Timeline of events 7 days after dog walker Nicola Bulley mysteriously vanished
It has been one week since Nicola Bulley was last seen and her family remain desperate for answers to her disappearance.
The mortgage adviser, 45, had dropped her two young girls off at school before taking her brown spaniel Willow for a walk along the River Wyre in the village of St Michael's, Lancashire.
Nicola was reported missing by someone she knew, not long after she was last seen, when they found Willow alone without a harness on.
Nicola, who is known as Nikki to friends and family, had been on her mobile phone, dialled into a work call at the time she disappeared.
Her phone was found on a bench overlooking the river along with Willow's harness.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
Nicola with her family
Nicola with her family in DecemberSince Nicola was reported missing, a massive search has been launched with specialist officers trawling the river on boats and going beneath the surface amid growing concerns for her wellbeing.
One group of volunteers from the Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue say they came across an abandoned house, but she wasn't there. It was later established the property was occupied but no trace of Nicola was found there.
Lancashire Police have stressed they don't think there is any third-party involvement in Nicola's disappearance and Superintendent Sally Riley said today that their “main working hypothesis” is that she fell into the River Wyre and that “this is not suspicious but a tragic case of a missing person”.
She told reporters at the village hall: "We have not found Nicola - but our search continues."
Supt Riley said their search had stretched 15 kilometres to the coast, officers have combed CCTV and dashcam footage and gone door-to-door to try and paint a picture of what happened.
She said from this they were able to determine that Nicola did not leave the riverside.
Her parents exclusively told The Mirror this week how they fear that someone had taken their daughter.
They also told us that it was completely out of character for Nicola to disappear and that she had been looking forward to a spa day with her sister and getting her mortgage sorted.
Below is a timeline of what has happened in the past week.
Friday, January 27
Nicola drops her young daughters at school and left the car parked up in St Michael's village.
Devastated parents promise to never stop looking for mum-of-two who vanished
She is last seen walking her dog on a footpath along the River Wyre at around 9.20am.
One person told the Mirror they spoke with someone who spotted Nicola before she went missing said "she was laughing and joking with them as she went by".
Willow is Nicola Bulley's spaniel that was with her when she went missing (Dave Nelson)
Specialist search teams with remote submarine equipment searching the River Wyre (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)They went on to say two other dog walkers came across her phone and recognised the screensaver photo.
She said they were unable to unlock the phone and contacted a friend who then called St Michael's-on-Wyre Church of England Primary School, where Nicola had dropped her two children earlier that morning.
Partner Paul Ansell was contacted and raced to the scene from the family home three miles away in Inskip, before calling the police, the friend said.
"As far as I’m aware, no one called the police until Paul arrived," she said.
A large-scale police search is launched, which includes 25 trained volunteers from Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue who find a house they believed was abandoned, but was in fact just not occupied full time.
It is searched and there is no sign of Nicola.
Saturday, January 28
Extensive searches are carried out by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue team and the North West Underwater Search Team.
Family and friends share appeals online in hopes someone comes forward with information
The search for missing Nicola Bulley continues six days on (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)Sunday, January 29
A friend tells the Mirror that local residents met at the village hall, alongside Paul, at around 10.30am to organise their own search.
Paul is understood to have searched a different 'abandoned' property in between the village hall and the Ivy Dene Alpacas site prior to the meeting.
The friend said police advised them to search upriver in a pincer movement.
In the afternoon, a second search of locals set out, with around 100 participants, which included the headteacher from the primary school, she said.
Nicola Bulley has been missing since January 27 (strava)
Nicola Bulley was seen at about 9.20am on a footpath by the River Wyre in Lancashire (strava)Monday, January 30
The search continues as police also hold a press conference.
Chief Inspector Chris Barton, of Lancashire Police, says: "Nicola has now been missing for two days and we are extremely concerned about her.
"Firstly, if anybody saw her on Friday morning and has not yet been spoken to by police, or if anybody has any other information about where she might be, please get in touch with us straight away.
Police officers pictured in St Michael's at the River Wyre (Paul Greenwood/REX/Shutterstock)"Enquiries are very much ongoing and we have a team of detectives working tirelessly to establish the circumstances around her disappearance, in addition to a large team of police officers, partner agency and volunteer groups on the ground searching the area around where she was last seen."
He adds: 'We are following a number of lines of enquiry and are keeping an open mind at this stage about what has occurred.
