Nicola Bulley: Police believe missing dog walker fell into river as investigation focuses on 10-minute window
Police investigating the disappearance of a mother-of-two say they believe she “sadly” fell into a river as they focus on a 10-minute window when she went missing a week ago.
Nicola Bulley, 45, vanished in Lancashire while out walking her dog last Friday morning after dropping off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school.
The mortgage adviser, from Inskip, was last seen at about 9.10am on a path by the River Wyre in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre.
Latest updates from police news conference
The 10-minute window that officers are focusing on is from 9.10am to 9.20am as they cannot account for her movements during that time.
Police believe she did not leave the riverside area – after they viewed dashcam, CCTV, and doorbell footage – and say their “main working hypothesis” is that she fell into the water.
Her phone was thought to be on the bench at 9.20am and was found by a witness at around 9.33am still connected to a work Teams call which ended at 9.30am.
Police have speculated that Nicola Bulley had an issue with her dog, Willow
The same witness also found Ms Bulley’s springer spaniel, called Willow, running loose between a nearby gate to the field and the bench at 9.33am, while the dog’s harness was on the grass, between the bench and the river’s edge.
Officers believe “there’s no third-party or criminal involvement” and that it was “a tragic case of a missing person”.
There has been an extensive search of the area, along the River Wyre and 15km (nine miles) to the sea, in an operation which has included specialist dogs, drones, a police helicopter and divers.
Read more:
A timeline of Ms Bulley’s movements in the hour before she vanished
Nicola’s partner ‘staying as strong as he can’
Missing woman’s friends hope for ‘lightbulb moment’
Police look for Ms Bulley’s clothing as part of search
Speaking at a news conference, Superintendent Sally Riley gave an update on what Ms Bulley was wearing when she disappeared, including an ankle-length black quilted gilet jacket, and a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat, which was worn underneath.
She said officers were trying to trace her clothing and accessories and urged people to look out for the items.
Along with the coat and gilet, Ms Riley said Ms Bulley was also wearing tight-fitting black jeans, long green walking socks tucked into her jeans, ankle-length green Next wellies, a necklace and a pale blue Fitbit.
She said: “It’s really important that the public pay heed to those very specific clothing descriptions please, because factual sightings of those items would be very useful to us.”
Possible issue with the dog?
Ms Riley also said there may have been an “issue with the dog that led her to the water’s edge, she puts her phone down to go and deal with the dog momentarily, and Nicola may have fallen in”.
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‘I don’t know how I am coping’
“The dog was dry” and Ms Bulley can swim, the senior officer added.
Forensic search and rescue expert Peter Faulding told Sky News: “Normally, if someone would trip, they would have their phone in their hand.
“The dog was found dry, so it clearly didn’t go in the river, and that’s what gets my suspicion about this case.”
The search is continuing, with Ms Bulley’s friends retracing her route earlier on Friday.
Her partner, Paul Ansell, has said he will “never lose hope”.
He also said he kept playing “every scenario” in his head “around and around” and that his focus was on supporting their two young daughters.
Mr Ansell said: “I don’t know how I am coping. I don’t want to think about that. I am just focused on the girls.”
He went on: “We’re never, ever going to lose hope, of course we’re not, but it is as though she has vanished into thin air.”
UK
‘A catastrophic scandal’: Inside the tower block so dangerous residents face being kicked out at any moment
The moment we step into Willow Rise, the smell of damp is overpowering.
There are water stains across the carpet and rotten wood on the doors.
Around the corner, there’s a hole in the wall, barely patched up with a piece of polystyrene sheet.
We’re meeting a resident on the 13th floor of the building in Kirkby, Merseyside – but the lifts are broken and wires hang out of the service panel.
Like everyone living here, we will have to walk.
The disrepair in this block is everywhere you look.
Damp staining and ceiling damage around the block
It has now been deemed so unsafe by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service that they are days away from serving a rare prohibition notice on this tower and its neighbour, Beech Rise, meaning residents will have to leave with immediate effect.
In total, 160 households here face instant homelessness.
After climbing 13 flights of stairs, we meet Chris Penfold-Ivany.
‘A catastrophic scandal’
He has terminal cancer, and after chemotherapy and a liver transplant, that climb is now the only way he can get up to his flat.
Chris Penfold-Ivany warns ‘this is another Grenfell in the making’
He tells us it’s making him breathless. He can no longer get his prescriptions delivered, as the drivers won’t come up all the stairs.
“It’s a catastrophic scandal that we have been left like this,” he says.
He has lived in this flat for 15 years and has watched the block slowly begin to fall apart over the last decade.
He tells us that numerous complaints have achieved nothing. “I’m going to say it,” he says, “this is another Grenfell in the making.”
‘Nobody can live like this‘
A few floors down, Arunee Leerasiri opens the door to us, in floods of tears.
