Nicola Bulley police make appeal for new key witness and release CCTV image
Police have made a fresh appeal for a new potentially key witness in their ongoing search for missing mum Nicola Bulley.
This marks the third call Lancashire Police have made for a specific witness in their efforts to locate the mum who vanished on the morning of Friday, 27 January.
Nicola, 45, had been out walking the family dog Willow, in St Michael’s on Wyre near where she lived, after dropping her two daughters off at school.
But after a last sighting sometime around 9.10am, whilst she was on a work call, the mum seemingly disappeared before her phone was found on a bench at 9.35am, with her dog running free.
In the eight days since then there has been no sign of the mum, leaving loved ones growing more concerned for her well-being.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
This evening, police released another appeal for a new witness they hope could be vital in locating her.
Missing mum Nicola (Lancashire Police / SWNS)
The new witness police are trying to locate in their hunt for the missing mum (lancspolice)The witness is a woman who had been pushing a pram along Garstang Road/Blackpool Road in the village, close to where Nicola went missing around the same time as the last sightings.
Officers believe she may have walked along the river path where Nicola had been walking the family dog, Willow, so want to speak to her.
In a statement, Lancashire Police said: "It is believed that the female in question may have walked along the river path during these times and so detectives want to speak to her and urge her to get in touch.
Police combing the banks of the River Wyre as they search for the missing mum (PA)"We are also appealing to anyone who was driving down Blackpool Lane/Garstang Lane on the morning of Friday 27th January between the times of 9am and 10am who has dash cam footage on their vehicles to make contact.
"Whilst you may not think that you hold any relevant information, it is really important that we gather as much footage as possible from the area that morning so we can review every piece meticulously to establish whether Nicola can be seen.
"We know from the footage we are currently reviewing, that this is a busy road, particularly at that time in the morning.
The last known movements of mum Nicola (Press Association Images)"There will be many people who were in that area at the time who may not think they can help, however we would urge you not to make that decision yourself and to come forward so we can have as much material as possible to assist the investigation.
"If you were in a car or cycling in the area and have footage, please get in contact."
On January 27, after dropping her two daughters aged six and nine, off at school, the mum took the family dog Willow for a walk along the River Wyre.
Devastated parents promise to never stop looking for mum-of-two who vanished
The working theory of police is that the 45-year-old fell into the river (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)The mortgage advisor from nearby Inskip, walked along a path by the river shortly before 9am when another dog walker, who knew her, spotted the mum.
Around 8.53am the mum sent an email to her boss before she logged onto a work call at 9.01am with her camera off and microphone muted.
Nicola was seen by a second witness around 9.10am, the last known sighting of her, but by 9.30am when the work call ended, Nicola's phone stayed connected.
A huge manhunt has been conducted along the river to try and locate her (Lancashire Constabulary / SWNS.C)Around five minutes later another dog walker found Nicola's phone on a bench by the river, with dog Willow running around off her lead.
It is in the brief window between the last known sighting and the work call ending that officers are desperately investigating.
Yesterday, police said that their "main working hypothesis" was that the mum may have fallen into the icy river to get her dog's ball before being weighed down by her clothes.
Officers have repeatedly stressed they do not think the disappearance was suspicious.
Police searching the River Wyre, in St Michael's on Wyre, for any sign of Nicola (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)Today, Lancashire Police revealed their main line of hypothesis is that Nicola accidentally fell into the water - suggesting something may have happened with her dog.
Willow was not wet when she was found by fellow dog walkers but Superintendent Sally Riley told a press briefing it was "possible" Nicola toppled into the river while trying to retrieve a tennis ball.
But her family contested that, and Nicola’s sister Louise Cunningham urged the public to keep an “open mind” as her desperate family pleaded for any info that could help them locate her.
Speaking to Sky News, pal Emma White pushed back on the police’s hypothesis, saying Nicola no longer took a tennis ball on her walks.
Nicola's sister Louise Cunningham and parents Ernest, 73, and Dot, 72, talking to Sky News about her disappearanceShe said: "Willow used to love a tennis ball very much, but it used to disturb their walks, so they haven’t had a tennis ball since way into last year.
"Obviously she loved the tennis ball so she’d always be by you, pestering you for the ball - but it wasn’t a nice walk when the dog’s pestering - so there was definitely no ball.
"When we’re talking about a life we can’t base it on a hypothesis - surely we need this factual evidence.
"That’s what the family and us are all holding onto - that we’re actually no further on the sadly last Friday."
Anyone with information or footage is asked to call 101, quoting log 565 of January 30. For immediate sightings, please call 999.
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