Body in river near where Nicola Bulley went missing was found by dog walkers

Lancashire Police have confirmed that a body has been found a mile from the spot where Nicola Bulley went missing.

On Sunday morning, Lancashire Police were called to reports of what appeared to be a body in the River Wyre, discovered by two dog walkers just a mile from where the mother-of-two was last known to have been, it is understood.

Officers received the call at around 11.35am and a police search helicopter along with divers and crime scene investigators, were deployed to the location to retrieve the body from the water. Despite huge search efforts by Lancashire detectives and with the aid of a private team of divers, it was two members of the public — a man and a woman — who discovered a body in the water.

Ms Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell has spoken of his ‘agony’ as the family wait for forensic experts to confirm whether the body found is that of their loved one while a formal identification is completed. He told Sky News: “We’re all together, we have to be strong.”

Lancashire Police said the body is yet to be formally identified and it is ‘unable to say whether this is Nicola Bulley at this time’. “Procedures to identify the body are ongoing,” the force said.

“We are currently treating the death as unexplained. Nicola’s family have been informed of developments and our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times.”

Police had earlier erected a tent and cordoned off the lane while police divers were called in, but the road was reopened around three hours later once the body was recovered by officers.

Former Lancashire Police chief superintendent Bob Eastwood defended the force’s investigation amid ‘an absolute onslaught’ of criticism. When asked how it was possible a body could be found a mile from Ms Bulley’s last known location — despite an extensive river search – he told BBC Breakfast that the river is tidal and fast flowing.

“The way the tide comes and goes…it is possible that the body could have flowed in and flowed out and has eventually been given up by the water”, he said. “To jump in and automatically assume that the body was there the whole time is a step too far.”

He said detective superintendent Rebecca Smith, the senior investigating officer on the case, had been subjected to misogynistic abuse during a three-week search that has attracted national attention.

Ms Bulley, who worked as a mortgage adviser, was last seen walking her springer spaniel Willow, after dropping off her two daughters, aged six and nine, at school on Friday January 27th. Her dog was found shortly after, along with her phone — still connected to a work conference call — on a bench by a steep riverbank.

Police previously said they believed Ms Bulley had gone into the river and that her disappearance was not suspicious, and this was their main working hypothesis. The investigation into Ms Bulley’s disappearance has attracted widespread speculation as well as criticism of the police response. The force came under fire after making Ms Bulley’s struggles with alcohol and peri-menopause public three weeks after she vanished.

In a press conference on Wednesday February 15th, they revealed the mother was classed as a ‘high-risk’ missing person immediately after Mr Ansell reported her disappearance, ‘based on a number of specific vulnerabilities’, but they refused to elaborate. However, afterwards they released a statement revealing that Ms Bulley struggled with ‘significant issues with alcohol’ due to suffering from the menopause.

Ms Bulley’s family said they were aware that police were revealing the detail as there were ‘people out there speculating and threatening to sell stories about her’.