Police have retrieved a body in the hunt for Nicola Bulley, a mom-of-two who went missing while walking her dog almost three weeks ago.
CNN reported that Lancashire Police recovered a body from River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road, after receiving a call. However, no formal identification has been made yet.
“We were called today at 11:36am to reports of a body in the River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road,” the Police said.
“An underwater search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, entered the water, and have sadly recovered a body.”
“Nicola’s family have been informed of developments, and our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times. We ask that their privacy is respected.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman wrote on her official Twitter account that the latest developments in Nicola’s case are extremely heartbreaking and distressing.
“These are heart-breaking and distressing developments. My thoughts remain with Nicola’s family at this extremely difficult time.”
The 45-year-old mum, who worked as a mortgage advisor, went missing on Friday, January 27, while she was walking her dog after dropping her two daughters, aged six and nine, off at school.
“A short while later, her dog was found wandering alone and her phone spotted on a bench next to the river, still logged into a group work call. But for three weeks, the search launched by Lancashire Police for the 45-year-old mother of two drew a blank,” per CNN.
“The case baffled the public and attracted widespread media attention, with police also – unusually – choosing to reveal that Bulley had been struggling with alcohol issues and menopause at the time of her disappearance.”
Daily Mail reported, “Her phone, still connected to a work call, was found just over 20 minutes later on a bench overlooking the riverbank, with her dog running loose.”
Ever since the news of her missing went viral, people on the internet have been expressing their opinions and apparently created some myths and rumors from their assumptions which, according to the Police, have created “significant distractions in the investigation.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Police Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith.
“Some of it’s been quite shocking and really hurtful to the family. Obviously, we can’t disregard anything, and we’ve reviewed everything that’s come in but of course it has distracted us significantly.”
According to Daily Mail, Ms. Bulley’s husband, Paul Ansell, still hopes that his wife is alive somewhere but missing.
“Her partner Paul Ansell, 44, has maintained hope she is still alive despite officers saying their main working hypothesis remains that Ms. Bulley is in the river.”
According to Nicola’s family, she stopped taking hormone replacement therapy drugs which may have played a role in her disappearance.
“Due to the perimenopause Nikki suffered with significant side effects such as brain fog, restless sleep and was taking HRT to help but this was giving her intense headaches which caused Nikki to stop taking the HRT thinking that may have helped her but only ended up causing this crisis,” the statement read.
“Nikki is such a wonderful daughter, sister, partner, and mother and is missed dearly – we all need you back in our lives.”
The family concluded their statement by saying, “Nikki, we hope you are reading this and know that we love you so much and your girls want a cuddle. We all need you home.”
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Source: CNN – Daily Mail
