A friend of missing Nicola Bulley says people have been turning up to “do social media things”.
Image source, Police handoutA friend of missing Nicola Bulley has said an influx of visitors to the search area had made it feel like a “tourist spot”.
The 45-year-old mother-of-two went missing 12 days ago on a riverside walk in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
Heather Gibbons said the family understands “human nature” but some have been turning up to “do personal social media things”.
Police warned they would not tolerate harmful speculation and “online abuse”.
Ms Gibbons said: “The truth is if we look at it factually, no-one knows until we have some evidence.
“I think it’s incredibly hard, but up to a certain level, we understand it’s human nature. It’s natural for everyone to have speculation, because the truth is, nothing is making sense.”
She said the turnout for the search was “amazing”.
But she added: “We have noticed it does feel like some people have come to maybe use it as more like a tourist spot, to do their own personal social media things which in some ways we see and understand but it is hard, there’s a lot of people around as it is.”
Image source, PA Media
Speaking in a press conference on Tuesday, Supt Sally Riley said: “We would ask that people in the wider community, particularly on social media and online, do not speculate as to what may have happened to Nicola.
“We will not tolerate online abuse of anyone, including innocent witnesses, members of the family and friends, of local businesses, or of criminal damage or burglary.”
She added: “We will be taking a strong line on that, as you would expect.
“We would ask that people in the wider community, particularly on social media and online, do not speculate as to what may have happened to Nicola.”
Police said they still believe Ms Bulley fell in the river, but remain “fully open-minded to any information that may indicate where Nicola is or what happened to her”.
Ms Bulley had dropped her two daughters, aged six and nine, off at school and then gone on her usual dog walk alongside the river.
Her phone, still connected to a Teams call for her job as a mortgage adviser, was found on a bench on a steep riverbank overlooking the water, along with the dog lead and harness on the ground.
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