Nicola Bulley’s family ‘trying their best’ in ‘impossible circumstances’ one year on from her death, says Dan Walker

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.

Her disappearance sparked mystery 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.

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.

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.

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.