Nicola Bulley: Missing mum’s friends renew appeal for help, two weeks onon February 10, 2023 at 6:03 am

Nicola Bulley’s friends are set to come together, two weeks since the mother-of-two’s disappearance.

The 45-year-old was last seen on a riverside dog walk in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, on 27 January.

Friends will stand by the main road in the village, holding her photograph and urging any witnesses to come forward.

Police believe Ms Bulley fell into the river, but underwater searches – now extended to Morecambe Bay and Knott End – have failed to find her.

On Thursday, a rescue boat was spotted doing sweeps where the River Wyre meets the Irish Sea – about 10 miles (16km) downstream from St Michael’s on Wyre.

The extension of the search area came after Peter Faulding, head of a specialist diving team, said Ms Bulley was “categorically not” in the section of river where police think she fell in.

Ms Bulley is known to have dropped off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school and then took her springer spaniel Willow for a walk alongside the River Wyre.

Her phone, still connected to a Teams call, was found on a bench on a riverbank overlooking the water, along with the dog lead and harness on the ground.

Lancashire Police have dismissed suggestions Ms Bulley was a victim of crime, but detectives said they remained “fully open-minded” to any information that indicates where she is or what happened to her.

On Thursday, the force issued two dispersal notices to break up groups coming into the St Michael’s on Wyre area and causing a nuisance.

Officers had previously warned members of the public not to “take the law into their own hands” by breaking into empty or derelict riverside properties to try to find Ms Bulley.

Lancashire Police also said officers were looking into a number of “grossly offensive” comments being made on social media and may take legal action “where appropriate”.

Ms Bulley’s disappearance has prompted lurid comments on social media and a steady stream of individuals have appeared in the village, often filming police activity around the area where she disappeared.

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