Diving expert ‘baffled’ after finding ‘nothing’ in river search for Nicola Bulley
'We have scanned a huge area today and there is nothing there.'
An expert diver says he is ‘baffled’ after searching all day for Nicola Bulley in the River Wyre.
Peter Faulding and Specialist Group International (SGI) have offered their services free of charge in a bid to help find the missing mum.
They searched ‘large areas’ in the river this afternoon, which marks the 10th day since Nicola vanished.
Lancashire Police believe Nicola accidentally fell into the river while out walking her dog on the morning of Friday 27 January.
Mr Faulding, weary after a day of searching, told reports ‘nothing’ had been found.
He told MailOnline: ‘We and police are all baffled. Police were there on day one diving where the phone was found on the bench.
‘Normally if a person has drowned, they go down within a few metres if being searched for the same day.
‘Police were expecting to find her there. We will be going over that same area tomorrow. We will also be going quite a lot further up river tomorrow.
‘In another couple of days I will be confident she is not in that area at all. We have the best sonar you can buy.
‘We have scanned a huge area today and there is nothing there. I am hoping we don’t find her at all and she has just done a disappearing act and returns.’
Among its arsenal of technology and equipment, Mr Faulding said the company has a £55,000 side-scan sonar with a high frequency of 1,800 kHz.
He added: ‘A body will move after a time, but they searched that area and came up with nothing – that is what is weird here. We are baffled.’
His comments come as Nicola’s partner Paul Ansell says her children ‘miss her desperately’.
He has issued a statement to mark 10 days since she vanished, as police release new CCTV of the missing mum.
Paul said: ‘It’s been 10 days now since Nicola went missing and I have two little girls who miss their mummy desperately and who need her back.
‘This has been such a tough time for the girls especially but also for me and all of Nicola’s family and friends, as well as the wider community and I want to thank them for their love and support.’
Timeline of Nicola's known movements
8.26am- Nicola leaves her home address with her children
8.40am- Nicola drops the children off at school and has a brief conversation with another parent.
8.43am – Nicola walked along the path by the River Wyre towards the gate/bench into the lower field, having dropped her children off at school
8:47am (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
8.59 am- She sent message to a friend
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.
9.20- Her phone was back in the area of the bench
9.30am – The Teams call ended but Nicola stayed logged on
9.33am (approximately) – Nicola’s mobile phone and Willow were found at a bench by the river by another dog-walker.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.