Nicola Bulley diver Peter Faulding insists he did not give her family ‘false hope’ as body found near where mum vanished
THE underwater search expert who helped look for Nicola Bulley has insisted he didn't give her family "false hope" by saying she was definitely not in the River Wyre.
Peter Faulding had previously declared: "If Nicola was in that river, I would have found her. She’s not there."
However, after cops found a body in the river near to where the mum-of-two went missing, he appeared to backtrack on his comments.
Mr Faulding last night insisted it was "totally unfair" to suggest he had given the family "false hope".
He said: "If I gave them false hope, then what about the police search teams there every day? I was there for three days as a volunteer.
"I think that would be totally unfair to be honest with you, and I would sling the hook and give up searching.
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He explained: "The police search teams walked that river every day. Up and down, up and down.
"When we searched that part, she was not laying on the bottom of the river, but we were only there for one day.
"We are going down with a boat towing the sonar. We're not searching reeds."
Mr Faulding added that his team had been unable to see anything on their sonar scans and maintained that he had only said Nicola would not be found between the bench where she went missing and "the weir".
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He said that he had always seen the area beyond that range as "an open book".
Asked if he regretted calling for a land search based on his claim that Nicola was not on the river, he gave a firm response.
It comes as:
- Cops found a body in the river near where Nicola went missing
- Police confirmed the death was being treated as “unexplained”
- Nicola's partner Paul Ansell spoke of his "agony" at the news, while family members were "heartbroken"
- And Paul revealed how the family were coping
- Dive expert Peter Faulding broke his silence to send support to her loved ones
- A pal of Nicola’s revealed the hell of keeping the missing mum’s daughters in the dark
- Heartless trolls hacked the social media of Nicola’s partner Paul Ansell
- Read more on Nicola's disappearance here
He hit back: "No. I think from day one it should have been the land and the river searched one way or another."
The dive expert has produced a number of theories as to what may have happened to Nicola.
He suggested that she may have been "pushed hard from behind" into the water, but also revealed a range of sites where he believed a body could be buried on land without being seen.
His team was drafted in to help the police search effort, but dramatically pulled out on February 8, admitting he couldn't find the 45-year-old.
He previously told Sky News: "My belief is she's not in the river at all."
The specialist also claimed that Nicola "may never be found" and that a third party may be involved.
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It comes as Lancashire Police yesterday revealed that a body was found in the river around a mile from where Nicola disappeared on January 27.
The force said that efforts were ongoing to identify the body and the death is being treated as "unexplained".
