Police say missing Lancashire mum Nicola Bulley may have fallen into the River Wyre and are not treating the investigation as suspicious.

In a press conference given by police on Friday, February 3, Superintendent Sally Riley of Lancashire Police said “their main working hypothesis” is that Nicola, from Inskip, fell into the River Wyre.

Ms Riley currently thinks the case “is not suspicious but a tragic case of a missing person”.

Ms Riley said: “Our main working hypothesis is that Nicola has suddenly fallen into the river, that there’s no third-party or criminal involvement, and that this is not suspicious but a tragic case of a missing person.”

Explaining the logic behind their hypothesis, Ms Riley added: "The inquiry team has undertaken a number of dashcam, CCTV and ring doorbell footage.

"This has allowed us to eliminate any trace so far of Nicola having left the riverside, which is really important.

“We believe Nicola was in the riverside area and remained at the riverside area.

"We remain open to any inquiries that might lead us to question that, but at this time we understand that she was by the river.

“Our main working hypothesis therefore is that Nicola has sadly fallen into the river, that there is no third party or criminal involvement and that this is not suspicious, but a tragic case of a missing person.

“This is particularly important because speculation otherwise can be really distressing for the family and for Nicola’s children.”

She added: “I don’t wish to speculate, in that we don’t know, but it is possible as the dog was loose and off the lead.

“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.

“We assume the dog didn’t get into the river, but we don’t know why Nicola may have if she did.”

Ms Riley added that “the dog was dry” and Ms Bulley can swim.

Police said Nicola, who went missing on Friday (January 27) vanished in a 10-minute window, that cannot be accounted for.

They believe she did not leave the riverside area.

Ms Bulley, 45, a mortgage adviser from Inskip, Lancashire, vanished while walking her dog after dropping off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school.

She was last seen at 9.10am and she had logged on to a work Teams call, which ended at 9.30am with her still logged on.

Her mobile phone and the lead and harness for her dog, springer spaniel Willow, were found on a bench close to the River Wyre in the Lancashire countryside.

At 9.20am police believe her phone was on a bench while connected to a work Teams meeting, which ended 10 minutes later.

Ms Riley said: “We only have a 10-minute window in which we cannot account for Nicola’s movements.”

Ms Riley has also given a list of clothing and accessories police are searching for in connection with missing mother-of-two.

She told the press conference: “I do have an update on the clothing that Nicola was last seen wearing, and this is something that the public who live in the area, or who walk their dogs on the river path near to St Michael’s or downstream of St Michael’s towards Morecambe Bay, can look out for.

“They are an ankle-length black quilted gilet jacket, a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat which was worn underneath the gilet, tight-fitting black jeans, long green walking socks tucked into her jeans, ankle-length green Next wellies, a necklace and a pale blue Fitbit.

“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.”

She also encouraged anyone walking in the area to be careful to avoid falling into the river.

She said: “I would also appeal to the public to keep themselves safe in this inquiry. People going out at night in the darkness could fall into the river and face other hazards.

“Likewise, if they go out in boats on the river, please only do so if you’ve got experience in that.”

Nicola is white, 5ft 3ins tall, with light brown shoulder-length hair. She speaks with an Essex accent. She was last seen wearing a long, ankle length black quilted gilet.

She had a black Vector coat underneath which had long sleeves and came to her waist.

She was wearing tight black jeans and had long green walking socks tucked into her jeans. She was wearing ankle length green wellington boots from Next.

Her hair was tied into a ponytail. She was wearing a necklace and pale blue Fitbit watch.

Ms Riley said: “It’s now a week since Nicola went missing and her disappearance has understandably caused a huge amount of concern and upset in the local community, as well as being an absolutely awful time for her family.

"As a mum I can’t begin to imagine the suffering they are going through. We are supporting them as best we can and keeping them updated on our efforts to try and find Nicola.

“We have done a huge amount of work both in terms of searches of the area as well as extensive enquiries which have been going on behind the scenes and based on that work we are as sure as we can be that Nicola has not left the area where she was last seen and that very sadly for some reason she has fallen into the water.

“There is absolutely nothing to suggest from all the extensive enquiries we have made that anything untoward has happened to her or that there is any third-party involvement in her disappearance.

“This remains a missing person enquiry and we will continue to carry out searches and to do everything we can to find Nicola and provide her family and the community with the answers they desperately need.

“Officers will be in and around the village and anyone with information or concerns should feel free to approach us.”

Police have now confirm the following timings from the morning Nicola was last seen:

  • 8.43am – Nicola walked along the path by the River Wyre, having dropped her children off at school
  • 8:50am (approximately) - A dog-walker – somebody who knows Nicola – saw her walking around the lower field with her dog. Their two dogs interacted briefly before the witness left the field via the river path
  • 8.53am – She sent an email to her boss
  • 9.01am – She logged into a Teams call
  • 9.10am (approximately) – A witness – somebody who knows Nicola – saw her on the upper field walking her dog, Willow. Work is ongoing today to establish exactly what time this was.
  • 9.30am – The Teams call ended but Nicola stayed logged on
  • 9.35am (approximately) – Nicola’s mobile phone and Willow were found at a bench by the river by another dog-walker. 

Anybody who has seen Nicola, or has information about where she might be, is asked to call 101, quoting log 565 of January 30. For immediate sightings please call 999.