Nicola Bulley's final moments - text to friend, 'scream' and 'cold water shock'
Nicola Bulley's disappearance sent shockwaves across the UK.
The 45-year-old had been walking her dog along the River Wyre, Lancashire, on January 27 when she seemingly vanished. Experts scoured the river for traces of the mother-of-two and their desperate manhunt captivated the nation as they anxiously waited for news.
However, it wasn't until three weeks later that her body was found in the water on February 19, and it was later confirmed that Nicola had fallen in and drowned. Just moments before her death, she had been talking on a work call, and her phone was found left on the bench where she had been seated - a mile from where her body was recovered.
At an inquest into her tragic death in June, the court heard a complete timeline of the final hours before Ms Bulley vanished and was shown a police video that recreated what might have happened after she fell into the river, showing just how easily she could've been swept away.
Nicola Bulley disappeared on January 27, 2023On the morning of the fateful accident, Nicola, a mortgage adviser, dropped her daughters, aged six and nine, at St Michael's School before taking their family dog, Willow, for a walk along a nearby towpath from around 8.45am.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
It is then understood that she signed into a work conference call on Teams close to 9am. Her phone, still connected to the call, was recovered on a bench overlooking the water while the dog was later found wandering alone "bone dry" and agitated on the trail with her harness on the floor.
Minutes before the meeting, during which she had switched off her camera and microphone, it is understood she texted a friend about meeting up with her daughters. A close friend told the Mirror at the time of her disappearance: "She booked a playdate, 8.57, she sent a text message to a friend whose mortgage she had just recently signed off on to arrange for the girls to go for tea this week."
Meanwhile, a friend told the Mirror that she had been in good spirits on the walk, according to a passerby. They said she was "laughing and joking" as she went by, just minutes before she vanished.
During the first day of the inquest into Nicola's death, footage was shown from the bodycam of PC Matthew Thackray - who reenacted what is believed to be her final moments. In the water, he moved down the river from the bench where Ms Bulley's phone was last seen, to where her body was found.
A police officer recreated what could have happened to her after the mum fell in the river (PC Matthew Thackray)It was said that Ms Bulley would've travelled a "metre a second" downstream in the flow of the river. In the footage, PC Thackray demonstrated how strong the current was and when entering the water, said: "You can see it's fairly clear at the point of entry.
"I'm in the middle of the river now and it is pushing me down towards the weir. If she did fall in she would probably be floating and be pushed along." He continued: "If I were to sit down in that water now you can see that it's taking me along faster. It's now probably at a slow jogging pace.
"As you come around the corner you can see the weir in front of us. It's around about 300 metres from the point of entry. As you get towards it, water is now shin-deep on me but we do think it is down a little bit from the day in question.
"But if you're floating it is still more than enough water to push you along. As you get to the weir you can see there's a lip but there's a lot of water going over it. The water is now down from how it was on the day. But it can comfortably push me over and I can float over."
Two women told the inquest of hearing a scream near the riverside on the morning Ms Bulley disappeared. Nurse Helen O'Neill said she was with her dogs in the garden of her house on Allotment Lane, not far from a path that leads to the bench overlooking the River Wyre.
She told the inquest: "I heard a scream, it's not an alarming noise, it was just over in a couple of seconds. I'm quite used to hearing the children in the school out back, but it was not that noise. I vividly remember thinking it's unusual at this time. In my head, I had two females, walking along by the river and one jumped out on the other. I didn't think anything of it until later on. There were no other sounds for me to be concerned about."
Devastated parents promise to never stop looking for mum-of-two who vanished
Police activity near the bench by the River Wyre in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, where the mobile phone of the missing mum was found (PA)A second witness, Veronica Claesen, a housewife and club secretary for the village tennis club, said: "I was just about to get into the car and I heard a scream. A very short scream and my immediate thought was, 'Somebody is having a bit of fun at the back of the graveyard'." Ms Claesen said it was an "inhale scream" like a sharp intake of breath.
These claims corroborate Mr Thackeray's analysis that cold water shock would have likely taken place. On the day Nicola drowned, the temperature of the water was around 4C. In the clip, he was heard saying: "That would feel very very cold, almost freezing if you fell in.
"The cold water shock would have probably taken effect and cause you to gasp for breath, cause your muscles to seize up so you can't swim properly." It is believed she fell into the water between 9.18am and 9.30am.
DC Keith Greenhalgh told the inquest that analysis of her iPhone and Fitbit watch data suggested she "very possibly" entered the water at 9.22am on January 27. DC Greenhalgh said the mum's Fitbit watch stopped recording steps beyond 9.30am.
Home Office pathologist Alison Armour, who carried out the post-mortem examination on Ms Bulley, said the evidence of water in her lungs and stomach led her to conclude the cause of death was drowning. She said: "I conclude the cause of death as drowning. The lungs themselves showed classical features we see in drownings.
"In my opinion Nicola Bulley was alive when she entered the water." Ms Armour said the presence of water in the lungs showed swallowing the liquid was an "active process" and therefore suggests Ms Bulley was alive at the time she went into the river.
There were no brain bleeds or natural diseases and only normal therapeutic levels of medication in Ms Bulley's body, she added. A low level of alcohol was consistent with the natural process of decomposition, the inquest heard. Professor Michael Tipton, a world expert in drowning, said he agreed with the pathologist's findings.
A report into the police investigation to find Nicola Bulley, released on November 21, warned officers they could have done more to protect evidence in the "golden hour" after she disappeared.
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