15 February 2023 , 12:22
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Nicola Bulley has "specific vulnerabilities" that make her "high risk", police revealed in a press conference about the missing mum.
In a public update held today, Lancashire Police said they had been "inundated" following the mortgage advisor’s disappearance on the morning of January 27.
Nicola had been walking along the River Wyre in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, when she disappeared.
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said that the mum was quickly ranked as "high risk" due to her "vulnerabilities" that partner Paul Ansell had made them aware of.
During a press conference with Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson, she said that out of respect to Nicola's family and the "unimaginable pain and distress" they are going through, she would not go into anymore detail about the vulnerabilities.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson (left) and Get. Supt. Rebecca Smith (right), at the press conference for missing mum-of-two Nicola (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)She said: “It’s normal in any missing person investigation that you obviously gather as much information at an early stage about the person in question, which is no different and we did that with Paul.
“I’m not going to go into the details of those individual vulnerabilities. I’ve asked you to respect the family, who are going through unimaginable pain and distress at this moment.
“But those vulnerabilities based our decision-making in terms of grading Nicola as high risk and have continued to form part of my investigation throughout.”
Candles are lit around a photo of Nicola Bulley and her partner Paul on an altar at St Michael's Church in St Michael's on Wyre (PA)If someone is ranked "high risk" by police is means they believe the risk of serious harm to the subject, Nicola, is very likely, according to force guidelines.
During the conference, they said that 40 detectives were working on the ongoing investigation and they had received 1,500 pieces of evidence.
Lancashire Police has visited 300 premises and spoken to over 300 people during their ongoing hunt, and received 150 dashcam submissions to review - none of which, so far, showed Nicola after she dropped her kids off at school.
After dropping them off, she walked her family dog Willow down to the River Wyre, in St Michael's on Wyre, something police said was "routine".
Nicola pictured with her two daughters at Centre Parcs in December
Missing mum Nicola Bulley (Nikki Bulley - Mortgage Adviser/Facebook)She bumped into a number of other dog walkers and took a work call where she had her camera turned off and her microphone muted.
In detail released today by the police, they were able to say that around 9.20am, Nicola's phone was moved to the bench where it was eventually found.
Over the next 13 minutes, officers don't know what happened, other than that Nicola vanished.
Devastated parents promise to never stop looking for mum-of-two who vanished
Search teams comb the River Wyre in hope of finding the mum (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)At 9.33am her phone was found, and within a matter of hours, police were rolling out resources to find her.
A police drone was deployed by 12.18pm, and just an hour later the force's helicopter was also in the air.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue were using thermal imaging, as underwater drones and land searches were also deployed by 1.14pm and partner services had also been brought in by 2.30pm - a matter of hours from when she vanished.
Nicola went missing almost three weeks ago now (Lancashire Constabulary / SWNS.C)But also during the press conference, the two senior police officers repeatedly stressed that armchair detectives and those speculating wildly online were actively getting in the way of the investigation.
They said that the forced had been “inundated with false information, accusations and rumours” about Nicola Bulley’s disappearance which are “distracting” them.
They highlighted two myths that wanna-be detectives had spouted countless theories about online, a derelict house and a red van, and ran through how police had investigated both fully and thoroughly.
The last known movements of Nicola (Press Association Images)Detective Superintendent Smith also said that in her 29 years on the police force she had never seen anything like it.
The main working hypothesis remained that Nicola fell into the river, and she also stressed that there was still "no evidence" of a "criminal aspect or third-party involvement".
But, the two senior cops conceded there had been criticism of the police's investigation as the Mirror probed them on why the bench where her phone was found was never cordoned off.
In the "days ahead", Assistant Chief Constable Lawson said the force would have to review the "proportionality" of continuing to comb through the River Wyre as he said he retains "all hope" the mum will be found.