13 February 2023 , 21:49
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Nicola Bulley's partner has spoken about the one phone call that changed everything, as the search for the missing mum continues.
Paul Ansell spoke about the moment police called him to say they had found the 45-year-old Nicola's phone on a bench alongside the river.
They told distraught Paul how the phone had been found alongside a harness belonging to the family dog, Willow.
After a regular morning of getting children fed and dressed for school, Paul walked Channel 5's Dan Walker through his morning routine, which involved an hour of alone time while Nicola walked the dog.
But when she didn't arrive home at her normal time, the dread soon set it - leading to the heart-wrenching police call.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
He continued: "The police rang me while I was at the bench and said, 'look, you've got to get home.
Nicola Jane Bulley with her partner Paul Ansell and children at Centre Parcs in December"I was obviously extremely worried and concerned but I still expected any second they'd just go, 'oh, found her'.
"That never happened. The day just then spiralled and the end of the day came and, no answers."
Ms Bulley vanished on January 27 while walking her springer spaniel Willow in St Michael's on Wyre in Lancashire, shortly after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at school.
Her phone was found on a bench overlooking the river, still connected to a work call.
A local caravan site is being visited by officers, and is believed to be one of several CCTV 'blind spots' identified in the search for Ms Bulley.
Police visit a local caravan site, near the bench on the river Wyre, in Lancashire (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)A friend, named Tilly-Ann, previously wrote in aFacebookpost backed by Ms Bulley's family: "There's CCTV at the back of the caravan park.
"The only camera that isn't working is the one that would have seen everything."
It comes as police officers are reportedly widening their investigation to include the day before she went missing.
As part of the investigation, detectives reportedly have now requested CCTV footage from a local garage that covers one of the exit points from the field where she vanished.
Devastated parents promise to never stop looking for mum-of-two who vanished
Paul Ansell spoke of the gut-wrenching police phone call in which police revealed Nicola's phone had been found (Channel 5)Meanwhile, a witness has reportedly told police that he spotted two men acting suspiciously close to Nicola's dog-walk route the day before she went missing.
The allegedly suspicious pair were seen outside a local church on January 26, according to reports.
It is unclear if the police reportedly collecting CCTV on the same day is connected to these claims.
A worker at St Michael's Garage told The Sun on Sunday: "Two smartly dressed officers came in following up, a man and a woman.