Found Deceased UK - Nicola Bulley Last Seen Walking Dog Near River - St Michaels on Wyre (Lancashire) #15

[steelo]

Penny said she had to get back for an appointment so she wouldn't have stayed with Willow. I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere if the gentleman witness on sky news stayed with Willow just that his wife phoned him while he was at the bench after having been phoned by Penny. That's what I picked up from the sky live witness appearance today.

So it could be that the 2 witnesses that were first on the scene were not the same people that then handed Willow over to Paul when he arrive at the scene?
Although I think it would be odd if the items and the dog were then left on/tied to the bench for a duration of time unattended??

 

[ginnyw]

<bbm>
Do you have a link for the point about an ambulance attending? I've only seen references to a response car containing police officers & health professionals.

A few posts back I linked the Sky News Kay Burley feature where Kay Burley mentioned that 'medical professionals' attended, but she mentioned this as occurring on 17th January which led some of us to think that there had been two visits to the house - one on the 10th and one on the 17th.

 

[Nancy Drew 21]

I've bolded a sentence of your post because it's quite correct. This was the sort of decision which would usually be run past the Head of Legal Services, because it's so contentious. The Senior Leadership Team and Command Team wouldn't be likely to dare to put out such a statement without having all Ps and Qs checked, in my opinion.

Yes, which makes this all so very strange in my opinion. Maybe there is a purpose to all this that will be revealed eventually.

 

[Simplistic67]

Metropolitan Police Commissioner offers help finding NB - that would be good, IMO. A fresh perspective.

Nicola Bulley's dad speaks for first time and tells of investigation heatbreak

The 45-year-old mum has disappeared without a trace

www.mylondon.news

This feels like a turn of events...This tells me that the river hypotheses is slowly becoming unlikely.

 

[Normanly]

Of course none of this might have any bearing on what happened or it simply might be she wasn't as focussed as usual. I can see a scenario where she put her phone down and got up off the bench to grab Willow and put her harness on. She may have stumbled and gone down head first. The harness was found on the slope. Maybe she kocked her head or got cold water shock.
But just one of several possibilities imo
I hope for the family's sake we learn something soon.

This was my initial thinking too but now I wonder if that is just what she wanted people to think. There is such a lack of evidence for any scenario that it feels planned.

I do find it hard to believe she just left Willow free as anything could have happened especially if she could get out like the SIO suggested and be up on the road. No owner would take that risk and I can only think it's because she knew someone would find her within minutes. She sets the scene, hides nearby, and then leaves on the path past the weir or possibly by crossing the river where it is shallower. She could have hidden a rucksack the day before on her way back from her work meeting. The zoom call could have just been a cover for being late back. Change clothing, even using a wig. Walked away from the area whilst everyone was searching the fields and river. She could even have dressed as a jogger with a hoodie or similar and jogged off out of the searched area.

It's concerning though that if NB wanted to leave why would she need to go to such extremes to plan it and not just walk out like others have said. I know she may not be thinking rationally, as we don't know the extent of her struggles, but this case just gets weirder by the day.

Of course, she could also have taken her own life either via the river or somewhere else or had an accident and be in the river. 3rd party involvement feels less likely due to the timeframes but frankly, in this case, who knows?

 

[Destroyer]

Obviously we’ve seen so many timelines of events in this case & I was wondering where in the timeline did the first media/tv coverage begin ? I only ask because I can remember very early on watching divers entering the river & NB’s disappearance being reported.

Is it unusual for a missing person report to make National tv news within the first 24hrs ?

 

[SuzyQ70]

Not all family.
NB's partner seems to think somebody local is responsible and knows something ( And he wanted every house in the village searched) Channel 5 interview

Which makes you think he must know something or be suspicious of someone to make such a bold statement

 

[Marie Bell]

Possibly
But I just got that impression from his own interview where he seemed so convinced she wouldn't leave voluntarily ( with somebody)

'It's absolutely impossible. So something has happened. Something has happened. Find out what it is. Find out what it is. There has to be a way to find out what happened. There has to be. You cannot, you cannot walk your dog down a river and just vanish into thin air. Something happened that day, something. Find out what it is and my plea now is, personally, I want every house, every garage, every outbuilding, the land, scrutinised. I want it all searched. I want it all scrutinised. Every piece of it. I'm not going to... you're not going to appease me with anything else, that is what I want to happen because for something to have happened there... you would only know that area by local pe... it's a local area. We've walked down there for years, and I mean, years. You see the same faces every single day and on the very odd occasion when you see somebody that you don't know, they stand out like a sore thumb.

Walker - And I think that's an important point to make because there might be some people watching this, thinking 'why are you doing this?' Why are you talking to us? and the reason you're doing that, I don't want to put words in your mouth, is because you feel that somebody out there knows something? That's the appeal that you're trying to make?

Paul - Yeah, definitely, definitely and I'm just pleading with them. Just please, anything, anything, no matter how tiny, just please, just come forward with it please, because that could be the key to finding her and as a family we're not bothered about anything else. Like there's nothing else. The only thing is we just have to find her.

