21 November 2023 , 10:03
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It has been almost 10 months since the tragic death of mum Nicola Bulley.
The 45-year-old vanished while walking her springer spaniel in the village of St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, after dropping off her two daughters, aged six and nine, at school on January 27. Later that morning, her dog Willow was found 'bone dry' and without his harness, but Nicola was nowhere to be seen.
Experts and locals scoured the area in a bid to find her, and devastatingly, three weeks later her body was found in the water - a mile from where she was believed to have fallen - on February 19. Amid the search for Nicola, a number of press conferences took place and in one briefing held 19 days after her last sighting, Lancashire police revealed she had three conversations on her phone shortly before she went missing.
Nicola Bulley died as a result of drowning, an inquest has heard (PA)Following Nicola's disappearance, a dog walker found her phone on a bench still logged into a Microsoft Teams call - muted with the camera off. Rebecca Smith, the detective superintendent leading the inquiry, said that there had been a lot of speculation over the work call which Nicola had logged on to at 09:01 GMT, while walking her dog.
Ms Smith said this meeting was a regular occurrence and said it was normal that Nicola's microphone and video were off - as it was more of an informative call. The Teams call followed a phone conversation with Nicola's boss and an exchange with a friend to arrange a playdate with her children.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
In an earlier report about Nicola's texting of a friend, a pal who lives in the village - who did not wish to be named - said Nicola had hoped to make plans and had been looking to the future: "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."
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson (L) and Get. Supt. Rebecca Smith (R), at a press conference (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)"You wouldn’t have done that if you were going to get up and go missing," she added. She said the information was revealed during a meeting at the village hall before residents headed out on their first mass organised search. Meanwhile, a friend had 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.
Nicola had also had a meeting with her boss prior to her death. Her dad Ernest previously spoke about how Nicola was happy with her job and had a meeting with an important client. He said: "Her mind was great, we picked the children up the Thursday before she went missing, as we do every Thursday.
"We took them home, Nicola had had a meeting with her boss in Garstang and she said can you stay a bit later because I have an important client coming in on Zoom. We said no problem and stayed."
The bench where it is believed police found the mobile phone of Nicola Bulley (James Maloney/Lancs Live)Meanwhile, her husband Paul Ansell revealed during the inquest into her death in June that he had sent her a text message asking, "are you lost?" The mum had a meeting scheduled for 11am on the day she disappeared, and would usually return home from her morning walk around 10am.
Distraught Mr Ansell told the inquest that he had become concerned when it got to 10.30am and heard nothing from Nicola, who he described as "full of beans" in the days leading up to her death. The court was also shown bodycam footage from PC Matthew Thackray - who reenacted what is believed to be her final moments.
It was said that Ms Bulley would've travelled a "metre a second" downstream in the flow of the river. 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. 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." 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.