Found Deceased UK - Nicola Bulley, 45, last seen walking her dog on footpath by the river, Inskip, Lancashire, 27 Jan 2023

[Firstsnow4]

Brand new to this, I found the site after googling the NB case as it just doesn’t add up. I feel the reason it seems so odd is that the police very obviously know something that is not being released to the public. If they are confident no crime has been committed, then they must have a fairly clear idea of what happened. If she’s had an accident in the river, why the missing persons appeal? If they think she’s walked away, why the searches? Very odd all round, I’m starting to feel like they’re giving someone enough leeway to incriminate themselves.

Agreed.

 

[leuraman]

Really curious to know how much time had elapsed between her logging into her work call (if it was her that logged in) and her dog/phone being found.

Gut feeling for me at the moment is that she isn't in the water but I am usually wrong so expect that to be exactly what happened.

I think about 1.5 hours.

 

[cuecard]

I've been on Websleuths long enough to know that if someone goes missing near a river, chances are they're in the river!

Yeah, it is usually the case unfortunately.

 

[Dowls90]

Is there anyone here from the area or that knows anything about rivers and the flow of water that can give us any info on how fast moving this river is?

My thoughts are, if she did indeed enter the water, how quickly would she have travelled down it given her belongings and dog were found fairly quickly.

 

[Grouse]

Isn’t that unusual not to have come forward by now? If you live in that area you would be well aware of the search / missing posters / news / request for sightings?? We obviously don’t know what was said between him and the woman that found the dog. I don’t know maybe that’s just me. Or perhaps he doesn’t live in the area and hasn’t seen the news. JMO.

In the initial story it wasn't stated that it was the woman who found the dog who spoke to him so he may have been unaware of any connection. Hopefully he will be by now and will come forward.

 

[Joolz1975]

I think about 1.5 hours.

Oh heck longer than I was expecting then, so can we assume the bench is in quite a remote spot if nobody saw her dog or her phone until approx 1.5 hours later (I havnt read the full thread yet so not seen any maps of the area).

I had it in my mind that it was a popular spot and would be quite busy.

 

[Tanzanite]

I suspect the urgency of ‘missing’ came into play quickly because the dog was luckily found by someone known to NB, her phone on the bench with a work call still connected and the fact her partner was alerted by the school subsequently calling police. It is a quick appeal but it’s not with all the background info. I suspect if she & willow just hadn’t arrived home and she took her work call it wouldn’t have been so quick.

I absolutely agree this is very plausible, but it doesn't feel completely linear to me, without a backstory of sorts. It's such a short time frame, she's an adult woman on an average morning. People leave phones the whole time. People lose dogs the whole time. I agree that the picture adds up with hindsight, but in that moment, red flags went red VERY fast, which leads me to think the backstory - what her friends and partner know about her wellbeing - is informing everything the police are saying (or not saying).

 

[Edinlass]

Oh heck longer than I was expecting then, so can we assume the bench is in quite a remote spot if nobody saw her dog or her phone until approx 1.5 hours later (I havnt read the full thread yet so not seen any maps of the area).

I had it in my mind that it was a popular spot and would be quite busy.

People may well have seen the dog and thought the owner was nearby though. They wouldn’t have immediately thought oh the woman is missing etc. it was a stroke of luck, coincidence that someone who recognised the dog as NBs (in what capacity we don’t know) obviously looked around for NB and couldn’t locate her so raised the alarm with the school. IMO

 

[Dowls90]

I absolutely agree this is very plausible, but it doesn't feel completely linear to me, without a backstory of sorts. It's such a short time frame, she's an adult woman on an average morning. People leave phones the whole time. People lose dogs the whole time. I agree that the picture adds up with hindsight, but in that moment, red flags went red VERY fast, which leads me to think the backstory - what her friends and partner know about her wellbeing - is informing everything the police are saying (or not saying).

I agree completely. Could something have been said in the conference call that just completely tipped her over the edge so she abandoned the phone?

 

[Firstsnow4]

I agree completely. Could something have been said in the conference call that just completely tipped her over the edge so she abandoned the phone?

