14 February 2023 , 10:04
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The mum of murdered Libby Squire has told Nicola Bulley's partner to "never give up" in a moving message.
The mortgage adviser, 45, has been missing since January 27 and was last seen walking her brown spaniel Willow near the River Wyre in St Michaels on the Wyre, Lancashire.
Yesterday, cops were seen searching at Wyreside Farm Caravan Park and last week they were seen scouring the River Wyre down to Morecambe Bay.
As the search for Nicola is in its third week, her partner Paul Ansell has repeatedly said he doesn't believe she's in the river.
Nicola's friends and family are desperate for answers and have refused to give up as they continue to appeal for anyone who may remember something to come forward.
Nicola Bulley's children 'cried their eyes out' after being told 'mummy's lost'
Nicola Bulley with her partner Paul Ansell (Facebook)
Paul recently appeared in a TV interviewLibby Squire's mum Lisa has also shared a message of hope for Nicola's family.
Libby, 21, disappeared on a night out in Hull and was dumped in a river by her killer.
She was found seven weeks later by the crew of a boat in the Humber Estuary.
Libby Squire was murdered in 2019 (PA)
Libby's body was dumped in a river before being discovered in the Humber Estuary (Humberside Police/PA)In a moving message to Nicola’s family through The Sun, Lisa said: "Please don’t give up hope. Do what you’re doing. Put one foot in front of the other and hope for a positive outcome.
"I know how it feels to have that hope every day, to wake up in the morning and think 'today she’ll come home', then get to the night-time and think 'tomorrow, it will be tomorrow'.
Lisa Squire said the search for Nicola has brought back painful memories the search for Libby (Tim Merry)"It’s so draining but keep hope that Nicola will be found."
Lisa, 52, said also said the searches brought back the painful memories of the searches for her daughter in 2019.
She added that: "It’s the not knowing that’s so difficult.
The village of St Michael's on Wyre. where Nicola went missing (PA)"I remember saying to my husband Russell after two weeks ‘Libby’s not coming home’, then feeling really guilty thinking I’d given up on her."
It comes as Martyn Underhill, who worked on dozens of murder cases, has said you “cannot beat local knowledge” in the hunt for a missing person.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
Mr Underhill, who is now lecturing on investigation techniques, told a Sky News podcast: "Nine out of 10 missing people are solved by the public, not by the police."
Police search the caravan site, near the bench on the River Wyre (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)"But equally, you have to manage that expectation. And I call it the tail wagging the dog.
"You have to have clear strategies in place that the public feel like they're being involved - [so] the armchair detectives don't feel rejected."
Mr Underhill continued: "The one thing I've learnt, and I've worked on 50 murders and I'm now lecturing on murders in university, are you cannot beat local knowledge.
"They know little intricacies - a little tree that's got a root that sticks out that someone will trip up on if they walked over it.
Last week the search expanded to the Shard Bridge - seven miles from where Nicola was last seen (PA)"It is silly things like that can become absolutely crucial in solving a murder or a missing person."
Yesterday The Mirror revealed how a local councillor who lives near where police are searching for Nicola received a late-night "offensive" voicemail about the missing mum.
Five of the six members of Inskip with Sowerby Parish Council, Lancashire, received nuisance phone calls - though all but one simply rang off as they answered, it was claimed.
The flurry of "mystery phone calls" came between 12.45am and 3am on Saturday, a source close to the council said.