Nicola Bulley latest updates as police confirm body found in River Wyre is missing mum

Our reporters John Scheerhout and Tom Molloy were on the scene today.

You can read their account of the day’s tragic events here.

The family statement adds:

“Our hearts truly break for others who are missing loved ones. Keep that hope alive.

“Finally, Nikki. You are no longer a missing person, you have been found, we can let you rest now. We love you, always have and always will.”

The statement continues:

“Our girls will get the support they need from the people who love them the most and it saddens us to think that one day we will have to explain to them that the press and members of the public accused their dad of wrongdoing, misquoted and vilified friends and family. This is absolutely appalling, they have to be held accountable. This cannot happen to another family.

“We tried last night to take in what we had been told during the day only to have Sky News and ITV making contact with us directly when we expressly asked for privacy. They again have taken it upon themselves to run stories about us to sell papers and increase their own profits. It is shameful they have acted in this way. Leave us alone now.

“To the press, and other media channels and so-called professionals not know when to stop? These are our lives and our children’s lives. To those who genuinely helped and supported us privately, we thank you.”

He hands over to Detective Chief Superindenetant Pauline Staples to read a statement on behalf of the family.

The statement says:

“Our family liaison officers have had to confirm our worst fears today. We will never be able to comprehend what Nikki had gone through in her last moments and that will never leave us. We will never forget Nikkil, how could we, she was the centre of our world, she was the one that made our lives so special and nothing will cast a shadow over that.”

He says the case is now being handled by the coroner.

Chief con Lawson says thoughts remain with family, her loved ones and the wider community.

We recognise the huge impact her disappearance has had on family and friends and the people of St Michael’s, he says.

This is not the outcome any of us would have wanted but we hope it can provide some answers for loved ones, he adds.

This map shows the location of where a body was recovered from the water. It also shows where Nicola was last seen.

Downing Street declined to comment on the possibility of an independent external review of Lancashire Police and its handling of the Nicola Bulley case.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “You have heard the concerns of the Prime Minister before.

“He welcomed the fact there was an internal investigation, I think the first step is to allow that to take place and see what the findings are, so I am not going to comment before that.”

“We think it is appropriate that this investigation is taking place.

“We will wait and see what the findings of that are before commenting further on the investigation, given it is a live case,” the spokesman added.

Police said the discovery was made in the River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road in St Michael’s on Wyre at around 11.35am. The body was found a mile or so outside the village just past a slight bend.

A fallen tree could be seen on its side half in and half outside the water, with branches and undergrowth partially submerged.

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

The Home Secretary has said she was not “wholly satisfied” with the response of Lancashire Police’s chief constable to questions about their decision to release elements of Nicola Bulley’s into the public domain.

Asked if there would be an external review into the police’s handling of the case, Suella Braverman said: “I want to put on record my deepest thoughts and sympathies for the family of Nicola Bulley, it must be a horrendous experience that they are going through right now.

“We need to let the police carry out and conclude their investigation. I did have concerns earlier in the week about some of the elements relating to the release of personal information of Nicola Bulley into the public domain.

“I raised those concerns with the chief constable – I wasn’t wholly satisfied, I have to say, with some of the responses I got but it is a matter for the police themselves.

“There are some investigations ongoing, looking into how the investigation has been handled and we must let that carry out its own process.

“We must just let the investigation conclude, and then we will see what the investigations and inquiries come back with.”

On Monday morning, police officers and community support officers could be seen on patrol in St Michael’s on Wyre.

Daffodils and yellow ribbons were still on the bridge through the village, along with a red rose and a bunch of red carnations.

No police presence remained at the section of the river where the body was discovered.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has urged people to await the full review of the police’s handling of Nicola Bulley’s disappearance before coming to a judgment.

Speaking to broadcasters in Grays, Essex, the Labour leader said: “First and foremost I think all of us will be thinking about the family and the circumstances unfolding and the agony that they’re going through. Obviously we want the investigation to be now completed so we can get to the absolute bottom of this, there will be a review so if there have been mistakes along the way, the review will get to the bottom of those mistakes.

“Let the investigation go its full length now, let’s have that review and then we can see whether the judgments were the right judgments.

“In my experience when I was director of public prosecutions very often where there is a review, some judgments which at the time didn’t seem particularly appropriate, are capable of being explained.”

The underwater search expert drafted in to help find missing mum Nicola Bulley has said a body found was discovered in ‘reeds at the side of the river which was not part of our remit’.

Peter Faulding, the head of Specialist Group International (SGI), released a detailed statement on Monday morning, almost 24 hours after a body was found in the River Wyre in the Lancashire village of St Michael’s on Wyre on Sunday.

Mr Faulding, in the statement, said a ‘side scan sonar’ his team used ‘does not penetrate reeds above or below the water’.

Read the full story here

Underwater search expert Peter Faulding has released a statement this morning.

In it, he says the body was found in reeds at a side of the river that wasn’t part of his search remit.

An update from Peter Faulding:

Although identification has not been formally confirmed I would like to say my thoughts are with the family and friends of Nicola Bulley at this very difficult time.

