Nicola Bulley’s partner is frustrated at ‘lack of willpower’ among police and wants them to search specific area
MISSING Nicola Bulley's partner is frustrated at the "lack of willpower" among police searching for the mum-of-two, it is claimed.
Paul Ansell remains convinced she isn't in the water close to where she vanished and wants cops to thoroughly explore nearby land.
Detectives suspect Nicola, 45, was swept away by the River Wyre as she walked her dog in St Michael's, Lancashire, on January 27.
It has meant most of the investigation into her disappearance has focused on the water.
But 20 days on and there is still no sign of her, leaving Paul "ripping himself to pieces";.
Diver Peter Faulding, who led a three-day search for Nicola last week and is in close contact with the family, told The Sun: "Paul’s just frustrated. Obviously, he’s ripping himself to pieces at the moment.
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"He’s devastated and struggling to get answers. That’s the problem.
";He just wants some form of closure I think, one way or the other, and he’s gearing himself up for any outcome."
On how the dad feels about the way Lancashire Police has handled the investigation, he told MailOnline: "There’s a feeling that there’s just a lack of imagination and willpower."
Paul now wants officers to scour all surrounding land for any trace of his girlfriend, a mum to daughters aged six and nine.
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"He vented his frustrations to the family liaison officers last week in front of me when I was there," Faulding said.
"He said ‘Why can’t you go and search buildings in the village?’
"They said they can’t because they need a search warrant.
"He said ‘Well, you could just ask them.’ People would happily let them in, the whole village is behind him."
The forensic expert agrees that land needs to be combed for clues but he thinks it should have been done as soon as Nicola was reported missing.
Faulding said: "The family are concerned that the search of the surrounding area needs to be done more thoroughly.
"That’s coming from them and various other sources.
"Without concrete evidence, there needs to be a search and that includes the surrounding areas, not just the river.
"That has to be on the first day of the case.
"I’m not saying it hasn’t been done, but it needs to be extremely thoroughly searched."
'BRING NIKKI HOME'
Both their comments raise more questions over whether key details were missed in the first few days of the case.
Lancashire Police has already been criticised for not cordoning off the bench where Nicola's possessions were found on day one.
Experts fear it could be spattered with blood but forensic work wasn't carried out straight away and it could now be too late.
Officers have also faced backlash for "wasting" the first 24 hours of the probe by not conducting door-to-door inquiries and jumping to the conclusion that she fell into the river.
This remains the force's hypothesis, though detectives insist they remain open-minded about what happened.
This week, Nicola’s sister Louise Cunningham and her in-laws read messages and viewed yellow ribbons tied to a bridge over the Wyre.
Some said: “Hope is the last thing ever lost” and “Nikki, I love you, come home”.
Friends also changed Facebook profile pictures to a snap of the Bulley family with the border Bring Nikki Home.
Pal Emma White said: "Thank you for all the kind words, prayers and thoughts.
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"The search is still ongoing for that vital piece of information to find Nikki.
"What we do have is love and strength driven from the hope, please share the love and #BringNikkiHome — turning Facebook yellow."