Nicola Bulley cops warn vigilantes to stop breaking into homes searching for missing mum

The police officer leading the search for Nicola Bulley has urged vigilantes to stop breaking in to properties to look for the missing mum.

Ms Bulley was walking her dog in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire on the morning of Friday, January 27, when she seemingly vanished into thin air.

Despite an intensive police search no clues as to her whereabouts have been discovered.

READ MORE: Expert searching for Nicola Bulley asks her partner ‘if she had enemies or stalkers’

An expert diving squad, Specialist Group International, was called in and were confident of finding her “in minutes” but they have had no luck as the search rumbles on. Now, it appears do-gooders from the local community who think they’re helping the investigation could actually be hindering it.

Speaking at a press conference at the village hall yesterday (Tuesday, February 7) Superintendent Sally Riley of Lancashire Police said that people had been breaking into derelict and empty buildings in the search for Nicola.

“There are some properties along the riverside which are empty or derelict and whilst it may be well-intentioned that people think that that could be a line of inquiry, I would ask them to desist from doing that,” she said.

“In some cases it may be criminal if they are breaking in, causing damage or committing a burglary.”

Supt Riley continued by saying that speculating on the whereabouts of Ms Bulley is also “distressing” for her family.

She added: “This is particularly hurtful to her family, to her children, to her partner Paul, to her parents, her sister and her friends because it is not helpful to them, it is distressing and it is distracting for the police inquiry.

To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.

“Nor is it helpful if people, particularly if they have come from outside of the area, take it upon themselves to take the law into their own hands by trying to, for example, break into empty property.”

Lancashire Police said it still believes Nicola fell into the river but the forensic search expert who leads the specialist team searching the River Wyre has asked if she had any “enemies” or “stalkers”.

At the conference Supt Riley admitted there is a “possibility” Nicola could have left the riverside path where she was last seen with “someone”.

There is one exit along the river walk – Garstang Lane – that is not covered by CCTV. Police are also trying to track down 700 vehicles who were in the area at the time she went missing.

Peter Faulding, founder of Specialist Group International, said he asked this question during a conversation with Nicola’s partner Paul Ansell.

READ NEXT: