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

[justicepeace]

The lady who first found Willow and tied her up has In JMO given LE plenty of things which should be able corroborate her account.

-phone records to show exactly when she called her daughter in law
-proof of appointment (and when it was made)
- exact details of how she tied Willow up. Did she use Willows lead? Did she use the harness? Was Willow wearing a collar? If there was a collar did it have contact details on it
?
-if there were contact details on collar why not call those instead of daughter-in-law ?

Of course they would ask questions but to me this line of questioning would be pretty intrusive unless a POI was established, JMO.

Edited by me - on further reflection my father went missing for 24 hours once, (turned out he had just taken himself off for a breather) and the police did ask to see my mums phone to show the last contact she made to him via his phone. Although my mum was the last person to physically see him, interact with him etc.

 

[JimmyBets]

These would have been easy to investigate and maybe the witness was ruled out quite early on, the only thing that is in doubt is the sequence of events and everybody is different in how we deal with these things.

I totally agree we all react differently. My main point is there are 2 stated facts by the witness which are easy to prove/disprove.

 

[kev4pe]

Can't believe police have only just signalled that they are looking into getting info from her Fitbit. Surely they should have started that on day 1!!

 

[todders]

I totally agree we all react differently. My main point is there are 2 stated facts by the witness which are easy to prove/disprove.

Yes completely agree with you

 

[duscle]

But Willow couldn‘t have followed if she was tied up. Or she did follow and went back to the bench (or was taken back) and was tied up. It’s all a bit unclear when/how this part happened with the dog.

We all know Willow was seen alone without his harness at 9:30 and loitering around the bench /river and then spotted again at 10:30 running around but never too far away from the bench. So how could Willow have been tied up and then untied again at 9:30? Also, why would Willow go back to the bench which was hundreds of meters away from the exit of the woodlands Makes no sense whatsoever, if Nicola was taken out of the woodlands Willow will be running up and down the street.

The reason why Willow was near the bench was that that was the LAST place she saw Nicola. Willow is the clue follow her and you have the answer. And at 9:30 we know that Willow was alone by the bench waiting for Nicola to come out of the river.

A dog will remain at the last place it saw its owner especially if it saw the owner in distress.

Dog refuses to leave spot he last saw his owners - but they never coming back

Thunder sat outside for days waiting for his owners to return home to him - but when they never came, rescuer Suzette Hall stepped in to provide him with a second chance at life

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[justicepeace]

Can't believe police have only just signalled that they are looking into getting info from her Fitbit. Surely they should have started that on day 1!!

This is just MSM reporting, I would honestly be surprised if by now any info relating to the Fitbit hadn’t been checked. Although, as the Fitbit hadn’t synced to the phone since the Tuesday (before) NB went missing, I am not sure what they can yield from this without having the fitbit in their possession.

 

[Coach]

Was the person who tied Willow up at the bench heading to an appointment? Could this person have heard Willow barking in distress? Possibly out walking with their own dog at the time or would they have heard barking from where they were? If heading to an appointment, was this on foot? Was there a delay between Willow being found and Nicola being reported missing?

 

[Dinosaursplash]

IMO they need to be focussing on the area in/around the top field, not the bench and the river. As that's the last time she was 'seen'. Anyone could have put the phone and harness near/on a bench. No one saw her near the bench as of yet from what's been released.

MOO.

 

[GML1981]

If they police have said that all the exits are covered by cctv then I guess all the entrances are too? I would then assume they have captured NB on her walk with the dog at some point. Nothing has been mentioned regarding cctv of NB? If Nicola has managed to go unnoticed by cctv on her walk, surely a potential attacker could have too?

 

[JimmyBets]

Of course they would ask questions but to me this line of questioning would be pretty intrusive unless a POI was established, JMO.

Edited by me - on further reflection my father went missing for 24 hours once, (turned out he had just taken himself off for a breather) and the police did ask to see my mums phone to show the last contact she made to him via his phone. Although my mum was the last person to physically see him, interact with him etc.

The lady who tied Willow up is also one of the last people to have physically sighted NB who has now been missing for 9 days. She has also interacted with items which could be vital evidence and given LE an account which states 2 traceable actions. I would be very disappointed/surprised if that account can’t be corroborated without her necessarily being a POI.

PS, I’m glad your father was OK

 

[Piehead]

I've been wondering about the "unoffical" (as in not a council etc) notice about dogs must be kept on leads by the bench - could there have been an altercation between someone and NB who was annoyed at her letting her dog run loose in this area? Who places this notice? JMO <modsnip - online reviews are off limits>

 

[sriraaacha]

I do wonder how all the information got so mixed up, there has been confusion since the beginning re: witnesses and times. Like what happened to the 70 year old man who had a small white dog? I wonder if that was actually the woman we've seen in the pictures now because she was like 68(?) with a small white dog. Then this woman claimed she hadn't seen Nicola but after she was reported as a witness? It's definitely frustrating that everything does seem to have been messy and inaccurate.

But I'm sure if I was a witness being asked where/what time I saw somebody, I'd have maybe a general idea... but getting it down to the minute is difficult to remember. And in this sort of situation, those minutes are important. These people sound older too, which may even be more difficult if they don't have the best memory. <modsnip>

 

[justicepeace]

Was the person who tied Willow up at the bench heading to an appointment? Could this person have heard Willow barking in distress? Possibly out walking with their own dog at the time or would they have heard barking from where they were? If heading to an appointment, was this on foot? Was there a delay between Willow being found and Nicola being reported missing?

• Yes

• No mention of barking heard (but may well have been).

• Yes, I believe this witness has a dog so possible.

• Not established if on foot/drove to said appointment.

• Willow found at 9:35am (approx.) and police said in last presser they were called at 10:50am (police were called by PA, NBs partner and not this witness).

 

[JennieM]

We all know Willow was seen alone without his harness at 9:30 am loitering around the bench /river and then spotted again at 10:30 running around but never too far away from the bench. So how could Willow have been tied up and then untied again at 9:30? Also, why would Willow go back to the bench which was hundreds of meters away from the exit of the woodlands Makes no sense whatsoever, if Nicola was taken out of the woodlands Willow will be running up and down the street.

The reason why Willow was near the bench was that that was the LAST place she saw Nicola. Willow is the clue follow him and you have the answer. And at 9:30 we know that Willow was alone by the bench waiting for Nicola to come out of the river.

A dog will remain at the last place it saw its owner especially if it saw the owner in distress.

Dog refuses to leave spot he last saw his owners - but they never coming back

Thunder sat outside for days waiting for his owners to return home to him - but when they never came, rescuer Suzette Hall stepped in to provide him with a second chance at life

www.mirror.co.uk

What if there is an argument at 9:10 by the bench, NB ends up in the river, the other person ties Willow to the bench (perhaps loosely as Willow is agitated and not easy to tie) and leaves Willow there. Willow gets out of the harness eventually and stays in between the bench and river where she last saw NB like you say. It might be far-fetched but it wouldn't be impossible.

 

[todders]

What if there is an argument at 9:10 by the bench, NB ends up in the river, the other person ties Willow to the bench (perhaps loosely as Willow is agitated and not easy to tie) and leaves Willow there. Willow gets out of the harness eventually and stays in between the bench and river where she last saw NB like you say. It might be far-fetched but it wouldn't be impossible.

It is believed that NB was not seen at the bench at 09.10 and was seen by a witness in the upper field at this time.IMO

 

[JennieM]

Itt is believed that NB was not seen at the bench at 09.10 and was seen by a witness in the upper field at this time.IMO

So how many minutes would it take her to get to the bench? A couple of minutes?

 

[todders]

So how many minutes would it take her to get to the bench? A couple of minutes?

We can only go on the police timings for now and their timeline which is 10 mins from the upper field sighting to when they believe the phone is placed on the bench. IMO

Lancashire Constabulary - MFH Nicola Bulley - latest update

Nicola Bulley search: What were missing dog walker's movements before she disappeared?

 

[Caroclaud]

Did PA search the area before calling the police? I’m still surprised that the police were called so quickly and actually got involved so speedily. Wonder what was their rationale for reacting so quickly, as you hear so many reports of having to wait a few hours before they take a missing person report seriously.

 

[justicepeace]

We can only go on the police timings for now and their timeline which is 10 mins from the upper field sighting to when they believe the phone is placed on the bench. IMO

Lancashire Constabulary - MFH Nicola Bulley - latest update

Nicola Bulley search: What were missing dog walker's movements before she disappeared?

So, the 9:10am witness was able to positively identify it was NB (but for whatever reason unknown to us the police are still trying to confirm at this time if this is accurate) but the witness who found willow at the bench area recognised the dog but couldn’t think who the owner was. So I can only assume those 2 witnesses are different people or that would be highly suspicious to police.

Missing Nicola Bulley's dog was 'in an agitated state' when discovered

Willow, the Spaniel, was spotted by a woman near a slippery riverbank by a bench where Nicola Bulley's phone was found still dialled into a business call.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Speaking today, she said: 'I saw the dog and I recognised it, but I suddenly couldn't think whose dog it was.

'There was a mobile phone on the bench and there was also something between the bench and the river so I went and looked, and it was a dog harness.

'The dog looked worried so I tied her up and rushed home as I had to go to an appointment.

'I then went and spoke to my daughter-in-law and she immediately knew who the dog was, alerted the woman's partner and that was it - the police were on it.'

 

[Coach]

• Yes

• No mention of barking heard (but may well have been).

• Yes, I believe this witness has a dog so possible.

• Not established if on foot/drove to said appointment.

• Willow found at 9:35am (approx.) and police said in last presser they were called at 10:50am (police were called by PA, NBs partner and not this witness).

Thanks JP. In the time between 9:35am and 10:50am, were PA and any others out searching for her? The Police were called at 10:50am. If the person who found Willow at 9.35am alerted someone who contacted PA then I’m guessing he would have gone right down and started looking for Nicola before contacting the Police.