Nicola Bulley latest news: Diving expert Peter Faulding speaks out after body found in search for missing mother

A body has been found in the search for missing dog walker Nicola Bulley, police have said.

No formal identification has yet been carried out, Lancashire Police said.

Procedures to identify the body are ongoing and the force is currently treating the death as unexplained, it said.

My colleague Jane Dalton has more:

Diving expert Peter Faulding said his team had only cleared the area around the bench where Nicola Bulley’s mobile phone was found, and that the tidal section beyond the weir was “an open book”, according to MailOnline.

“All I can say is when we searched she was not on the bottom of that river,” he said.

“We weren’t searching the reeds, our job was to search the water.”

Peter Faulding, head of Specialist Group International, led a team of experts and divers to assist Lancashire Police in searching the river using specialist sonar equipment.

On the morning of 27 January, Ms Bulley left her home with her two daughters, aged six and nine, dropping them off at school and engaging in a brief conversation with another parent around 15 minutes later.

She then took her spaniel, Willow, for a walk along the path by the River Wyre at 8.43am, heading towards a gate and bench in the lower field. She was seen by a dog walker who knew her at around 8.50am, and their pets interacted briefly before they parted ways.

At 8.53am, Ms Bulley sent an email to her boss, followed by a message to her friends six minutes later, before logging on to a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am. She was seen by a second witness at 9.10am – the last known sighting.

Her phone was back in the area of the bench at 9.20am before the Teams call ended 10 minutes later, with her mobile remaining logged on after the call. At 9.33am, another dog walker found her phone on a bench beside the river, with Willow darting between the two.

The map below shows where a body was recovered by divers on Sunday, in comparison to where Ms Bulley was last seen.

A diving expert who scoured the river for missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley has spoken for the first time since a body was found near where she went missing.

Peter Faulding, head of Specialist Group International, led a team of experts and divers to assist Lancashire Police in searching the river using specialist sonar equipment.

He previously said he did not believe Ms Bulley was in the water, despite police doubling down this week on the theory she fell in the River Wyre.

Shortly after police revealed Nicola Bulley’s struggles with alcohol, her family released a statement condemning the “appalling” speculation around her private life, saying that they believed the public had become “distracted” from the search.

“Although we know that Nikki would not have wanted [personal details revealed], there are people out there speculating and threatening to sell stories about her. This is appalling and needs to stop,” her family said.

In a press conference on Wednesday, police revealed the mother-of-two was classed as a “high-risk” missing person immediately after her partner Paul Ansell reported her disappearance, “based on a number of specific vulnerabilities”.

Lancashire Constabulary shared a full statement today after a body was found in the search for missing Nicola Bulley.

They said: “We were called today at 11.36am to reports of a body in the River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road.

“An underwater search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, entered the water and have sadly recovered a body.

“No formal identification has yet been carried out, so we are unable to say whether this is Nicola Bulley at this time.

“Procedures to identify the body are ongoing. We are currently treating the death as unexplained.

“Nicola’s family have been informed of developments and our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times. We ask that their privacy is respected.”

A map shows where a body was found in the River Wyre today as Lancashire police continue working on the case of missing Nicola Bulley.

A body was discovered in the water not far from where the mother-of-two vanished on 27 January.

No formal identification has happened yet so police cannot confirm if it is Ms Bulley or not.

But the map shows it was found quite close to where she was last seen walking her dog, Willow.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has spoken out after a body was found close to where Nicola Bulley went missing three weeks ago.

Ms Braverman tweeted: “These are heart-breaking and distressing developments.

“My thoughts remain with Nicola’s family at this extremely difficult time.”