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

[Officer Dibble]

The dog wasn't wet, and not all dogs would necessarily follow their owner into water - some would do exactly what the dog was found doing: barking and looking distressed.

The river is definitely deep enough for a person to be submerged, and it remains the most likely scenario.

However, even if she is in the water, the lead and phone didn't end up in the water with her, so something sudden must have happened before that for them to be on the ground.

For me, the position of the lead and - particularly - the phone are the most interesting things.

If you have a mooch close to the river bank ("faffing around" as someone said in a report), you wouldn't leave your phone on the ground.

You might hurl or drop your phone to the ground if you suddenly had to get your dog who had strayed too close to the edge.

Equally, you might drop your phone on the ground if suddenly attacked.

I think the phone and lead were found by witnesses. It would be interesting to see their exact position when found.

Or you might drop your phone if someone tried to take your dog. JMO MOO

 

[Doobiesis]

Stayed connected because NB was not able to disconnect since at that time whatever had happened?

I guess it gives a narrower timeline for LE.

 

[Officer Dibble]

The wife of the first potential witness (the man with the fluffy white dog) is reported to have said her husband told her "In the field there were about 3 people" including her husband. Have they been traced and spoken to? It sounds like there were a number of walkers around, so I'd be surprised if there was any foul play.

Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog

Nicola Bulley, 45, was last seen walking her brown cocker spaniel Willow near the River Wyre in Lancashire after dropping her two daughters off at school on Friday morning

www.mirror.co.uk

Unless there was a stalker, waiting, hiding. JMO

 

[Officer Dibble]

Do you think the bank is steep enough that if NB had had a serious incident like brain bleed or seizure that she would end up in the river? Ive not been able to tell from the picture.

It is very steep. You could roll down it and into the water IMO

 

[San111]

Do you think the bank is steep enough that if NB had had a serious incident like brain bleed or seizure that she would end up in the river? Ive not been able to tell from the picture.

Possible but just doesn't seem likely if it happened near the top by the bench that you would fall all the way down, it's not that steep from photos. You'd need to be at the water's edge where there is a bit of a drop

 

[shamzyk]

Do you think the bank is steep enough that if NB had had a serious incident like brain bleed or seizure that she would end up in the river? Ive not been able to tell from the picture.

The article below shows a diver climbing out onto the bank and it looks steep particularly in poor conditions
Link

 

[Inspector Evans]

I’ve got a horrible feeling about this but hope for her families sake my gut is proven wrong, how do we know it was Nicola herself sending the work email or logging onto the teams call, could it be whoever had her phone before it was left near the bench? Something hasn’t been adding up from the get go and I can’t pin point why when I stay so far away and don’t know the area. The fact she does the same walk is provoking a horrible feeling this wasn’t a random gone missing case and potentially pre planned

Interesting she emailed her boss and not her sister about the Spa date. Don't think there's anything in that though apart from she was heavily focused on the new client in that 24 hour period and would've got back to her Sister sometime later in the day which sadly didn't happen.

Really strange case with this 20 minute period gap now. Feels to me more though like it's just her involved in this.

 

[Potato80]

Or you might drop your phone if someone tried to take your dog. JMO MOO

The issue with the theories that another person was involved is that nobody else is reported to have been seen - so far - by any of the witnesses. Everyone who has been seen has been identified.

NB was seen by three or more people in the comparatively short time she was walking.

If another person was there, they'd have likely been seen by someone too, unless they were very carefully hiding the entire time they're in the vicinity.

 

[Potato80]

Possible but just doesn't seem likely if it happened near the top by the bench that you would fall all the way down, it's not that steep from photos. You'd need to be at the water's edge where there is a bit of a drop

The top of the bank looks like a nearly 45° angle, and it gets very steep at the water's edge. One could easily fall to the edge with one slip on ground made wet with morning dew.

 

[Eam001]

<modsnip> I followed the recreation of the path she took and it sent absolute shivers down my spine. I would never walk that path alone - you could so easily be taken by surprise from behind or to the side by an attacker. If Nicola was wearing headphones or on a call, she wouldn't have been able to hear sounds around her either.

I think she was forced into letting go of her phone and the dog was restrained and then let go of by the attacker once the attack was finished. It's not unheard of for women walking dogs to be murdered, it happened with Lin Russell and others too. I think the attacker has disposed of Nicola's body further downstream and the tide has taken her and it will take a while for her to be found. I think the person that found her Nicola's phone found it discarded on the path and put it on the bench.

I don't think the dog was in the water and I don't think Nicola drowned herself or accidentally fell in. It's possible she had a medical emergency such as an aneurysm, stroke, cardiac arrest etc, and fell into the water unconscious, was drowned and carried away by the tide. It's not my feeling though, I think she's been put into the water by someone. I also don't believe that women commit suicide by throwing themselves in shallow canals in public. Survival instinct is strong in humans, do you really think she flung herself into knee-high water without thrashing or panicking and risking someone rescuing her.

<modsnip - not victim friendly>

Nicola was attractive and vivacious. We've heard this story a million times before, and it makes me furious, <modsnip>

I would be delighted to be proved wrong, of course, nothing would be better than Nicola being found safe and sound.

