Found Deceased UK - Nicola Bulley Last Seen Walking Dog Near River - St Michaels on Wyre (Lancashire) #3

[msmarple99]

The article clearly states

She described how on Sunday morning local residents then met at the village hall, alongside Paul, at around 10.30am to organise their own search.

Paul is understood to have searched a different abandoned house in between the village hall and the Ivy Dene Alpacas site prior to the meeting.

He didn't search it until Sunday on his way to join up with the search party.

This raised red flags to me.zwhy first place to go

 

[WhoIsThatGuy]

There are no video captures of her at all? We’re all the homes asked to see their camera footage? Surely there must be some if there was a capture of the lady in he red coat the police are talking to? No screams? No barking? A cell put on the bench and a loose dog? Was that walking Strava app she used set to public so that fellow walkers could see her route in real time? The silence and swiftness of her disappearance is so very questionable. <modsnip> she knew her abductor somehow, even superficially through that walking app if it was set to public on her privacy settings.

None as we know so far. I would have thought there would have been something, in the form of dashcam, doorbell or cctv from the school car park but the police have said nothing and released nothing. JMO

 

[Dobby’s sock]

Question: How long before a dog like willow would dry off? I've only ever had German Shepherds. Willow seems a lot shorter haired than any of my dogs. And if my GSD does anything physical, they can dry off fairly quickly with the body heat.

I know a witness has been quoted as saying the dog was "bone dry", but in this case, I'm inclined to take these statements with a pinch of salt.

A dog of that breed would take a while to dry off imo. My short haired border collie is a keen swimmer and with having an undercoat she stays damp to the touch for around an hour on a hot day so would be considerable longer in lower temps. I’d imagine a springer would be fairly similar their coats are slightly longer as well.

 

[kittythehare]

This raised red flags to me.zwhy first place to go

It was on Sunday, not Friday.
She went missing on Friday.
On SUNDAY a search party had been arrange and he was joining it so he was in search mode, presumably.
There is nothing really odd about it.
It's quite possible the searchers had even discussed the place prior to his search.
Remember Sunday was day3.

 

[infinit]

None as we know so far. I would have thought there would have been something, in the form of dashcam, doorbell or cctv from the school car park but the police have said nothing and released nothing. JMO

<modsnip> Which leaves that she has either had an accident or been the victim of some form of attack, in neither of those cases is she likely to be on any dashcam, doorbell or cctv. If there were to be some found of her after 9:30 it would drastically change how this looks from the outside.

 

[Esse123]

The police have said they don't suspect a criminal issue - they have said they are searching the entire river with underwater drones and divers, and the obvious answer is she fell into the water but its a week later and it's a small shallow river and they still haven't found her and her family have said there's no evidence that she fell in - the dog was found bone dry 20 minutes later, which suggests the dog never entered the water, what worries me is that the police seem so focused on the river that they aren't looking any possible alternative explanations, surely they should be exploring all possibilities?

 

[kittythehare]

Question: How long before a dog like willow would dry off? I've only ever had German Shepherds. Willow seems a lot shorter haired than any of my dogs. And if my GSD does anything physical, they can dry off fairly quickly with the body heat.

I know a witness has been quoted as saying the dog was "bone dry", but in this case, I'm inclined to take these statements with a pinch of salt.

Dog is a springer spaniel.
I have shared life with one.
It takes ages for their ears to dry and she has floppy ears.

 

[Marie A]

I think that after an hour of roaming around that morning she had to go to the bathroom.
The bench was far enough from the car park/ a public restroom and nobody was in sight but I think she went toward the water to confirm she was “out of sight” while not worried about leaving her phone on the bench and not wanting to disconnect to the conference call so not wanting to put her phone in her pocket. Her dog may have followed her. I think she literally slipped down the riverbank when her pants were pulled down and she may have hit her head on the way down and been in bad position to regain balance or swim if her legs were entangled. I think they will eventually find her in the water.
No foul play just a very sad accident IMHO

 

[kittythehare]

The police have said they don't suspect a criminal issue - they have said they are searching the entire river with underwater drones and divers, and the obvious answer is she fell into the water but its a week later and it's a small shallow river and they still haven't found her and her family have said there's no evidence that she fell in - the dog was found bone dry 20 minutes later, which suggests the dog never entered the water, what worries me is that the police seem so focused on the river that they aren't looking any possible alternative explanations, surely they should be exploring all possibilities?

I'm pretty sure they are.
they seem to be a highly trained professional body.

 

[lolaclare]

Couple of things - just my own opinion/speculation.

