Nicola Bulley cops issue warning and remain ‘open minded’ after investigating every ‘third party or criminal element’

POLICE searching for Nicola Bulley said they have probed "every criminal element" as they remain "fully open minded" over her disappearance.

Nicola, 45, was last seen in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, at around 9.15am on January 27.

Since then, there has been no trace of the mum with search efforts ramping up today.

Lancashire Police today confirmed they are keeping an "open mind" but said they still believe Nicola fell in the river.

Supt Sally Riley said the force has not yet detected a "suspicious" element in Nicola's disappearance.

She added: "Every third party element or criminal element has been looked into and discounted."

In a press conference today, the officer also warned amateur detectives from trespassing in empty properties as the search reaches its 11 day.

And she urged the public not to "take matters into their own hands" and refrain from speculating online as it could "hurt" Nicola's family.

Supt Riley added: "Nor is it helpful if people, particularly if they have come from outside of the area, take it upon themselves to take the law into their own hands by trying to, for example, break into empty property.

"They may mean well, they may want to help. But they can help in thinking back if they were in the area to what information they may have of relevance to the police and holding the family in their thoughts.

"But we will not tolerate online abuse of anyone, including innocent witnesses, members of the family and friends, of local businesses, or of criminal damage or burglary. We will be taking a strong line on that, as you would expect."

Supt Sally Riley also explained the details surrounding the mammoth inquiry.

She said there are 500 ";active" pieces of information and lines of inquiry police are investigating - but "nothing of note" has been found yet.

Officers are speaking to the drivers of 700 vehicles that drove through the village at around 9.10am/9.15am on the morning Nicola vanished.

Supt Riley said the search is "complex" as the river can be fast-moving with parts of the water tidal.

She added: "It remains our belief that Nicola fell into the river and that this is a missing person inquiry.

"We are fully open minded to any information that indicates where Nicola is and what happened to her."

The update comes as private divers from Specialist Group International (SGI) continue their search of the river using sonar devices.

Founder Peter Faulding said if the team cannot find the mum-of-two today, his "gut" feeling is there may be other reasons for her disappearance.

The forensic expert also claimed there is a "possibility" Nicola could have been abducted.

He believes the mum's phone, which was found on a bench after she vanished, could be a "decoy".

Mr Faulding told BBC Breakfast today: “If Nicola is not in that stretch of river today my view is that there is a third party involved and this was a decoy placed by the river.

“It could have been placed as a decoy, there is not enough CCTV to cover particular areas here. The police are working hard in the background to cover everything.

“It’s so unusual, we’ve got no clear information to go on."

Lancashire Police said previously their “main working hypothesis” is that Nicola had “sadly fallen in the river”.

Supt Sally Riley claimed there may have been an “issue” with dog Willow that led Nicola to the edge of the water.

Officers yesterday revealed more about Nicola's final movements as they issued an update on her disappearance.

They said she did not leave the field where she was walking Willow via Rowanwater, either through the site itself or via the piece of land at the side.

Nicola also did not return to the fields along Allotment Lane or via the path at the rear of the Grapes pub onto Garstang Road.

Officers are now focusing on a river path that leads from the fields back to Garstang Road and are appealing for drivers to come forward.

Anyone who travelled down the road on that day will also receive a letter from police requesting dashcam footage.

Officers previously released a timeline of the missing mum’s final movements before she disappeared.

Nicola began her walk along the towpath to the River Wyre at 8.43am after dropping her two children off at school.

Police say around seven minutes later, a dog walker who knows Nicola saw her walking around the lower field with her springer spaniel Willow.

The witness said their two dogs interacted briefly before she left Nicola via the river path.

At 8.53am, the mum sent an email to her boss at Exclusively Mortgages.

She then logged into a Teams call at 9.01am and was seen around nine minutes later on the upper field walking Willow.

Police say at 9.30am, the work call ended but Nicola stayed logged on.

At around 9.35am, the mobile and Willow were found at a bench by the river but there was no sign of Nicola.

Nicola has been described as white, 5ft 3ins tall with light-brown shoulder-length hair.

She was last seen wearing an ankle-length black quilted gilet jacket with a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat underneath and black tight-fitting jeans.

She had long green walking socks tucked into her jeans, ankle-length green Next wellies, a necklace and a pale blue Fitbit on.

Nicola has an Essex accent and links to the Thornton-Cleveleys area near Blackpool.

Anybody with information about where she might be is asked to call 101, quoting log 473 of January 27, or ring 999 for immediate sightings.