Found Deceased UK - Nicola Bulley Last Seen Walking Dog Near River - St Michaels on Wyre (Lancashire) #17

[Amonet]

Can anyone explain to a layman why it’s taken over 6 hours and counting to release the identification? Even though it’s been 3 weeks they would know quickly if it was her or not, by clothes alone. Is this out of respect for the family? I have no experience of this sort of procedure but I am confused why they haven’t released that info yet.

I think official identification is made at post mortem, if it's possible, and determined by the 'medical examiner' (I follow so many US cases I sometimes forget the UK terms!)

Police can probably tell the family that a certain item was found when retrieving the body, or just that the body was female and consistent in height, weight, hair colour, and that based on that they expect it to be identified as her, but it's the post mortem that will provide the definite identification, not police observations or suspicions.

 

[Davieson]

Jumping off bridges is very different to entering a slow moving shallow river. Under the influence of something makes a lot more sense.

But people have drowned in this river before so its not a unique occurence.

 

[citygirl]

Telling them is the easy part - parents all over the world have to do this, myself included. IMO the hardest part is yet to come - the years to come of solo parenting. That's why bereavement counsellors and bereavement charities for children exist.

Indeed. It's only the beginning.

 

[JaneDawn]

My guess is the body was described as female from something such as hair, stature and feminine clothing m, but the poor couple who discovered it.

Tragically sad if it is her and my thoughts with her family. Sadly if it is her, and it is deemed she took her life, I imagine her family will not be allowed to grieve in peace, as the media will pore over every single detail of her life and that of her partner and family. I feel sorry for them.

 

[ayrshireguy]

To be fair, the area he searched was from the weir upstream, I believe. Had PF known about NB’s vulnerabilities, he might have looked below the weir, downstream, as a person with intent on self harm might have walked to a point downstream of the weir to enter the water, even possibly walking some distance west of the village before doing so. Jmo

PF and SGI searched down river on day 1 to the estuary and up river from the weir on day two.

 

[29 Acacia Road]

To be fair, the area he searched was from the weir upstream, I believe. Had PF known about NB’s vulnerabilities, he might have looked below the weir, downstream, as a person with intent on self harm might have walked to a point downstream of the weir to enter the water, even possibly walking some distance west of the village before doing so. Jmo

It wasn't so much that he searched the river, it was his constant media interviews and stating things like if she had gone in the river he would have found her and it was impossible for her to have gotten too far towards the sea.I know she wasn't found near the sea, but I still found his comments unhelpful.

 

[Deleted member 165489]

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Can anyone explain to a layman why it’s taken over 6 hours and counting to release the identification? Even though it’s been 3 weeks they would know quickly if it was her or not, by clothes alone. Is this out of respect for the family? I have no experience of this sort of procedure but I am confused why they haven’t released that info yet.

Identification has to be scientific, DNA, fingerprints, dental records. Lots of those coats around I imagine so that would not be definitive.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I didn’t get that from his interview, but I’m not claiming to know what he was inferring. What I heard from him was that people don’t just disappear, that something must have happened, and someone must know or have seen something even if they’re not aware it was relevant. He goes on to plead for those people to report anything they might know, which IMO, you wouldn’t ask of someone you suspected of being a perpetrator.

well, I believe he did want to have all homes and buildings searched. That is what triggered "foul play" to me.

 

[Firstsnow4]

I think that if this was an accident, it’s such a shame that the two first witnesses on scene didn’t see her in the water - a 13 min window between potentially falling in and being rescued. But I guess it doesn’t take long to be overcome by cold water.

 

[Sweeper2000]

I would think this is accidental. Bless her and family. Incredibly sad.

 

[Casseus]

They may not have even removed her from the water yet. When my friend’s mum was found drowned (suicide) in water, a police diver stayed in the water with the body for 6 hours before it was recovered onto land

Thankyou for the explanation. In any case I hope her husband and girls are being supported. The torture of not knowing is over, but now the long journey of grieving begins for them.

 

[cottonweaver]

To be fair, the area he searched was from the weir upstream, I believe. Had PF known about NB’s vulnerabilities, he might have looked below the weir, downstream, as a person with intent on self harm might have walked to a point downstream of the weir to enter the water, even possibly walking some distance west of the village before doing so. Jmo

TBF he already did exactly that

 

[Simplistic67]

Has the body been transported yet, does anyone know or is it still in situ ?

 

[Cedars]

Again, it's just my opinion, but I believe that if police absolutely suspected it pointed to suicide they wouldn't have specifically said that it looked so far as though it was most probably an accident; and wouldn't have gone as far as describing the sort of mechanics involved in such potential accident.

I've noticed police never say 'suspected suicide', self-harm, nothing like that at all. They will say 'foul play is not suspected.' IMO, it's for the family to publicize, if they choose.

'Accident' meant 'no foul play' in this case, IMO. They later revealed NB had 'vulnerabilities', another code word, but never said 'possible prone to suicide'.

JMO

 

[markoid]

Yeah, I do not argue with that (and same goes with accidental drowning that is more likely to occur if you accidentally fall into deep than shallow water).

I was surprised by op claiming that drowning is a rare suicide method - it is very common, especially in women (and often used in combination with alcohol, other psychoactive drugs or random drug overdose e.g painkillers).

Indeed. Lots of examples of people swimming until fatigue or cold sets in and letting the water take them. As well as incapacitating oneself as part of the process.

 

[Marie Bell]

I took it as just a statement of fact and more related to the Jan 10th incident and threats by people to attempt to sell salacious gossip to rags. I say "related to the Jan 10th incident" to mean that I wondered if the media would be able to find out about that, and LE simply wanted to explain it before speculation started as to the reason police went to the home.

Sometimes a piece of information might be indicative of something, but first of all it's just a piece of information no different from a piece of information such as the clothing someone was wearing when they were last seen.

That's an excellent description.

 

[jackal67]

We have a clue about the depth because there is a sign on the tree saying deep water in red lettering. I don't think anyone would have put this beside a shallow bit of water in an otherwise harmless and shallow looking River.

But we do not know for certain that she entered the water at the bench. Only that her phone and willow were found there

 

[Haveyoufedthecat]

They may not have even removed her from the water yet. When my friend’s mum was found drowned (suicide) in water, a police diver stayed in the water with the body for 6 hours before it was recovered onto land

I hope to God that in view of the appalling behaviour of certain areas of Social Media that an extremely wide and I mean WIDE police cordon is thrown around that whole area keeping absolutely everyone out that shouldn't be there. Possibly if I was running things I'm afraid I would be saying (in view of the media attention) that the body stays in the water under the watchful eye of a police diver and is only recovered in the very late hours of this evening or the very very early hours of morning before any sunrise. I say this for reasons of the privacy and dignity of the deceased.

 

[Mr X]

But we do not know for certain that she entered the water at the bench. Only that her phone and willow were found there

This is true but don't forget that some influencial people (no names) will like it to be said that she didn't fall or jump in there. If you see what I mean.

Don't be led by the publicity, be led by the evidence.

 

[xrahilx]

certainly show whether the person was alive or dead BEFORE they entered the water. Not sure, though, how they would determine whether entry to the water was d

I think they check the lungs - water fills the airways differently when a drowning person breaths it in. A dead body placed later can not breathe it in.