WHAT HAPPENED?
Nicola Bulley’s pal rejects police’s tennis ball theory as sister says there’s ‘no evidence’ missing mum fell in river
NICOLA Bulley's pal has today rejected the police's theory that the missing mum could have fallen into an icy river trying to retrieve her dog's ball.
Emma White said there is "no evidence" the mum-of-two plunged into the Lancashire river while walking dog Willow.
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It comes after cops working tirelessly to find Nicola yesterday revealed their "main working hypothesis" was that she had "sadly fallen into" the River Wyre.
Police explained they thought the mum may have plunged in while trying to retrieve her dog's tennis ball.
They said that if Nicola did fall into the water, she may have been weighed down by the "heavy" clothing she was wearing.
But the 45-year-old's pal Emma White has rejected that theory.
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Speaking this morning, Emma said Nicola no longer took a tennis ball on her walks with Willow because the pooch would "pester" her for the toy.
The pal told : "Willow used to love a tennis ball very much but it used to disturb their walks so they haven’t had a tennis ball since way into last year.
"Obviously she loved the tennis ball so she’d always be by you, pestering you for the ball - but it wasn’t a nice walk when the dog’s pestering - so there was definitely no ball."
Emma also said there was no evidence backing up the cops' theory that Nicola has fallen into the river as it was based on "limited information".
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She added: "When we’re talking about a life we can’t base it on a hypothesis - surely we need this factual evidence.
"That’s what the family and us are all holding onto - that we’re actually no further on the sadly last Friday.
"We still have no evidence and that’s why we’re out again in force."
Emma continued: "You don’t base life on a hypothesis, do you? You absolutely can have hypotheses, but you need something to back that hypothesis up to make it factual."
The pal's concerns mirrored what Nicola's sister Louise Cunningham had said hours earlier.
Louise took to social media last night and said there was "no evidence" to back the police's hypothesis.
She wrote on Facebook: "Off the back of the latest police media update, please can I add there is no evidence whatsoever that she has gone into the river, it's just a theory.
"Everyone needs to keep an open mind as not all CCTV and leads have been investigated fully, the police confirmed the case is far from over."
Nicola vanished after dropping her children off at school in St Michael's on Wyre on Friday - now more than a week ago.
There was definitely no ball.
Emma White
Since then there has been no trace of the mum-of-two, leaving her family in agony.
Partner Paul Ansell told friends he is "trying to be strong" for their daughters, who are aged nine and six.
One pal told the : "They want to go out and find mummy. It’s utterly heartbreaking.
"They just desperately want her home."
Paul yesterday visited the route where she vanished to appeal for information.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, he said: "My whole focus is my two girls, just staying as strong as I can for them.
"I'm scared that if I put focus into anything else it's going to take my focus off that.
"Just hoping to goodness that anything comes out from the interview yesterday no matter how tiny."
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Paul said he keeps playing "every scenario" in his head "around and around" but each one comes to a "brick wall".
He added: "It is as though she has vanished into thin air."
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