Mystery over Nicola Bulley’s car keys as her partner asks Mercedes to ‘track’ them and pals slam armchair detectives
THE mystery over Nicola Bulley's car keys continues as her partner asks Mercedes to track them.
Recent speculation that the 45-year-old had left her keys in the ignition on the day she went missing have been rubbished.
Neighbour Charlotte Drake claimed the keys, which had two Merc keyrings on, a wooden key ring with paw prints and a couple of normal keys on, would have been "on Nikki at the time".
And it has since been revealed by one of Nicola's friends that husband Paul Ansell contacted the car company to see if "they could be tracked".
Heather Gibbons said it was one of the first things Paul did after hearing of his wife's disappearance.
She said: "The neighbour will be correcting some incorrect speculation that is becoming frequently spoken about. That is all.
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"Paul has been clear about Nikki's keys being missing from the get go.
"In the local searches he specifically asked people to keep their eyes open for them and even organised for people to go out with metal detectors.
"One of the first things he did was to contact Mercedes to see if they could be tracked."
The pal also slammed armchair detectives as she hit out at speculation online.
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Heather added: "For those of us that have been out day in day out we don't have the time to be on here correcting every incorrect piece of speculation.
"It would be more than a full time job!!"
Nicola was last seen at around 9.15am on the footpath by the river in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, on January 27.
She disappeared while walking her dog Willow shortly after dropping her two daughters off at school.
Her phone, which was still connected to a work call, was found on a bench overlooking the water and her Springer Spaniel was discovered bone dry nearby.
Detectives are still working on the theory she fell into the river in a "tragic accident".
But family and friends of the mum-of-two are convinced she isn't in the water.
Mum Charlotte, from nearby Inskip, said: "We’ve all said from 11am on day one when the police showed up… 'She’s not in that river'.
"My gut feeling remains the same. I honestly believe Nikki is not in the water."
Paul, who told Channel 5 that his family was going through "unprecedented hell", added: "Extensive searching, as you're probably aware, has gone on in that river and the underwater rescue teams have thankfully found absolutely nothing.
"Personally, I am 100 per cent convinced it's not the river, that's my opinion.
"You cannot walk your dog down a river and just vanish into thin air.
"Something happened that day, something."
'SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT DAY'
Police insist they remain "open-minded" about what happened to Nicola and are carrying out "a huge number of enquiries".
This includes probing reports of two men trying to hide their faces near Nicola's dog-walking route the day before she went missing.
A local said the pair were carrying fishing rods and appeared to be wearing hats or hoods, adding: "It was very strange. It made me uneasy."
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Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting log 473 of January 27.
For immediate sightings, call 999.
