Five chilling clues in mum-of-two Nicola Bulley’s disappearance as search extends into its fifth day
MYSTERY still surrounds dog-walking mum Nicola Bulley who vanished last Friday without a trace.
The 45-year-old was last seen walking in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, at around 9.15am that day.
The mortgage adviser had dropped her daughters, nine and six, at school, before taking brown spaniel Willow for a walk and joining a work call.
But her phone was later discovered on a bench still connected to the meeting, next to her dog's harness and lead - the mutt was found running loose nearby
As the frantic search for the mum-of-two enters its fifth day on Wednesday, The Sun Online looks at five chilling things we know so far.
CONFERENCE CALL
Nicola's employer, Exclusively Mortgages, said she had logged on to the team meeting at 9.01am.
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Company director Ben Pociecha told : "It seems as if she was muted and didn’t have her camera on.
"She was listening in whilst walking her dog. A lot of people attended the call."
Her phone was discovered by police at around 10.30am - over an hour after she is thought to have vanished.
'SPOOKY' AREA
In November last year, Nicola, also known as Nikki, described the area near to where she vanished as "a bit spooky".
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After a "very foggy, cold" walk with Willow, Nicola, from nearby Inskip, posted several photos of the grey landscape on Facebook.
Her partner of 12-years, Paul Ansell, revealed the pair would usually take it in turns to walk the dog along a tow path next to the River Wyre.
DOG ON THE LOOSE
Paul said he received a chilling call the morning his partner had gone missing.
The engineer, 44, said: "I rang police after I got a call from the school regarding somebody who found Willow and Nikki's phone and the dog lead and harness on the bench."
The dog - off its lead and harness - was discovered some way along the route towards Wyreside Farm Caravan Park.
NO THIRD PARTY INVOLVEMENT
Supt Sally Riley of Lancashire Police told a press conference there was "absolutely not" any suggestion Nicola was attacked.
"We do believe the likelihood is Nicola has gone missing and this is not a crime inquiry, but we are keeping an open mind", she added.
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Police stressed they are instead treating the mum-of-two's disappearance as a missing person case.
reported on Tuesday night how cops were scouring a derelict building in the search for the mum.
On Tuesday cops confirmed they were speaking to a man walking a small white fluffy dog who may be a "key witness".
'COME HOME MUMMY'
Nicola's family are living in "perpetual hell" since her disappearance, broken boyfriend Paul revealed.
He had to tell kids Harriet, nine, and Sophia, six, that "‘Mummy’s lost’", Nicola's mum Dorothy revealed.
Paul’s dad David added how the youngsters "cried their eyes out" following the horrific news.
Meanwhile Emma White, a pal of Nicola pleaded with the mum to come home as the youngsters are "just wanting their mummy".
Described as white, 5ft 3in tall with light-brown shoulder-length hair, she was last seen wearing a long black gilet jacket with a hood.
She was in black jeans and olive green ankle wellies and her hair in a ponytail.
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Nicola has an Essex accent and has links to the Thornton-Cleveleys area near Blackpool.
Anybody who has seen Nicola, or has information about where she might be, is asked to call 101, quoting log 565 of January 30. For immediate sightings please call 999.
VILLAGE STUNNED
NICOLA Bulley vanished from a spot on the banks of the River Wyre popular with dog walkers and anglers.
Just a five-minute stroll from the centre of hamlet St Michael’s on Wyre, it is a well-trodden path for locals — making her disappearance all the more baffling.
Shop assistant Jackie Wilson, 60, walks her dog most days on the path and says she regularly bumped into Nicola or her partner Paul.
She said: “It’s a very popular place for dog walkers. I knew Nikki to say hello to. I would see either her or Paul. We said ‘hi’ and spoke about our dogs because they were similar. Her going missing has rocked the community.”
Another dog walker, who asked not to be named, said she lives close to the path and would have heard any commotion or screaming.