The stress of the last few weeks has left her anxious and overwhelmed. There are boxes everywhere, bare hooks on the walls where pictures hung.
She is packing up her life just three years after putting her life savings into buying this flat.
Arunee Leerasiri says she doesn’t even recognise her flat as her home anymore
Her elderly mother has come to visit, but she had to hire removal men already to take her mattress into storage as she couldn’t manage without the lifts.
Tonight, and until they are told they must leave, they will sleep on the floor.
“I can’t eat, I can’t sleep,” she tells us, through tears. “Sometimes, if I’m honest, I can’t even think. This used to be my home, and now I look around and I don’t even recognise it.”
“Nobody can live like this,” she adds.
‘Danger, 415 volts’
Water damage around electrical equipment, including a ‘Danger high voltage’ labelled box
She shows us a video she filmed just a few weeks ago, of one of the electrical risers on the ground floor.
None of us can quite believe what we are seeing – water is pouring through the ceiling, directly on to fuse boxes and electrical wiring.
Arunee takes us down to show us the cupboard. The water has now stopped but there are damp stains all over the floor and around the electrical equipment.
The water pipes and electric boxes are just inches away from one another within the cupboard.
One of the boxes, marked ‘Danger, 415 volts’, is rusted through.
Next to it, there is a notice stuck to a resident’s door telling them a leak has been identified in their flat – and as a leaseholder, they will be responsible for paying to fix it.
“Tell me, how is this safe?” Arunee says. “Why is this building allowed to be open for the public, as a dwelling, with this kind of set-up?”
A hole in a wall patched up with polystyrene
Hidden owners and a plea to the government
Merseyside Fire and Rescue tell us they have been serving enforcement notices on the building managers for years, to no avail.
They have now been told there is no money for the millions of pounds worth of repairs that will be needed to bring the blocks up to a safe standard.
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They have mandated a ‘waking watch’, where teams physically patrol the buildings daily to check for fire risks, without which they will serve the prohibition notice and tell residents they must leave straight away.
Knowsley Council has stepped in to pay for this temporarily – at a cost of £3,000 per day.
Their deputy leader tells us, though, that the money will soon run out.
Willow Rise and Beech Rise Towers in Merseyside have both been condemned by the fire service
Where to go?
With a complex management structure and several owners, managers and agents over the years, the council says it doesn’t even know who is to blame for the disrepair – or who even has the legal responsibility for maintaining the buildings.
It says discussions are ongoing with central government about whether any extra help – or money – can be provided to try to fix the mess.
Right now though, all the residents can do is wait.
With no date to leave and no idea if anything can be done to keep the buildings open, they are spending every day fearing the call to tell them they have to go.
They can only hope there will be somewhere for them if they do.
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf has reversed his decision to quit the party, saying “the mission is too important” and that he “cannot let people down”.
Instead, he said he will return in a new role, heading up an Elon Musk-inspired “UK DOGE” team.
In a statement, he said: “Over the last 24 hours I have received a huge number of lovely and heartfelt messages from people who have expressed their dismay at my resignation, urging me to reconsider.”
He added: “I know the mission is too important and I cannot let people down.
“So, I will be continuing my work with Reform, my commitment redoubled.”
Mr Yusuf said he would be returning in a new role, seemingly focusing on cuts and efficiency within government.
He said he would “fight for taxpayers”.
Only two days prior, Mr Yusuf dramatically handed in his resignation.
He claimed he no longer thought getting a Reform government elected was a “good use of my time” – but has now seemingly changed his mind.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage welcomed the news of Mr Yusuf’s return.
He said: “I am delighted that Zia Yusuf will head up Reform UK’s DOGE department.”
Nigel Farage welcomed Zia Yusuf’s return. File pic: PA
Read more:
Why did Zia Yusuf resign as chairman of Reform UK?
Reform’s rise forces rethink for SNP
‘Farage could become PM’
Mr Yusuf’s initial decision to quit came after he publicly distanced himself from the party’s new MP, Sarah Pochin, when she asked Sir Keir Starmer about banning the burka at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Reform said a ban was not party policy – and the chairman called it a “dumb” thing to ask.
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What is DOGE?
DOGE is a meme-coin inspired creation of Musk’s, standing for the Department of Government Efficiency.
It is the latest right-wing US import into British politics.
Before his public fallout with Donald Trump, the tech billionaire said his focus was saving taxpayers’ money by locating wasteful spending within government and cutting it.
Read more: How Elon Musk’s mission to cut government spending fell flat
However, opposition politicians questioned the impact of his efforts and how much he actually saved.
Musk initially had ambitions to slash government spending by $2trn (£1.5trn) – but this was dramatically reduced to $1trn (£750bn) and then to just $150bn (£111bn).
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