Nicola Bulley’s family reveal hopes she’s still alive and beg her to contact missing people charity

police, the family said: "It has now been three weeks since Nikki went missing. 

"We, as a family, believe that the public focus has become distracted from finding Nikki, and more about speculation and rumours into her and Paul’s private life.

"As a family, we were aware beforehand that Lancashire , last night, released a statement with some personal details about our Nikki.

"Although we know that Nikki would not have wanted this, there are people out there speculating and threatening to sell stories about her. This is appalling and needs to stop.

"The police know the truth about Nikki and now the public need to focus on finding her."

It comes after a statement released by cops on February 15, which revealed that Nicola had been categorised as a high risk missing person due to her "vulnerabilities".

Police said that these included "significant issues with alcohol" brought about by her struggles with the menopause.

They also revealed that officers had attended her family home just weeks before her disappearance and that the force had referred itself to the police watchdog over the contact.

The family added: "Due to the peri menopause 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 public focus has to be on finding her and not making up wild theories about her personal life.

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It comes as...

• Cops reveal ‘significant issues’ with alcohol & menopause had caused partner Paul Ansell ‘real challenges’
• Police say they’re still probing ‘incident’ that saw police called to mum’s home before she vanished
• An influencer has been arrested and fined after joining the search
• Follow our blog for the latest news

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"Despite what some media outlets and individuals are suggesting, we are being updated daily and receive support from our family liaison officers.

"Nikki is such a wonderful daughter, sister, partner and mother and is missed dearly - we all need you back in our lives."

They also appealed to Nicola directly and asked her to reach out to them or charity website MissingPeople.org.uk

Nicola has been missing since January 27.

She vanished while walking her dog in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire.

Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith confirmed that the force's "main working hypothesis" remains that Nicola fell in the river.

But she revealed two other theories for her disappearance - Nicola leaving the area voluntarily and third party involvement.

DS Smith said: "There is not a single piece of information or evidence to suggest there is any third-party involvement."

There is also nothing to suggest Nicola left the field voluntarily.