Nicola Bulley: Friends of missing mother-of-two in ‘last push’ appeal to ‘bring Nikki home’ as search extended to coast
Friends of Nicola Bulley have gathered for a “last push” roadside appeal two weeks on from her disappearance – after police extended the search for the missing mother-of-two to the Lancashire coast.
The 45-year-old went missing while walking her dog in St Michael’s on Wyre on Friday 27 January after dropping her daughters off at school.
Emma White, a friend of Ms Bulley, is among members of the local community on Friday standing roadside in the Lancashire village with banners and placards featuring her photograph, in a plea to “bring Nikki home”.
Nicola Bulley has been missing since Friday 27 January
She told Sky News: “The community has united once again and it’s a real last push to jog people’s memories.
“We just need to bring Nikki home.”
More questions than answers
A fortnight on from Ms Bulley’s disappearance, the small rural village is no longer the same. The police presence in the quaint village has been overwhelming for many who live nearby.
It is the epicentre of a mystery that has captured the nation’s attention but more importantly, it’s the scene of a major police operation to find a mother to two young girls.
Over the last two weeks the community has banded together to try and find any trace of evidence relating to Ms Bulley’s disappearance: Dog walkers, friends, teachers from her daughters’ school – all searching in hope for some answers.
But after 14 days of not knowing what has happened to the mortgage adviser, the case poses more questions than answers.
Ms Bulley’s family are still praying she will come home, safe and well.
Friends of missing Nicola Bulley are holding a roadside appeal to help jog people’s memories
Search moves to the coast
The focus of the police search operation has now shifted from where Ms Bulley vanished to further downstream, towards where the River Wyre empties into the Irish Sea at Morecambe Bay.
Officers have confirmed they are focusing on the mouth of the river, with Lancashire Police suggesting finding Ms Bulley “in the open sea becomes more of a possibility”.
Police search near the Shard Bridge on the River Wyre in Lancashire
Sky News understands specialist diving units have also been deployed to scour parts of the 15km stretch of river from the bench where her phone and dog were found to the bay.
After three days of helping the police search the waterway near to where Ms Bulley was last seen, a team of specialist divers that regularly assist police with underwater searches found no trace of her.
Read more:
Nicola Bulley’s movements before she vanished
Police looking at 500 active pieces of information in search
Images released of Nicola Bulley on day she disappeared
The bench where Nicola Bulley’s phone was found, on the banks of the River Wyre
Peter Faulding of Specialist Group International (SGI), whose team were equipped with a £55,000 side-scan sonar able to pick up objects underwater, told reporters he believes it is “unlikely” she has been swept out to sea.
“My personal view is that I think it is a long way to go in a tidal river,” he said.
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Friends of Nicola Bulley are appealing for dashcam footage
Ms White said the fact that nothing had been found had given her renewed hope.
“To not find a key, welly, hat or jewellery, or a watch or anything – we are clinging on – whether it’s hope… we think she is not in there.”
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Voicenote from Nicola Bulley’s partner
‘We need her back’
Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell has told Sky News the last two weeks have been “a rollercoaster ride”.
He says he is trying to do everything to make life as normal as possible for his two daughters. But increasingly they are asking more and more questions about their mummy and where she is.
In a voice note he sent to Sky News, he spoke of his pain and desperation for answers: “We need her back. We have to find her safe and well. I can’t put those girls to bed again with no answers.”
Lancashire Police have dismissed any suggestion Ms Bulley is a victim of crime and say the scale of the missing person inquiry is “unprecedented”, involving 40 detectives and following 500 lines of inquiry.
Meanwhile, police have been given extra powers to break up groups causing a nuisance in the village following reports of people travelling into the area and filming properties on social media.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Read more:
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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