Nicola Bulley police respond to foul play claims as they hunt 700 drivers

Police have responded to claims of foul play in the Nicola Bulley disappearance as the mystery of the missing dog walker deepens.

The disappearance of the mum-of-two has seen a massive investigation centred on the River Wyre in Lancashire.

Nicola, 45, from Inskip, was last seen walking her dog by the river at about 9.20am on Friday 27 January, having earlier dropped off her two daughters at school in St Michaels on Wyre.

Superintendent Sally Riley told a press briefing this afternoon that investigators have received thousands of responses to the case and are combing through 500 pieces of information.

She added that 14 detectives are working under a senior investigations officer, while six specialist officers are searching the river bank each day.

Supt Riley said police are also currently ID’ing 700 vehicles which drove through the area at the time of Nicola’s disappearance.

It comes as Lancashire Police this week brought in underwater forensic firm Specialist Group International (SGI) which launched a high tech sonar tracking system into the water.

SGI founder and CEO Peter Faulding has suggested he does not believe Nicola is in the river and that a potential third party was involved in the case.

Asked about Mr Faulding’s comments, Supt Riley said: “I thank SGI for the help they’ve given to the team.

“Our search has not found Nicola in the river and any re-search done in parts by SGI found the same.

“That does not mean that Nicola has not been in the river. And in light of other enquiries being discounted from the investigation so far – although we are keeping an open mind to anything new – then clearly our main belief is that Nicola did fall into the river.

“Clearly Mr Faulding isn’t included in all the investigation detail anymore than the members of the public are that I’m briefing through these sorts of press conferences.

“We would ask that we be allowed time to continue with those enquiries and release to the public only what is relevant.”

The alarm was raised shortly after a member of the public recognised Nicola’s springer spaniel Willow and found her phone on a nearby bench.

Partner Paul Ansell was contacted and rushed to the scene before calling police, it is understood.

In a subsequent statement on Nicola’s disappearance, Paul said everyone is desperate to know what happened to her.

He added that Nicola’s daughters “miss their mummy desperately” and have been going through “a tough time” since her disappearance.

Over the last 12 days specialist officers have been trawling the river in small boats and combing through the grass off Garstang Road since – while villagers have also launched their own voluntary search parties.

At one point doorbell pictures of Nicola taken as she made her last fateful school run before she disappeared were released by investigators.

She can be seen loading up the car before the roughly four mile journey from the family home in Inskip.

Dressed in her walking boots, and hooded raincoat, she is seen opening the boot as Willow gets in.

A woman seen wearing a yellow coat and pushing a pram on the day Nicola went missing came forward last weekend following a police appeal for the potential witness.

The development came after claims a broken CCTV camera could have hindered the search – as police admitted “blackspots” have affected their investigation.

The detective heading the investigation has been following the theory the mum-of-two may have fallen into the water while trying to retrieve her dog’s ball, but her friends and family have cast doubt on this theory.

They say Willow no longer took tennis balls out on walks and Nicola wouldn’t have tried to reach in to fish one out of the water.

Police had previously said it was “very unlikely” that a third party was involved, but Nicola’s family had always urged investigators to keep an “open mind”.

Her parents Ernest and Dot had previously told the Mirror they feared “someone had got her” as Nicola’s disappearance was totally out of character.