Found Deceased UK - Nicola Bulley Last Seen Walking Dog Near River - St Michaels on Wyre (Lancashire), Jan 2023 #18

[Zuleika]

I haven't asked for the identity ? I am asking is this the eye witness who was sought early on in the investigation because clearly at some point there is a witness who the police have seen on CCTV who could/should have seen Nicola but for whatever reason didn't. I am asking do we know the location and time ?

Are you referring to the woman with the pram? She did come forward .

 

[Agatha3]

They must have been sure right from Day 1 that there was no foul play and never really deviated from that. Wonder if she left a note or sent a text or just said something to someone. Usually a woman disappears whilst on a walk you think of abduction.

Will NB be on the house CCTV from that morning? Police might see from her demeanour if she looked anxious, perhaps.

 

[Cuko]

Will NB be on the house CCTV from that morning? Police might see from her demeanour if she looked anxious, perhaps.

That household CCTV was released by Nicola’s family shortly after her disappearance, IIRC.

 

[pineapple23]

That household CCTV was released by Nicola’s family shortly after her disappearance, IIRC.

Plus there were no reports of any outward stress. In fact PA said things were more organised that morning and at least one person met on route said she was her normal self. Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog

 

[Lindengracht]

IMO the dog, if loose, could have easily followed her and the gate is just wide cross bars of metal aside from the fact that other people with the same sized dogs proved their dog just went straight round and under the gap in the fence. JMO I can't link to the sort of content creators who went and did this. I can't imagine how NB could have been any distance from the dog without it following her unless something nefarious happened to her and she was either snatched or the dog was held back.

Right at the beginning some people speculated the dog should have been shaved and checked for cuts, marks, and bruises and that suggestion was mocked and anyway didn't happen but why not? It would make sense surely to see if something physically distressing had happened to the dog?

I agree with everything you say about the dog.
Plus: why would Nicola have gone through one of the gates/stiles? It would have led her to the caravan park or Allotment Lane, away from the river. If she planned to enter the water somewhere downstream, she would probably have taken the river path that she knew so well and crossed Blackpool Lane near the bridge.

 

[ginnyw]

Plus there were no reports of any outward stress. In fact PA said things were more organised that morning and at least one person met on route said she was her normal self. Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog

I think it depends on how you read it. The unusual calm that morning was not necessarily a positive thing, and I'm sure that lots of times when I'm out walking around, I look 'completely normal' and nobody would have any idea that I was struggling with stuff underneath. The images in the CCTV footage, IMO, present NB as looking thin and strained. JMO. MOO.

 

[PeggyHenry]

I think it depends on how you read it. The unusual calm that morning was not necessarily a positive thing, and I'm sure that lots of times when I'm out walking around, I look 'completely normal' and nobody would have any idea that I was struggling with stuff underneath. The images in the CCTV footage, IMO, present NB as looking thin and strained. JMO. MOO.

I honestly can’t tell how she looked as only saw a side view and it wasn’t a very clear image. If the woman who met her said she seemed normal then I’m assuming she seemed ‘normal’. Again, I don’t think we can really know how she was that morning.

If suicide was the cause then I’m surprised she decided to take action on this dog walk, knowing Willow would be left. It just would be so difficult to leave daughters and dog. I know it’s possible though…

 

[Simplistic67]

Early on in the search there were appeals for a female witness to come forward but when the lady spoke to the police and the media she stated that she hadn't seen anything. Does anyone know if THIS is the woman in question and when/where this eye witness account was supposed to have taken place?

I believe its the lady in red with the small white dog. Indeed, it was reported and stated by the police that their dogs briefly interacted and this lady knew Nicola....However, the lady has stated that she DID NOT see or know Nicola....Someone is incorrect

 

[Simplistic67]

There is absolutely nothing to prove Nicola even went on that walk IMO...No CCTV whatsoever of the day that shows her travelling or walking...Odd

 

[shinimeggie]

There is absolutely nothing to prove Nicola even went on that walk IMO...No CCTV whatsoever of the day that shows her travelling or walking...Odd

People she knew, and they knew her, bumped in to her.

These theories are steadily getting more and more, to use your own word, 'odd'.

 

[PeggyHenry]

There is absolutely nothing to prove Nicola even went on that walk IMO...No CCTV whatsoever of the day that shows her travelling or walking...Odd

It would not surprise me if that was the missing piece of the jigsaw and the reason why nothing appears to make a lot of sense.
But what about witness 1 who saw her and chatted in top field before she left Nicola and walked away along river path? That seemed a definite sighting which can’t be ignored.
However after that there is only the witness who observed her walking in top field.

The reason we are still here is because things don’t seem quite right. But maybe we will get a conclusive statement that she died from drowning and the body had been in river for x amount of days.

 

[PeggyHenry]

There is absolutely nothing to prove Nicola even went on that walk IMO...No CCTV whatsoever of the day that shows her travelling or walking...Odd

It would not surprise me if that was the missing piece of the jigsaw and the reason why nothing appears to make a lot of sense.
But what about witness 1 who saw her and chatted in top field before she left Nicola and walked away along river path? That seemed a definite sighting which can’t be ignored.
However after that there is only the witness who observed her walking in top field.

The reason we are still here is because things don’t seem quite right. But maybe we will get a conclusive statement that she died from drowning and the body had been in river for x amount of days.