I would also be questioning whether she normally muted and had the video off on work teams calls. If that was unusual for NB then maybe it wasn’t her actually logging in. Just speculation.

 

[sundaaaay]

Yeah, it is usually the case unfortunately.

I wonder could it be a simple accident such as attempting to retrieve a dog toy/stick from the river bank and falling in. She could have left her phone while on the conference call on the bench in case it got wet. The long jacket (long black gilet jacket with a hood) she was noted to be wearing could have made her body more buoyant and move faster down stream.

Edit: Just read Themac101's comment about the river not being particularly deep...hmmmm

 

[JimmyBets]

I’ve followed several threads on this site but never felt the need to post before. However this case is local to me (6 miles) and has really hit home.



Firstly I hope NB is safe and well and this situation is resolved for the best of all parties.



I understand that LE have to be very careful in what they do and don’t make public. For me there are several things which don’t really add up at present.



-how did NB get her kids to school on Friday? If in her own car has it been recovered and was it parked in its regular place? If she didn’t use her car, did NB and her partner share a car? Did she take a bus? Was Friday a day she regularly, or rarely, took the kids to school (& then walked Willow?) I’m absolutely certain NB did not walk 6 & 9 year old girls the 3 miles to school on a January morning.



-accident…no obvious sign of a fall in terms of damage to vegetation or traces of a human sliding down a bank. Given what I’ve read on Spaniels in this thread, had there been a sudden accident which left NB in water, would Willow have followed her in? Either sensing danger or thinking it was a fun game? When Willow was found (dry) would an intelligent dog make any kind of movement towards the water to try and indicate where NB may have gone?



-raising the alarm. The reporting and timeline around this all seems very blurred. I think the key is to know the exact position of the lead and harness. Was the lead tied around the bench, indicating Willow had been tied up safely (and subsequently slipped her harness) or was the lead simply placed on top of the bench.



-foul play…no obvious signs of a struggle or drag marks on the ground. No left over pieces of clothing, hat, glove, wellington perhaps. Which would easily fall off in a struggle. No reports of the dog barking loudly. The time frame for such also appears to be small and from my understanding of the area, there are minimal exit points out of the field/walkway back onto the main road which is the only place a car could be waiting. Even then, that is a busy road and would be incredibly high risk to abduct someone in such surroundings.



<modsnip>



2 other things: the police response seems to have been very quick on Friday (which is great) considering this is a rural area and we all know how stretched emergency services are.

The quick and repeated line from LE that NB has links to Thornton-Cleveleys. Seems very specific and unusual given the intensity of the search in and around the River Wyre.

 

[Dowls90]

I would also be questioning whether she normally muted and had the video off on work teams calls. If that was unusual for NB then maybe it wasn’t her actually logging in. Just speculation.

Definitely! Me personally I'm always muted because the outside noise would be too much on the call. Also, accessing the call via phone I wouldn't have the camera on as I would have it to my ear to hear properly, especially outside (unless she had earphones in of course)

 

[Grouse]

People may well have seen the dog and thought the owner was nearby though. They wouldn’t have immediately thought oh the woman is missing etc. it was a stroke of luck, coincidence that someone who recognised the dog as NBs (in what capacity we don’t know) obviously looked around for NB and couldn’t locate her so raised the alarm with the school. IMO

I was thinking similar. People can be quite reserved and not want to interfere sometimes, for fear of being wrong or even of looking suspicious themselves, for instance if they had gone to check out the phone on the bench and then the owner appears from behind a tree.

 

[Firstsnow4]

I’ve followed several threads on this site but never felt the need to post before. However this case is local to me (6 miles) and has really hit home.



Firstly I hope NB is safe and well and this situation is resolved for the best of all parties.



I understand that LE have to be very careful in what they do and don’t make public. For me there are several things which don’t really add up at present.



