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NICOLA Bulley’s family are "trying their best" one year on from the mum's death, Dan Walker has revealed.

The mum tragically died after her body was found in a river following a three-week hunt that gripped the nation.

Nicola Bulley vanished without a trace in January 2023
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Nicola Bulley vanished without a trace in January 2023
Nicola Bulley and her partner Paul Ansell
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Nicola Bulley and her partner Paul Ansell
Paul sat down with Dan Walker for an interview last year
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Paul sat down with Dan Walker for an interview last year
Dan revealed he is still in touch with Paul
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Dan revealed he is still in touch with Paul
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Her disappearance 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 still no trace of the mum-of-two.

On February 20 police searching for Nicola confirmed a body had been found less than a mile from where she was last seen.

Now, a year on from her disappearance, a new documentary has looked back on the tragic case.

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Speaking on Channel 5’s Nicola Bulley: The Disapperance That Gripped Britain, Dan Walker revealed he has kept in touch with her husband Paul Ansell.

He explained: “It would be wrong for me to say they’re doing OK because, how can you be OK?

"The family are trying their best in impossible circumstances to live one day at a time.

"The kids are surviving in a world without their mum which must be heartbreakingly difficult to deal with every day.”

In interviews recorded last year, Nicola’s husband Paul Ansell told Dan of his pain.

He said: "People don't just vanish into thin air. It's absolutely impossible.

He added that the family are going through "unprecedented hell" but vowed to "never let go".

After Nicola vanished, Paul gave an emotional insight into what the family was going through.

Residents living where Nicola Bulley disappeared have slammed the 'tragedy tourists' who still haunt the village a year after she died

He said at the time: "It is just perpetual hell. It is just utter disbelief. We are living through this but it doesn't feel real.

"We need to find her. She's got two little girls that need their mummy home."

It comes after The Sun revealed how TikTok “sleuths” are still haunting the village where she died. 

At one point, cops were forced to issue a dispersal notice to keep the public away after armchair detectives flooded the village.

Now fuming residents have said some "ghouls" come to stare at the mum-of-two's grave and the spot where her body was found.

One dog walker, who did not want to give his name, said: "It's morbid.
"You see all these tragedy tourists who even come to stare at her grave in the church yard.

"And then we still have these TikTok nutters who you seen in the bushes with their cameras or by the river.

"We just wish they'd leave us alone but they still believe these mad conspiracy theories.

"It was great at the time that so many people came as we thought they would help finding Nicola.

"But it just came too much. It's all so sad but hard to believe this quiet village was the centre of such a media storm."

Cops revealed Nicola had "vulnerabilities" at the time she went missing.

READ MORE SUN STORIES

These included "significant issues with alcohol" in the past that were brought on by her "ongoing struggles with the menopause".

Nicola's struggles had resurfaced over recent months, police confirmed.

An inquest in June last year revealed the real cause of Nicola Bulley's death
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An inquest in June last year revealed the real cause of Nicola Bulley's death
Cops scoured the river where she disappeared before finding her less than a mile from where she was seen
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Cops scoured the river where she disappeared before finding her less than a mile from where she was seen
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