Nicola Bulley dive expert fears missing mum was ‘abducted’ and asks partner ‘if she had enemies or stalkers’

A DIVE expert claims it is a "possibility" Nicola Bulley has been abducted as her partner confirmed she had "no enemies".

Nicola, 45, was last seen in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, at around 9.15am on January 27.

Private divers from Specialist Group International (SGI) are today continuing their search of the river using sonar devices.

Founder Peter Faulding said if the team cannot find the mum-of-two today, his "gut" feeling is there may be other reasons for her disappearance.

He revealed he had spoken to Nicola's partner Paul Ansell last night after yesterday's search offered no trace of the mum.

Mr Faulding told : "I spoke to Paul last night and asked him if she had any enemies, any stalkers, the normal questions you would ask. And nothing, he said no.

"And she was totally normal that day when she left, nothing out the ordinary."

The forensic expert also claimed there is a "possibility" Nicola could have been abducted.

He believes the mum's phone, which was found on a bench after she vanished, could be a "decoy".

Mr Faulding told BBC Breakfast today: “If Nicola is not in that stretch of river today my view is that there is a third party involved and this was a decoy placed by the river.

“It could have been placed as a decoy, there is not enough CCTV to cover particular areas here. The police are working hard in the background to cover everything.

“It’s so unusual, we’ve got no clear information to go on."

Lancashire Police said previously their “main working hypothesis” is that Nicola had “sadly fallen in the river”.

Supt Sally Riley claimed there may have been an “issue” with dog Willow that led Nicola to the edge of the water.

Police believed the mum could have placed her phone on the bench to retrieve the dog’s tennis ball when she potentially fell in.

But Nicola’s sister Louise Cunningham has rubbished the hypothesis.

She said over the weekend: "Off the back of the latest police media update, please can I add there is no evidence whatsoever that she has gone into the river, it's just a theory.

"Everyone needs to keep an open mind as not all CCTV and leads have been investigated fully, the police confirmed the case is far from over."

Nicola has been described as white, 5ft 3ins tall with light-brown shoulder-length hair.

She was last seen wearing an ankle-length black quilted gilet jacket with a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat underneath and black tight-fitting jeans.

She had long green walking socks tucked into her jeans, ankle-length green Next wellies, a necklace and a pale blue Fitbit on.

Nicola has an Essex accent and links to the Thornton-Cleveleys area near Blackpool.

Anybody with information about where she might be is asked to call 101, quoting log 473 of January 27, or ring 999 for immediate sightings.