1) do we know if her phone was an iPhone? It has been mentioned she might have been wearing AirPods and thus able to walk about while the phone was on the bench (if it was ever on the bench), etc. I have AirPods and am constantly losing them. The findmy feature on apple devices will tell you the last time they were connected to the phone, which would give a fairly accurate time as to when whatever happened to take Nicola away from her phone or vice versa occurred. You can also track the location of the AirPods on there, but admittedly if submerged in water I would imagine this might not work

2) I’m often on Teams meetings via my phone that I don’t really have to participate in and often remain connected after it has finished if I am distracted. So it doesn’t necessarily mean Nicola had something happen to her before the end of the meeting.

 

[Taskforce88]

The police have said they don't suspect a criminal issue - they have said they are searching the entire river with underwater drones and divers, and the obvious answer is she fell into the water but its a week later and it's a small shallow river and they still haven't found her and her family have said there's no evidence that she fell in - the dog was found bone dry 20 minutes later, which suggests the dog never entered the water, what worries me is that the police seem so focused on the river that they aren't looking any possible alternative explanations, surely they should be exploring all possibilities?

They will be looking into all possibilities. All we are seeing is what is on MSN and released from the Police.

 

[infinit]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed> I can't find it now but I'm pretty sure a tweet was posted earlier in the thread from the Police force that they processed the scene at the start.

 

[Tanzanite]

I think NB's partner cannot do right. I'm echoing another poster's point here, but if he gave a statement or appeal, every single flicker of his eyes, every shadow of an expression, every syllable he uttered would be offered up as "evidence" of something or other. Given the circumstances here, and the understandable desire for a breakthrough of sorts, it would be open season.

By way of example, the posts on this thread went swiftly from "why is PA not searching?" = suspicious, to, '"Oh, wait, he did search" = suspicious.

PA is likely to be following police advice anyway, one would think, and focusing on their daughters' needs primarily. I cannot fathom how someone in such an awful position manages much beyond basic functioning and providing love to his children. Throw suspicion his way was always going to happen though, and he will be horribly aware of that, alongside everything else.

 

[Cuko]

There's nothing to lose in trying it. If only dogs could talk.

I’ve said those exact words each time I’ve seen a photo of Willow.

 

[lolaclare]

I think that after an hour of roaming around that morning she had to go to the bathroom.
The bench was far enough from the car park/ a public restroom and nobody was in sight but I think she went toward the water to confirm she was “out of sight” while not worried about leaving her phone on the bench and not wanting to disconnect to the conference call so not wanting to put her phone in her pocket. Her dog may have followed her. I think she literally slipped down the riverbank when her pants were pulled down and she may have hit her head on the way down and been in bad position to regain balance or swim if her legs were entangled. I think they will eventually find her in the water.
No foul play just a very sad accident IMHO

This seems unlikely to me. I have never known a woman pull her pants down to urinate in public whilst potentially in the open in plain view beside a bench or a river. They would always go into some trees/undergrowth.

 

[Laura30]

I think it’s clear there are only 3 ways out of the area where NB was on Friday.
1- back out the way she came in.
2- through the back of the caravan park and Allotment Lane
3- via the service road which runs through Rowanwater

Using Google maps to zoom in on option 3 there appear to be a row of car parking spaces at the very end of this road.

The end of this road and these parking spaces is just metres away from where NB was last seen at 9:10(approximately) in the upper field.

The road through rowanwater with the car parking spaces has what looks to be electric gates at the entrance off the main road so would possibly be able to narrow down to person/person's that knew how to gain access also the bench is a fair distance from there where Nicolas phone and harness was found. Would someone cross both fields to leave phone at bench and also possible be seen also the dog was first spotted in the opposite field by the caravan site.

 

[msmarple99]

I can't find it now but I'm pretty sure a tweet was posted earlier in the thread from the Police force that they processed the scene at the start.

They issued that on Twitter this afternoon "to reassure"

 

[Beginnersleuth]

I think NB's partner cannot do right. I'm echoing another poster's point here, but if he gave a statement or appeal, every single flicker of his eyes, every shadow of an expression, every syllable he uttered would be offered up as "evidence" of something or other. Given the circumstances here, and the understandable desire for a breakthrough of sorts, it would be open season.

By way of example, the posts on this thread went swiftly from "why is PA not searching?" = suspicious, to, '"Oh, wait, he did search" = suspicious.

PA is likely to be following police advice anyway, one would think, and focusing on their daughters' needs primarily. I cannot fathom how someone in such an awful position manages much beyond basic functioning and providing love to his children. Throw suspicion his way was always going to happen though, and he will be horribly aware of that, alongside everything else.

For all we know he may have a water tight alibi and be beyond suspicion by the police.

 

[Davinia]

The river was at its lowest tide that morning. The previous high tide was at 2 in the morning, and then it didn't get high again till 3pm in the afternoon on the day she went missing. So how could she have drowned, or been carried away in the river? That was my first thought but doesn't make sense now. Unless she was assaulted, and someone put her body back in the river later when the tide was high again

 

[Dcflag]

Springer’s just like German shepherds, have a double coat