-how did NB get her kids to school on Friday? If in her own car has it been recovered and was it parked in its regular place? If she didn’t use her car, did NB and her partner share a car? Did she take a bus? Was Friday a day she regularly, or rarely, took the kids to school (& then walked Willow?) I’m absolutely certain NB did not walk 6 & 9 year old girls the 3 miles to school on a January morning.



-accident…no obvious sign of a fall in terms of damage to vegetation or traces of a human sliding down a bank. Given what I’ve read on Spaniels in this thread, had there been a sudden accident which left NB in water, would Willow have followed her in? Either sensing danger or thinking it was a fun game? When Willow was found (dry) would an intelligent dog make any kind of movement towards the water to try and indicate where NB may have gone?



-raising the alarm. The reporting and timeline around this all seems very blurred. I think the key is to know the exact position of the lead and harness. Was the lead tied around the bench, indicating Willow had been tied up safely (and subsequently slipped her harness) or was the lead simply placed on top of the bench.



-foul play…no obvious signs of a struggle or drag marks on the ground. No left over pieces of clothing, hat, glove, wellington perhaps. Which would easily fall off in a struggle. No reports of the dog barking loudly. The time frame for such also appears to be small and from my understanding of the area, there are minimal exit points out of the field/walkway back onto the main road which is the only place a car could be waiting. Even then, that is a busy road and would be incredibly high risk to abduct someone in such surroundings.



<modsnip>



2 other things: the police response seems to have been very quick on Friday (which is great) considering this is a rural area and we all know how stretched emergency services are.

The quick and repeated line from LE that NB has links to Thornton-Cleveleys. Seems very specific and unusual given the intensity of the search in and around the River Wyre.

Excellent points!! Welcome!!

Edited to add - the bit above BBM - I agree 100%. For whatever reason, the police are being very vague about the whole ‘school run’ scenario that morning.

 

[cuecard]

I wonder could it be a simple accident such as attempting to retrieve a dog toy/stick from the river bank and falling in. She could have left her phone while on the conference call on the bench in case it got wet. The long jacket (long black gilet jacket with a hood) she was noted to be wearing could have made her body more buoyant and move faster down stream.

Edit: Just read Themac101's comment about the river not being particularly deep...hmmmm

Until we know more then pretty much everything is still on the table. She could have slipped or had a medical emergency or even gone off on her own. But usually (or it feels like this anyway) when people go missing near bodies of water, the water holds the key.

 

[Edinlass]

On sky news it is reported she was last seen at 9:15am and on the Lancashire police SM appeal page it is saying 9:20am. I know it is only 5 minutes but still, I wish the reporting was accurate for anyone with info, people are more likely to see sky news than the police website imo.

Also, I think we can rule out her camera being on for the scheduled work call as wouldn’t her colleague(s) be the last people to see her. If let’s say she was on the call with camera on and she said oops hang on need to retrieve the dog and never came back to the call. Or could it be that was the sighting and no1 physically saw her on foot in person.

 

[todders]

It has been repeated on here a number times now and it is key for me did NB take the kids to school in her car ? at least that puts her somewhere near the vicinity of the area we are talking about. If she didn't take them to school the scene then looks to me as though possibly it was an attempt to divert/cover up/skew something else that has happened elsewhere to her.

 

[SpursGyal]

I think from the beginning the police have been more concerned than they are letting on, and they think more than she fell in the river. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a police appeal with photo so soon after an adult is ‘missing’

This tweet was sent out at 11:44.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1619119347766595584

 

[Firstsnow4]

On sky news it is reported she was last seen at 9:15am and on the Lancashire police SM appeal page it is saying 9:20am. I know it is only 5 minutes but still, I wish the reporting was accurate for anyone with info, people are more likely to see sky news than the police website imo.

Also, I think we can rule out her camera being on for the scheduled work call as wouldn’t her colleague(s) be the last people to see her. If let’s say she was on the call with camera on and she said oops hang on need to retrieve the dog and never came back to the call. Or could it be that was the sighting and no1 physically saw her on foot in person.

According to this article, her phone was both muted and had the video off for the work call. Missing mother Nicola Bulley: Boss says she was muted during work call