Wyre at around 8.22am.
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Retracing Nicola Bulley’s journey
She was again seen walking just under 20 minutes later at 8.41am.
In a statement, Lancashire Police said: “Earlier this evening, as part of our search for Nicola Bulley, we put out an appeal to find a witness in St Michael’s on Wyre.
“We are pleased to say that the woman came forward very quickly and we must stress that she was very much being treated as a witness and was one of many people in St Michael’s on Friday, January 27th.”
Read more:
What were missing dog walker’s movements before she disappeared?
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Officers continue to look for Nicola Bulley
Ms Bulley was last seen walking her dog on a footpath by the River Wyre.
Police are focusing their investigation on a crucial 10-minute window when the mortgage advisor’s movements are unaccounted for between 9.10am and 9.20am.
‘Too soon for condolences’
Friends and family told Sky News correspondent Katerina Vittozzi it was “too soon for condolences”, and say they are not ready to accept the police’s theory that Ms Bulley fell into the river.
They have now set up a community search hub at the village tennis club, where people are invited to take a map of the local area and try to help.
Police officers search for Ms Bulley on the River Wyre, in St Michael’s on Wyre
Read more:
Nicola’s girls are ‘really missing her’, friend reveals
Signs and placards displayed in the streets to find missing mum-of-two
Specialists and divers from HM Coastguard, mountain rescue and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service have been deployed to assist the search, in addition to sniffer dogs, drones, and police helicopters.
A team of detectives has been working to analyse telephone communication, house to house enquiries, CCTV, dashcam footage and other digital enquiries, police said.
Sir Keir Starmer has joined other European leaders in Kyiv to press Russia to agree an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The prime minister is attending the summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It is the first time the leaders of the four countries have travelled to Ukraine at the same time – arriving in the capital by train – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Leaders arrive in Kyiv by train. Pic: PA
It comes after Donald Trump called for “ideally” a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, and warned that if any pause in the fighting is not respected “the US and its partners will impose further sanctions”.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News presenter Samantha Washington the European leaders are “rowing in behind” the US president, who referred to his “European allies” for the first time in this context in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“So this meeting is all about heaping pressure on the Russians to go along with the American proposal,” he said.
“It’s the closest the Europeans and the US have been for about three months on this issue.”
Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron among world leaders in Kyiv. Pic: AP
Trump calls for ceasefire. Pic: Truth Social
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” for at least 30 days starting on Monday.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement.
European leaders show solidarity – but await Trump’s backing
The hope is Russia’s unilateral ceasefire, such as it’s worth, can be extended for a month to give peace a chance.
But ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian sources told Sky News they are still waiting for President Donald Trump to put his full weight behind the idea.
The US leader has said a 30-day ceasefire would be ideal, but has shown no willingness yet for putting pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to agree.
The Russians say a ceasefire can only come after a peace deal can be reached.
European allies are still putting their hopes in a negotiated end to the war despite Moscow’s intransigence and President Trump’s apparent one-sided approach favouring Russia.
Ukrainians would prefer to be given enough economic and military support to secure victory.
But in over three years, despite its massive economic superiority to Russia and its access to more advanced military technology, Europe has not found the political will to give Kyiv the means to win.
Until they do, Vladimir Putin may decide it is still worth pursuing this war despite its massive cost in men and materiel on both sides.
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for a coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
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This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
A special constable has been jailed after taking pictures on his phone from bodycam footage showing a dying man.
Former police volunteer William Heggs, 23, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment at Leicester Crown Court on Friday after showing the photos of victim William Harty, 28, to a female colleague and storing them on his Snapchat account.
Mr Harty was found seriously injured in a residential street in Leicester on 25 October 2021 and Heggs had attended the scene, helping with CPR before paramedics arrived.
Mr Harty died in hospital a day later and the man responsible for his injuries, his brother-in-law Martin Casey, was subsequently convicted of his manslaughter.
Heggs showed the pictures he had taken of bodycam footage of Mr Harty’s body to a Leicestershire Police constable, who reported Heggs and said she did not like seeing blood.
His phone was seized and officers discovered other photographs and video clips of bodyworn footage of incidents Heggs had attended on duty, including of a knife seizure, use of baton and pepper spray, and a man with an injured hand receiving first aid.
He also took pictures of a police computer screen, showing details of crimes and suspects, without consent.
Heggs stored the materials in a Snapchat folder and disclosed graphic details – most of which were not in the public domain – about the injuries to a woman who was killed in a road traffic collision he had attended, to a friend on the social media platform.
Heggs was suspended from the force in November 2021 and resigned in October 2024 before pleading guilty to 11 computer misuse and data protection offences this March.
William Harty’s widow Mandy Casey. Pic: PA
‘He has traumatised me’
Mr Harty’s widow, Mandy Casey, said in a victim impact statement read to the court that Heggs “took (her) husband’s dignity when he was most vulnerable”.
“You don’t take someone’s dignity and pride from them on their deathbed.”
She continued: “When I found out special constable Heggs had done this, I just wanted to ask why. He has traumatised me. I feel I will never know if he showed them to others.”
Ms Casey said she was still scared that photos of her husband’s body might appear on social media.
She added that she had lost trust in the police.
Public trust in police ‘significantly undermined’
Judge Timothy Spencer told Heggs, who has autism and ADHD, that he was “probably too immature to be working as a police officer” as he handed down the sentence.
He said Heggs had received “extensive training”, including on the importance of data protection, and knew he should only share materials for “a genuine policing purpose”.
Heggs’s actions had “significantly undermined” public trust and confidence in police, according to the judge.
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Malcolm McHaffie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: “William Heggs abused the public’s trust in the office he held as a special police constable.
“He violated the dignity of the deceased victims for no apparent reason other than what could be considered personal fascination and to gain credibility among his peers.”
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