Found Deceased UK - Nicola Bulley Last Seen Walking Dog Near River - St Michaels on Wyre (Lancashire) #5

[ayrshireguy]

I think it depends on what the ground was like. If the grass was icy, I'm not sure how easy it would be to see any marks. I agree that it's unusual, but it would only take a few steps backwards given how steep the ground is to end up over the edge.

Yep, hard ground or soft ground, makes all the difference, although someone mentioned it was soft that day. Im not sure.

 

[justicepeace]

MSM post on my first post….

https://www.lep.co.uk/news/crime/nicola-bulleys-friend-shares-11-facts-to-set-the-record-straight-about-missing-mums-disappearance-4014566

 

[sundaaaay]

Yes, me too. During the police conference LE said the dog was off the leash. Maybe the dog was near the river, chasing something, she jumped up to get the dog and somehow, too close to the river fell in????

Could have been anything really, probably dog related such looking for a good branch to throw, maybe was looking at nature (have seen online there are Otters in places in this river), maybe she lost something near the edge. The fact she left her phone on the bench implies the possibility there was a chance it could have fallen in, so she knew it was maybe risky.

 

[vivienbee]

MSM post on my first post….

https://www.lep.co.uk/news/crime/nicola-bulleys-friend-shares-11-facts-to-set-the-record-straight-about-missing-mums-disappearance-4014566

I think the fact that the friend confirms -- "Willow, never has her harness on for a chunk of that walk, it's removed at the gate of the top field and then put back on at the gate when they leave" -- gives credence to the idea that NB was putting Willow's harness back on, placed her phone on the bench to make this easier, stood on the back of her long coat and stumbled/lost her footing, falling backwards/sideways down the steep slope and into the water. IMO.

This would line up with the phone being on the bench, Willow being loose and the harness being partway down the bank. (I know that people have stated that Willow would have gone into the water after her but I don't necessarily think this is fact. Willow may have been running back and forth between the gate to try to get help/attract attention. All dogs, regardless of the breed, react differently in crisis situations, just like humans.)

A routine series of events that she's done a hundred times with one misstep that results in a tragic outcome.

I'm not ruling out other possibilities but this seems the most likely scenario given what we know at the moment IMO.

 

[Sandyuk]

So, the dog was running from the bench and the gate and found by the caravan park owner and she tied it up? How? Did willow have a collar on in addition to the harness or did she have to put the harness back on (which isn’t easy and can take a lot of time if you don’t know how to do it)?

Good point how did she put the harness back on ?

 

[vivienbee]

Good point how did she put the harness back on ?

Short answer: we don't know.

Longer answer: we don't know, but it seems from images of previous outings with Willow that she also has a collar. It's possible that the lead and harness were separate and she just used the lead to secure her, but it's also possible that she put the harness on (perhaps incorrectly which is why Willow was found loose again later on.)

 

[justicepeace]

I was under the impression that (maybe) first witness on scene with willow caught her running freely so she tied her up whilst she got help and of course went to her appointment. I don’t think the police are saying when they arrived the dog was free, it was the initial finding of the dog they are giving info on, so the witness account IMO.

 

[justicepeace]

Good point how did she put the harness back on ?

From pics I have seen of willow she defo has a separate collar, may not have had it on but has in recent pics with a name tag also.

 

[JosieMae]

Catching up here. If NB did somehow end up in the river, shouldn't the body have surfaced by now?

(How sad to write those words.)

 

[Belleville]

Catching up here. If NB did somehow end up in the river, shouldn't the body have surfaced by now?

(How sad to write those words.)

Can take up to two weeks for the gases to build up in a body, which is why they resurface, especially in cold weather. Horrible as it is to say. Been reading about dogs who are trained to smell death underwater thou, they can smell down to 15 metres I think I read. Not sure if they are using one, they are very spealised and there was only one for the whole of Scotland.

 

[Casseus]

Has anyone else noticed that the UK media surrounding this case are constantly updating their reports to accurately reflect the 'official' police report?

I understand they are probably doing this in cooperation with the police to avoid speculation, which I get.
But some important facts have evaporated.

Early into this breaking, about day 3, there were several reports of an anonymous women finding the dog in the field, not by the bench - closer to the caravan park.

She said she tied it up (not mentioned where) and had an appointment so left.
But the dog was not found tied up by the bench...

Ever since the official statement yesterday, this has been changed to a walker finding everything in one go, the dog, the phone & the harness.

This may be legit, maybe the police have decided this witness was unreliable.
But...
It's a big deal, because it may reveal that willow followed NB away from the bench.

