15 February 2023 , 13:01
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Police have revealed missing mum Nicola Bulley called her boss, dialled into a work Teams call and spoke to a friend about a playdate before she vanished from a river walk.
Nicola vanished while walking her springer spaniel Willow in the village of St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, after she dropped her two daughters - aged six and nine - at school on January 27.
In a press briefing held 19 days after her disapperance, Lancashire Police said Nicola had three conversations on her phone shortly before her disappearance.
Following Nicola's disappearance, a dog walker found her phone on a bench still logged into a Microsoft Teams call.
The search for Nicola has entered its 19th day (Lancashire Police / SWNS)Rebecca Smith, the detective superintendent leading the inquiry, said in Wednesday's press conference 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 Willow.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
Ms Smith said this meeting was a regular occurence and said it was normal that Nicola's microphone and video were off - as it was more of an informative call.
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson (L) and Get. Supt. Rebecca Smith (R), at a press conference on Wednesday (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)The Teams call followed a phone conversation with Nicola's boss and an exchange with a friend to arrange a playdate with her children.
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: “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.”
The friend said this indicates she had no intention of voluntarily disappearing.
Yellow ribbons placed on the bridge over the river Wyre (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 earlier this month before residents headed out on their first mass organised search.
Prior to her disappearance, Nicola had also had a meeting with her boss.
Louise Cunningham (centre), the sister of missing Nicola Bulley, visits the scene where Nicola Bulley's mobile phone was found (Getty Images)Dad Ernest previously spoke about how Nicola was happy with her job and had a meeting with an important client before she went missing. 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," Ernest said.
Devastated parents promise to never stop looking for mum-of-two who vanished
Two fisherman near the bridge over the river Wyre (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)The police briefing comes as the force seeks to combat disinformation about Nicola's disappearance amid growing speculation about what might have happened to her.
The force also acknowledged criticism of detectives' handling of the inquiry.
Police said the "main working hypothesis" was still that that the mortgage adviser fell in the river during a "10-minute window" between 9.10am and 9.20am that day.
At today's press conference officers said detectives had still found no evidence of a "criminal aspect or third party involvement" in her disappearance.
And they revealed Nicola has "specific vulnerabilities" that meant she was graded as "high-risk" once she was reported missing.
Her body has still not been found and detectives have extended the search for her to the sea, saying finding her there "becomes more of a possibility".