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'UNPRECEDENTED SEARCH'
Nicola cops STILL insist there’s no evidence of third party involvement in disappearance as police search 300 premises
NICOLA Bulley police today insisted again there is no third party involvement as the search reaches its 19th day.
Nicola, 45, disappeared while walking her dog on January 27 in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
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Lancashire Police today outlined the mammoth search for the mum-of-two in a press conference.
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson said there is "no evidence any crime has been committed".
Nicola Bulley cops today revealed:
- Nicola Bulley cops say the missing mum was deemed 'high risk' due to 'vulnerabilities'
- Detectives revealed in a press conference today they are investigating three possible scenarios over her disappearance
- But cops insisted there is still no suggestion of a third party being involved
- Police are now taking over her social media accounts as part of the investigation
- Follow our blog for the latest news
Read more on missing Nicola
Police also confirmed Nicola was treated as a high risk missing person when she disappeared, which was "normal for a missing person with the information we were in possession of".
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said they were made aware of these vulnerabilities after speaking to Nicola's partner, Paul Ansell.
She said: "It's normal in any missing person investigation that you obviously gather as much information at an early stage about the person in question, which is no different and we did that with Paul.
"I'm not going to go into the details of those individual vulnerabilities. I've asked you to respect the family, who are going through unimaginable pain and distress at this moment.
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"But those vulnerabilities based our decision-making in terms of grading Nicola as high risk and have continued to form part of my investigation throughout."
The officer confirmed the "main working hypothesis" remains that she fell in the river but police have always been "open minded".
She revealed three theories for her disappearance - the river, Nicola leaving the area voluntarily and third party involvement.
But DS Smith said: "There is not a single piece of information or evidence to suggest there is any third-party involvement."
There is also nothing to suggest Nicola left the field voluntarily.
Asked if she hoped to find her alive, DS Smith said: ";I hope with all my heart that we find Nicola Bulley alive more than anything."
ACC Lawson also explained police have visited more than 300 premises - including an abandoned home - over the 19-day search.
Officers have also received 1,500 pieces of information relating to Nicola's disappearance and spoken to 300 people.
DS Smith said "further work" is now needed on digital enquiries.
Police will today examine Nicola's social media accounts, which the family is aware of.
DS Smith warned this "might show Nicola as being online", adding: "I want to make this really clear, we have control of this phone, this will be the police that is doing these enquiries and nobody needs to be concerned or contact the incident room about this."
DS Smith also touched on Nicola's Fitbit, which has been a main focus for web sleuths examining her disappearance.
She said despite expert technicians looking at the fitness equipment, there is "no further information".
This is because it had not been synced for a number of days.
During today's press conference, police dispelled "persistent myths" that have surrounded Nicola's disappearance.
She confirmed a red van seen in the area at the time Nicola was last seen is not seen as suspicious.
Instead, police are hoping to track down the driver as they seek to identify everyone in the area that morning.
This is because there is not enough CCTV to fully complete Nicola's last movements.
The update comes after police today searched a pumping station close to where Nicola was last seen.
The nation has been after her mobile was found on a bench still connected to a work conference call.
Nicola’s pet springer spaniel Willow was also found – but there was no trace of the mum-of-two.
Lancashire Police said previously their “main working hypothesis” is that Nicola had “sadly fallen in the river”.
But the force has been criticised for focusing so heavily on the theory by experts and Nicola's friends and family.
Her partner Paul Ansell believes "something happened" on the day she disappeared as people do not just "vanish into thin air".
Officers previously released a timeline of the missing mum’s final movements before she disappeared.
Nicola began her walk along the towpath to the River Wyre at 8.43am after dropping her two children off at school.
Police say around seven minutes later, a dog walker who knows Nicola saw her walking around the lower field with her springer spaniel Willow.
The witness said their two dogs interacted briefly before she left Nicola via the river path.
At 8.53am, the mum sent an email to her boss at Exclusively Mortgages.
She then logged into a Teams call at 9.01am and was seen around nine minutes later on the upper field walking Willow.
Police say at 9.30am, the work call ended but Nicola stayed logged on.
At around 9.35am, the mobile and Willow were found at a bench by the river but there was no sign of Nicola.
Police are probing a two hour gap between Nicola's last sighting and when she was reported missing at 11am.
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.
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