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‘COMPLEX’ CASE
I’m a detective & there are Nicola Bulley updates that cops aren’t telling public – here’s why probe is so difficult
A FORMER detective has said that there are updates in the Nicola Bulley case that cops are not telling the public.
Nicola, a mortgage adviser from nearby Inskip, Lancashire, was last seen walking her dog at around 9.15am on January 27.
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The 45-year-old mum had dropped off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school before heading to the towpath near the River Wyre.
Her phone, still connected to a Teams call, was found on a bench on a steep riverbank overlooking the water, along with the dog lead and harness on the ground.
Cops, emergency services, and specialist divers have scoured the area since she went missing but her disappearance still remains a mystery.
Now, Dr Graham Hill says that there are "lots of things" happening in the search for Nicola that the public aren't aware of due to the complex nature of the case.
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The leading abduction expert said: "It must be extremely difficult for the investigation team. These are critical incidents and police forces train for these situations.
"There are lots of things happening right now that the public isn’t aware of.
"All the speculation and people coming forward and suggesting things - perhaps they’re trying to be helpful - but the art of dealing with these incidents is dealing with a lot of information quickly.
"They are assessing everything, looking into it, making decisions and taking action very quickly.
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"Obviously that gets much harder when the investigation team is getting awash with lots of information.
"I feel for the people for trying to do the job but I understand why the family is getting frustrated. The police are damned if they do and dammed if you don’t.
"They say she’s in the river and they get criticised, they say she may not be in the river and they’re criticised."
Dr Hill added that the public scrutiny into the investigation had made everything "much harder" for the cops.
He continued: "I’ve run these investigations - and If I was the senior detective charged with running this investigation I would not be very happy.
"Everything that is going on is making the investigation much harder.
"This is difficult work, it's difficult to do in the public eye under a spotlight.
"And it's even more difficult when people are coming up with crackpot theories. The area is getting awash with people macabre sightseers.
"It's really difficult for the investigations team. They can’t cordon off the whole river."
"This is difficult work - it's hard to do in the public eye under a spotlight."
Dr Graham Hill
Today, Peter Faulding, said his team have done all they can to try and find Nicola as he called off the search.
Discussing search progress, the dive leader said there is simply "no sign" of Nicola near to where she vanished around St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire.
Mr Faulding is the founder of private forensic searchers Specialist Group International (SGI) from Surrey.
The team were drafted in on Monday to assist police divers in to search the river bed with Sonar.
Detectives say their "main working hypothesis" is that she fell into the river and Superintendent Sally Riley, from Lancashire Police, reiterated this at a news conference on Tuesday.
But Nicola's family and friends have previously claimed there is "no evidence whatsoever" behind this.
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It comes as Ms Bulley's partner visited the place where police believe she fell into the River Wyre.
Paul Ansell spent 10 minutes on Wednesday along the riverbank near the bench where the mum's phone was found, still connected to a work Teams call.
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