 

[Laura30]

I've been following the story and I'm just wondering what others here thought about my theory that if Nicola didn't enter the water and the police not looking like they have found any trace of her there, that they are now looking at the possibility of Nicola been taken from the bench/lower field by someone maybe into a building/property/caravan near or maybe in a vehicle as they looks to be direct access to near the bench/lower field from the main road down allotment lane. Also with them releasing a photo today of the lady dog walker in the red coat that was caught walking down the allotment lane to come forward as a witness it leaves me thinking they may want to ask her about possible seeing someone or vehicles parked on that road. I know there has been conflicting stories about where the dog was located as it was initially said dog was found between bench and river but then the caravan owner also gave a story saying that the dog was found by themselves roaming near the caravan site and I just have a feeling that maybe the dog was trying to get to Nicola as that's the direction she was taken but the dog when couldn't find her ran back to the bench as that where the harness and phone were.

 

[Taskforce88]

Both empty houses mentioned are on the south ('opposite') side of the river.

And NB would likely have been seen heading all that way.

 

[Blondiexoxo]

If someone Nicola recognised from previous walks approached saying they’d lost their dog or needed some help immediately, would she go with them? Is there an area someone could possibly keep a car close by and get out of the area without being seen by cctv? Or is it one way in one way out?

I do believe that it’s likely Nicola had an accident involving the water, however as they haven’t found her yet I’m trying to think of any other scenario. Ever since Sarah Everard I believe anything is possible, and no one should be cleared without thorough investigation IMO.

 

[Beginnersleuth]

<modsnip> I followed the recreation of the path she took and it sent absolute shivers down my spine. I would never walk that path alone - you could so easily be taken by surprise from behind or to the side by an attacker. If Nicola was wearing headphones or on a call, she wouldn't have been able to hear sounds around her either.

I think she was forced into letting go of her phone and the dog was restrained and then let go of by the attacker once the attack was finished. It's not unheard of for women walking dogs to be murdered, it happened with Lin Russell and others too. I think the attacker has disposed of Nicola's body further downstream and the tide has taken her and it will take a while for her to be found. I think the person that found her Nicola's phone found it discarded on the path and put it on the bench.

I don't think the dog was in the water and I don't think Nicola drowned herself or accidentally fell in. It's possible she had a medical emergency such as an aneurysm, stroke, cardiac arrest etc, and fell into the water unconscious, was drowned and carried away by the tide. It's not my feeling though, I think she's been put into the water by someone. I also don't believe that women commit suicide by throwing themselves in shallow canals in public. Survival instinct is strong in humans, do you really think she flung herself into knee-high water without thrashing or panicking and risking someone rescuing her.

<modsnip - not victim friendly>

Nicola was attractive and vivacious. We've heard this story a million times before, and it makes me furious, <modsnip>

I would be delighted to be proved wrong, of course, nothing would be better than Nicola being found safe and sound.

This feels a lot more likely than a sudden medical event or suicide but if no one saw the attacker and it was reasonably busy/daylight and if a single attacker probably difficult to control the dog and attack at the same time. Also weird that the teams call didn’t lose connection as you’d expect if the phone was dropped. And you’d expect signs of a struggle/dragging etc that the police would have seen.
It is very odd. And I’m sure there are ways round all these things - esp if it was planned and a stalker who knew what NB normally does.

 

[WhoIsThatGuy]

Has anyone discussed any theories surrounding two mobile phones.

NB has social media profiles listed at Post #1 in this thread.

One appears to be work and one personal.

Is it know if NB had more than one phone, maybe one for work, one for mobile? If perhaps one phone is still physically in NB possession, different to the one found by the bench?

 

[IKnowNowt]

Can anyone confirm if NB's FB profile has always been public? I searched for it when she first went missing and couldn't find it. Then a couple of days later it was at the top of my search results. It may just be that I'd missed it, but I was curious if it had initially been taken down?

 

[philthesaddler]

For me, the red flags and things that don’t add up in this case are as follows:

- Time of day. Very odd, first thing in the morning. Not the time of day you expect a random attack.

- Location. Rural village, secluded, popular walking route with locals. Any odd individuals or people acting strangely would stand out like a saw thumb. As far as we now, no one has reported seeing anyone behaving oddly.

- No signs of struggle. Partner was called first, almost as if at first there was no sense of urgency, not the police. Why?

- A dog owner, who recognised a dog, but couldn’t see the owner, would not leave the dog in situ. Almost as if the witnesses knew the owner was still nearby, but perhaps pre-occupied. If it was me, I’d hang around for a while, then take the dog in with me (in fact this has happened to me before)

<modsnip - not victim friendly>

- Anonymous witnesses - suggests the witnesses saw more than has been revealed, and police know more than they are letting on. Perhaps NB was seen with someone else.

Put yourself in the shoes of the police - if you suspect someone, but there is currently not enough evidence whatsoever to implicate or charge them, what do you do? Do you let the case run and hope the suspect slips up before revealing suspicions? (They did in the McCann case) Perhaps wait for a body to show up?

 

[Taskforce88]

Can anyone confirm if NB's FB profile has always been public? I searched for it when she first went missing and couldn't find it. Then a couple of days later it was at the top of my search results. It may just be that I'd missed it, but I was curious if it had initially been taken down?

Top of your search results because it has become so popular

 

[Petrocelli]

If they have cctv footage of the lady in red coat then presumably also footage of any cars in allotment lane and given there’s no appeals for unknown cars seems even more unlikely she was taken.

 

[MissTwiddle]

I’ve read that the person who found Willow tied them to a bench because they didn’t have time to do anything else.

I don’t understand this, because if they didn’t have time to do anything, how did they have time to establish the dog was missing? And, it’s law in England that all dogs out in public must have an ID tag with their owners contact number. Ringing that is what people do when they find a dog they suspect is missing / got loose.