Paul describes what the family was going through as "perpetual hell".
Tuesday, January 31
Lancashire Police put out a statement saying they are looking for a "potential key witness" - who they believe is a man in his 70s with a small, fluffy white dog.
They later update to say they have located the witness and are speaking to him.
His wife, 57, tells The Times how he told her that there was "nothing unusual" about Nicola when he saw her.
Lancaster Area Search and Resue out searching the River Wyre on January 31 (Dave Nelson)The software engineer, who didn't want to be named says: "In the field, there were about three people, including my husband. He said there was nothing unusual about her and she seemed completely normal.
“I’d often see her and say hello. I always thought she looked very nicely dressed, in her bobble hat and smart Wellington boots. It’s just horrible to know she’s missing.”
Wednesday, February 1
The search for Nicola continues as the parents tell the Mirror how they fear someone has taken her.
Nicola's parents, Ernest, 73, and Dot, 72, vow "we will never stop looking for her".
Ernest says: "There was no sign of a slip or falling in so our thought was 'has somebody got her'?
Images from February 1 show the search continues for Nicola Bulley (Lee McLean/SWNS)"I asked the Sergeant from Fleetwood a few days ago, 'is there any chance of her being taken' and she said 'I don't think that's the case'.
"I said 'how can you know that?', it's such an isolated area, the only way that has happened is if it was someone who knew her."
While Nicola's family live in hope of her turning up, Ernest confesses their worst fears: "We just dread to think we will never see her again, if the worst came to the worst and she was never found, how will we deal with that for the rest of our lives."
But Ernest vows: "We will never stop looking."
Specialist search teams from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and the police on the River Wyre on February 2 (PA)Thursday, February 2
Police divers return to the spot where Nicola was last seen to carry out an extensive new search of the area.
A team of frogmen were seen trawling beneath the surface of the River Wyre while other officers combed the banks and a fire service boat team accompanied by a specialist search dog scoured the water surface.
Lancashire Police put out a further appeal to find another witness they would to speak to.
Police released this image of a potential new witness in the search for Nicola Bulley (Lancashire Police)She was walking a small, white dog. They stressed she was being looked at as a witness.
Police later reveal she has been identified.
The woman photographed, 68-year-old Christine Bowman, told the Mirror she was baffled by the appeal as she had already spoken to police on the day of the disappearance and “doesn’t know anything”.
Nicola's sister Louise Cunningham joins her parents Ernest and Dot for a TV interview in which they sobbed as they insisted her disappearance is out of character.
Nicola Bulley's sister Louise Cunningham and parents Ernest, 73, and Dot, 72 talk to Sky NewsFriday, February 2
Paul Ansell speaks publicly for the first time and says he's trying to be strong for his daughters.
He told Sky: "I don't know how I am coping. I don't want to think about that. I am just focused on the girls."
He said: "It's a week on as yet it seems like we are no further on. It just seems impossible like a dream.
"Every single scenario comes to a brick wall. Every single one of them. All we are doing is sitting there going round and round and round through each scenario."
Paul Ansell speaking to Sky news (Sky News)He added he was focusing on looking after their two daughters and "didn't want to think" about how he was coping.
Police held a press conference to that their “main working hypothesis” is that she fell into the River Wyre and that “this is not suspicious but a tragic case of a missing person”.
She told reporters at the village hall: "We have not found Nicola - but our search continues."
Supt Riley said their search had stretched 15 kilometres to the coast, officers have combed CCTV and dashcam footage and gone door-to-door to try and paint a picture of what happened.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS FOR JANUARY 27
Police released this map to illustrate Nicola's movements (Lancashire Police)8.43am – Nicola walked along the path by the River Wyre, having dropped her children off at school
8:50am (approximately) - A dog-walker – somebody who knows Nicola – saw her walking around the lower field with her dog. Their two dogs interacted briefly before the witness left the field via the river path
8.53am – She sent an email to her boss
9.01am – She logged into a Teams call
9.10am (approximately) – A witness – somebody who knows Nicola – saw her on the upper field walking her dog, Willow. Work is ongoing today to establish exactly what time this was.
9.30am – The Teams call ended but Nicola stayed logged on
9.35am (approximately) – Nicola’s mobile phone and Willow were found at a bench by the river by another dog-walker. They phone the school who then contacts Paul.
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