Also for me the dog Willow being bone dry suggests she avoided the riverside on this walk. Maybe for the purpose of keeping Willow dry. Often, when we don’t want wet and muddy dogs, we avoid walking close to the river to make it a little bit easier when home.. if there’s a reason to save time.
If Willow was bone dry then she didn’t enter the water. As these dogs love water, it does suggest Nicola may have kept to the fields. However, if NB drowned then it must have been in an area which Willow couldn’t access. Which to me lends itself to the suicide theory which for me, doesn’t seem to fit. But we could go around and around in circles….

 

[Cuko]

After endless speculation about multiple possible scenarios, I’ve reached a point where I believe we are missing one significant piece of information that could make all the jumbled pieces of this baffling jigsaw fall into place. I suspect that piece concerns the welfare visit made to NB’s home a week or so before her disappearance. I could, of course, be absolutely wrong. JMO

 

[pineapple23]

If suicide was the cause then I’m surprised she decided to take action on this dog walk, knowing Willow would be left. It just would be so difficult to leave daughters and dog. I know it’s possible though…

This was my feeling too but in an earlier discussion on the possibility of suicide it was pointed out that you can't necessarily apply usual thought processes in instances like this - or rather put yourself into the head of that person.

 

[pineapple23]

After endless speculation about multiple possible scenarios, I’ve reached a point where I believe we are missing one significant piece of information that could make all the jumbled pieces of this baffling jigsaw fall into place. I suspect that piece concerns the welfare visit made to NB’s home a week or so before her disappearance. I could, of course, be absolutely wrong. JMO

Imo it might increase the probability/possibility of certain scenarios, but I can't see how we can ever get a 100% answer to how she came to be in the water.

 

[Cuko]

Imo it might increase the probability/possibility of certain scenarios, but I can't see how we can ever get a 100% answer to how she came to be in the water.

I’m inclined to agree that we may never fully know. Unless of course Nicola left a note or sent a message of some kind, indicating her plans.

 

[pineapple23]

There is absolutely nothing to prove Nicola even went on that walk IMO...No CCTV whatsoever of the day that shows her travelling or walking...Odd

She took her kids to school and was also seen at school and paths crossed with another dog walker who knew her.

 

[Marie Bell]

I don't know whether those who have been posting recently were not following this case from the start. In which case they might have missed the press conference by Superintendent Riley on 3rd February. She stated very clearly that they had considered all the factors around NB herself and that their main working hypothesis was that she had fallen ACCIDENTALLY into the river. In the Q&A session she even mentioned how it was possible that NB had gone to attend to the dog, placing the phone on the bench, and had then fallen whilst dealing with the dog.

There has never been an occasion I'm aware of where police have described a hypothetical accident in such detail if they had found any reason to consider suicide to be an equally likely possibility. Ergo, IMO there was no 'note', and no need to speculate about what happened on January 10th. If the inquest reveals otherwise I will admit to being wrong, but in the meantime I don't think it's kind to her family for people to keep speculating.

superintendent Riley press conference

 

[pineapple23]

I don't know whether those who have been posting recently were not following this case from the start. In which case they might have missed the press conference by Superintendent Riley on 3rd February. She stated very clearly that they had considered all the factors around NB herself and that their main working hypothesis was that she had fallen ACCIDENTALLY into the river. In the Q&A session she even mentioned how it was possible that NB had gone to attend to the dog, placing the phone on the bench, and had then fallen whilst dealing with the dog.

There has never been an occasion I'm aware of where police have described a hypothetical accident in such detail if they had found any reason to consider suicide to be an equally likely possibility. Ergo, IMO there was no 'note', and no need to speculate about what happened on January 10th. If the inquest reveals otherwise I will admit to being wrong, but in the meantime I don't think it's kind to her family for people to keep speculating.

superintendent Riley press conference

Unfortunately imo the release of the vulnerabilities info has skewed the speculation towards self harm. However, if relevant at all, 'high risk' could simply mean something like possible misadventure due to impaired judgement or a lack of concentration.
Re whether it is fair to the family to continue discussion/speculation, are you suggesting that discussions on missing persons should be closed when/if that person is found deceased?

 

[darring21]

I don't know whether those who have been posting recently were not following this case from the start. In which case they might have missed the press conference by Superintendent Riley on 3rd February. She stated very clearly that they had considered all the factors around NB herself and that their main working hypothesis was that she had fallen ACCIDENTALLY into the river. In the Q&A session she even mentioned how it was possible that NB had gone to attend to the dog, placing the phone on the bench, and had then fallen whilst dealing with the dog.

There has never been an occasion I'm aware of where police have described a hypothetical accident in such detail if they had found any reason to consider suicide to be an equally likely possibility. Ergo, IMO there was no 'note', and no need to speculate about what happened on January 10th. If the inquest reveals otherwise I will admit to being wrong, but in the meantime I don't think it's kind to her family for people to keep speculating.

superintendent Riley press conference

Sorry, you must have missed many missing person cases. Police and family are very reluctant to mention the possibility of self harm early in a missing person case for a couple of very good reasons. First, the person may still be alive and they don't want to do anything to make it more difficult for them to return. Second, public assistance typically drops off at the mention. Just because they didn't mention it doesn't mean it wasn't on their list of possibilities. There were a lot of red flags.

I suspect the police have a lot of information including the welfare details, that Willow was tied up to the bench and eventually pulled out of it or chewed through the leash (wonder why we didn't hear about the leash), that her phone tracked its usual path and her fitbit was attempting to connect through bluetooth until she walked away from the phone. All IMO.