Walker - You've told us a bit about who Nikki is. Was she ever the sort of person who might go away for a night or leave for a few days, you know what I mean?

Paul - That's about as far out of character you could get, I truly mean that. Even as a couple, on the odd occasion if we ever do have a night away from the girls... because the girls are our world. We go out for meals, the girls come with us.'


link for that UK - Nicola Bulley, St Michaels on Wyre (Lancashire), Jan 27, 2023 *MEDIA, MAPS, & TIMELINES - NO DISCUSSION*

and thanks again for doing these transcripts @Allabouttrial
- really helps when I need to refresh memory of what exactly was said

He was more resigned to the fact that falling in the river was as possible as anything else in his first brief interview by the river (the one where he had his beanie hat on). He said 'we just keep going round and round, thinking about every one of the scenarios, and then back round all over again'. There had been a LOT of talking with PF and with DW and others by the time the fancy 'CH5 production' was aired.

 

[cottonweaver]

He was more resigned to the fact that falling in the river was as possible as anything else in his first brief interview by the river (the one where he had his beanie hat on). He said 'we just keep going round and round, thinking about every one of the scenarios, and then back round all over again'. There had been a LOT of talking with PF and with DW and others by the time the fancy 'CH5 production' was aired.

bingo!

 

[Simplistic67]

Not all family.
NB's partner seems to think somebody local is responsible and knows something ( And he wanted every house in the village searched) Channel 5 interview

Considering he lives about 3 miles away in Inskip, why would he be paranoid of the area where his children attend school ?
Thats an odd statement, and request to state. Its as if he is accusing everyone in that area.

 

[Agatha3]

Which makes you think he must know something or be suspicious of someone to make such a bold statement

When asked by Dan Walker on Channel 5 what his reaction was to disappearance, Mr Ansell said “anger.”

 

[Marie Bell]

Obviously we’ve seen so many timelines of events in this case & I was wondering where in the timeline did the first media/tv coverage begin ? I only ask because I can remember very early on watching divers entering the river & NB’s disappearance being reported.

Is it unusual for a missing person report to make National tv news within the first 24hrs ?

This was the first time I heard of it. 1st February. I kind of suspect it might have been EW who started the publicity ball rolling. Friends fear Nicola Bulley may have fallen down 'slippery riverbank'

 

[Destroyer]

This was the first time I heard of it. 1st February. I kind of suspect it might have been EW who started the publicity ball rolling. Friends fear Nicola Bulley may have fallen down 'slippery riverbank'

The earliest news report I can find is from the local press 28th January

https://www.lep.co.uk/news/people/nicola-bulley-underwater-police-search-team-at-banks-of-river-wyre-in-st-michaels-close-to-where-45-year-old-woman-was-last-seen-4005190

 

[dotr]

Assuming places which serve food and alcohol where NB might have regularly socialized have been visited by LE, but what about ''dive'' establishments where NB might covertly frequent without anyone raising an eyebrow?

There was a case here in Canada several years ago, where a somewhat high profile person, married, about to start a dream job etc etc, went missing for, iirc, several weeks.
Long story short, as a newly sober alcoholic, he slipped up and went on a huge bender somewhere, embarrassed he hid out, did what he wanted, until he was safely located. speculation.

 

[SuzyQ70]

Considering he lives about 3 miles away in Inskip, why would he be paranoid of the area where his children attend school ?
Thats an odd statement, and request to state. Its as if he is accusing everyone in that area.

He may have had his suspicions about an individual or individuals JMO

 

[Simplistic67]

Was this area the only place they exercised their dog ? During school holidays you would think they would walk the dog nearer to home. Has other walks been looked at ?

 

[Grouse]

low tide at Fleetwood at 15:10 might be why the helicopter searching now

ETA: after a flight over the sea it seems to have retraced its route along the river and heading back now, hasn't been over the part between Great Eccleston and St Michael's at all.

 

[Davieson]

Was this area the only place they exercised their dog ? During school holidays you would think they would walk the dog nearer to home. Has other walks been looked at ?

She took the children to school and the car remained there. How would she get to any other walk area ?

 

[infinit]

So if the papers were unable to


Under GDPR and the DP Act there is a principle of vital interests - basically releasing personal data to save a life - also health and medical data is sensitive personal data and has additional special rules. So it would of course be permissable to say someone has a medical condition/allergy etc to a first responder or emergency services as this information could be life changing.

IMO to release information about the menopause struggles and "significant problems with alchohol" to prevent harm to her family/others locally - absolutely no justification for that one - I can't see how a court would rule that would be appropriate and proportionate at all when it would be sufficient to give general information eg: - ongoing health/mental health/medication issues that mean someone is vulnerable to harm either themself or others.

And if that information was necessary to be released, it should have been released on DAY ONE - not 3 weeks later.

My own opinion - the details were released to justify the police handling of the case.

For law enforcement it's slightly different. It's part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 that is applicable.

I don't honestly know the ins and outs of it as LE isn't relevant to my work.

Data Protection Act 2018

www.legislation.gov.uk

 

[bringmeacupoft]

low tide at Fleetwood at 15:10 might be why the helicopter searching now

Good point, looks like they’ve finished now