The SGI underwater search team was tasked with searching the river upsteam of weir in the non tidal part of the river, past the bench where Nicola’s phone was found and a mile upstream past this point. For three days, using high frequency side scan sonar, we thoroughly search the riverbed and can categorically confirm that Nicola was not laying on the riverbed on the days that we searched. We did search the stretch of river where Nicola was found for four hours on our first day and then upstream past the weir on the subsequent two days. The police underwater search teams and land search teams were searching for three full weeks and were also unable to find Nicola. Unfortunately it was a member of the public that made a grim discovery, unconfirmed as yet to be Nicola.

Sadly, the discovery was not found in the river but in the reeds at the side of the river which was not part of our remit as the side scan sonar does not penetrate reeds above or below the water. A riverbank and wade search would be the only way to search this area and we were not involved or tasked with that search. The difference between these two search areas has caused a lot of confusion and unfair criticism towards myself and my team at Specialist Group International (SGI).

My previous comments saying that if Nicola was in the river, I would find her, still stand. My team and I at SGI did all we could to assist this family with only our best intentions. I am sure I can say this of everyone who has been involved in this difficult search.

I did not volunteer my services, my equipment or my team for any limelight or publicity, I simply wanted to lend extra resources to help a family in despair and this was supported by Lancashire Police. However, there has been unprecedented media and public interest in this case and at every turn, I was asked for an update on my own search, which I provided with only best intentions . Support for my assistance and my actions have been overwhelmingly positive although I am aware of that some negativity has been towards myself and my team.

SGI is the recognised underwater search team for Essex, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and Thames Valley police who we have worked closely alongside for many years. Unfortunately there are few police underwater search teams left. Each year we locate and recover many unfortunate victims and bring them back to their families. Sadly, for circumstances out of our control, and as hard as we try, sometimes we are unable to locate the missing person.

Police were alerted to reports of a body found by a man and a woman who had been walking along the River Wyre.

The body was discovered a mile ­downstream from where Ms Bulley vanished in St Michael’s on Wyre on January 27.

A witness who saw the discovery has said that a helicopter and drone were deployed to help in the search. According to the witness, the pale-faced couple who found the body reportedly sat on a wall vaping as officers frantically called for back up.

A first officer on the scene was told by the man: “It was a body. It is down there. It was a body of a woman. There is definitely a body down there,” recalled the witness. The witness added: “I noticed a man and a woman and two police officers on the embankment. I heard the man talking to police about something in the undergrowth.

“Police cars were flying down the road with the blues and twos going. A police officer pulled up a few minutes later and got his drone out. Five minutes later the helicopter arrived. Officers asked to me get out so I moved 200 yards down the road.

“I could still clearly see the man pointing at the riverbank. Then more police cars raced down with the blues and twos going. They cleared the entire road.” Read the full update here.

Bob Eastwood, former chief superintendent with Lancashire Police, said the case of missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley will be a “watershed moment” in how police deal with public interest.

Asked about the personal information Lancashire Police released about Ms Bulley’s struggles with alcohol and menopause, Mr Eastwood told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “When I first heard the police had released that, I cringed, but I didn’t say anything, I didn’t put anything out on my own social media because I didn’t know the full facts and didn’t know why they had taken those steps.

“Some hours later the family gave a press release indicating they were aware the information was to be given out and they’d given the information out because somebody had sold a story to the press and that information was going to be given out as an exclusive.

“Knowing policing as I do, I suspect that they made that decision in order to prevent somebody releasing it in that way. It was unpleasant information to hear but I think in all the circumstances, from what I know and believe, I think the police were right to do so.”

He added that the move “took away” a story that was going to create “even more dramas” that police have had to deal with “on a colossal scale” in the case.

Mr Eastwood continued: “I think it’s a watershed moment in how policing going forward deals not only with the onslaught of communications and the interest of media organisations, but it’s the ones that do not represent media organisations, that purport to be, and the other of course is the use of so-called specialists who I think in this case imposed themselves on the investigation and Nicola’s family, and I’m hoping their consciences are currently in overdrive.”

The body was found on an unremarkable stretch of the river, just past a slight bend, a mile or so outside the village, close to where a tree had fallen on its side half in and half outside the water, with branches and undergrowth partially submerged.

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.

The area attracted press interest and members of the public including one woman who told reporters she was a clairvoyant and had “picked up” an area of the river on Saturday night.

The police diving team could be seen conducting the search while a police drone and helicopter flew above.

It is understood that a man and a woman walking their dog discovered the body and called police. Lancashire Constabulary said officers were called to the River Wyre close to Rawcliffe Road at around 11.35am on Sunday.

“An underwater search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, entered the water and have sadly recovered a body,” a statement said.

“No formal identification has yet been carried out, so we are unable to say whether this is Nicola Bulley at this time.

“Procedures to identify the body are ongoing.

“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. We ask that their privacy is respected.”

Mother-of-two Nicola Bulley’s partner has told of his “agony” after a body was found in the river near where she went missing.

The body, which has not yet been formally identified, was found on Sunday morning around a mile from where the 45-year-old mortgage adviser was last seen.

She had been walking her dog in St Michael’s on Wyre after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at school on January 27.

In a message to Sky News, her partner Paul Ansell said: “No words right now, just agony.

“We’re all together, we have to be strong.”