It's just frustrating because now it sounds crazy.

I’ve been confused about the exact same thing. It was in the early reports and then vanished from the recount and not included in the official timeline.

 

[Belleville]

MSM post on my first post….

https://www.lep.co.uk/news/crime/nicola-bulleys-friend-shares-11-facts-to-set-the-record-straight-about-missing-mums-disappearance-4014566

Alot more info here

 

[vivienbee]

I was under the impression that (maybe) first witness on scene with willow caught her running freely so she tied her up whilst she got help and of course went to her appointment. I don’t think the police are saying when they arrived the dog was free, it was the initial finding of the dog they are giving info on, so the witness account IMO.

You're right, I was confused thinking two different witnesses found Willow afterwards because of things I was remembering about this article:

Missing mum of two seen 'laughing and joking' moments before she disappeared

Nicola Bulley, 45, disappeared while out on a dog walk last Friday morning after dropping her children at school in St Michael's-on-Wyre, Lancashire, before police launched a major search operation

www.mirror.co.uk

If there's any truth to this account, it makes leaving Willow unattended harder to understand IMO.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
'She went on to say two other dog walkers later came across her phone and recognised the screensaver photo.
She said they were unable to unlock the phone and contacted a friend who then called St Michael's-on-Wyre Church of England Primary School, where Nicola had dropped her two children earlier that morning.
Partner Paul Ansell was contacted and raced to the scene from the family home three miles away in Inskip, before calling the police, the friend said. "As far as I’m aware, no one called the police until Paul arrived," she said.'

'She went on to say, the dog walker spotted Willow as she came through a gate onto the towpath but became suspicious when she saw the harness and lead on the floor.
A man then came through behind her with his dog and spotted the phone.
"The gent has looked on the floor and two feet from the bench there’s a phone," she said."' (BBM)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So there were two people together who found Willow, and neither of them stayed with her or called the authorities? I presume some things got lost in translation and that this is the initial witness who called her daughter.

I don't think any of the witnesses are suspicious or have anything to do with what transpired but I find this discrepancy confusing. Is this just bad journalism/a jumbled account from the friend? Or was there more than one person? The latest updates on this case suggest that the woman was on her own.

Can anyone shed any light? Because I'm just in a muddle now.

 

[Casseus]

I hear what you're saying. Other people walking that way have been picked up on camera, so why hasn't Nicola.

I hope the police check every house in the area to see who has a Ring doorbell. .I'm sure this new potential witness the police want to trace (lady in yellow jacket pushing a child's pushchair) must've come from a Ring doorbell camera.

This is my exact question. If the house was filming everyone that walked past then If she took that route to the fields then she would also be on that footage

 

[Casseus]

Alot more info here

Great link.

This has given me chills:

“11 – There's CCTV at the back of the caravan park. The only camera that isn't working is the one that would have seen everything”

The caravan park has come up a lot. And to now know it had the camera that held all the information and that wasn’t working just changes things for me. MOO.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Great link.

This has given me chills:

“11 – There's CCTV at the back of the caravan park. The only camera that isn't working is the one that would have seen everything”

The caravan park has come up a lot. And to now know it had the camera that held all the information and that wasn’t working just changes things for me. MOO.

Changes things how?

 

[SuzyQ70]

Am i right in saying Willow was found between the bench and gate?

 

[Casseus]

Changes things how?

Just my own opinion and keeping a more open mind of what the outcome/cause of this could be. It’s purely opinion and would be nothing more than speculation so I’m not going to post anymore about that. MOO- A very helpful list, shame that’s she’s felt the need to do it, but honestly the MSM have done a shocking job at maintaining accuracy in their reporting - MOO-Very distressing for the family I’m sure.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Just my own opinion and keeping a more open mind of what the outcome/cause of this could be. It’s purely opinion and would be nothing more than speculation so I’m not going to post anymore about that. MOO- A very helpful list, shame that’s she’s felt the need to do it, but honestly the MSM have done a shocking job at maintaining accuracy in their reporting - MOO-Very distressing for the family I’m sure.

All very vague after you state you have "chills" and it "changes things" for you then you decline to elaborate further.

 

[UK Girl]

I get where you are coming from

Just my own opinion and keeping a more open mind of what the outcome/cause of this could be. It’s purely opinion and would be nothing more than speculation so I’m not going to post anymore about that. MOO- A very helpful list, shame that’s she’s felt the need to do it, but honestly the MSM have done a shocking job at maintaining accuracy in their reporting - MOO-Very distressing for the family I’m sure.

I get where you are coming from to be honest.