Nicola Bulley cops search for new witnesses on CCTV as they reveal missing mother’s last known movements

POLICE have released an image of a woman in red they want to speak to who was in the area when Nicola Bulley disappeared.

Officials also released a timeline of the missing mother’s final movements before she disappeared from St Michael’s in Wyre, Lancashire last Friday.

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The CCTV image shows a woman wearing a red and white coat with a fur hood, light-colored pants and a light-colored bobble hat.

She was spotted on Allotment Lane around 8.48am, near where Nicola was last seen walking a small white dog.

Police are urging the woman or someone she knows to come forward.

Supt Sally Riley said: “We now want to speak to the woman pictured on CCTV as we believe she was walking in the area around the time Nicola was last seen.

“If you know her or think you might be, please get in touch. You may think you don’t know anything, but you may have seen something that might be relevant.”

Nicola, 45, started her walk along the towpath to the River Wyre at 8.43am after dropping her two children off at school.

Police say about seven minutes later, a dog walker who knows Nicola saw her running in the lower field with her springer spaniel, Willow.

The witness said her two dogs interacted briefly before she left Nicola via the river path.

At 8:53 am, the mother emailed her boss at Exclusively Mortgages.

She then logged on to a Teams call at 9:01 am and was seen in the upper field with Willow about nine minutes later.

Police say the work call ended at 9.30am but Nicola remained logged on.

At around 9:35 a.m., the cell phone and Willow were found on a bench by the river, but Nicola was nowhere to be seen.

Police today cordoned off a footpath leading to a bank where Nicola’s phone was found, still connected to the work call.

Her springer spaniel, Willow, was also spotted looking “excited” around the area with her harness off.

The search for Nicola appears to have intensified, with special teams focusing on a stretch of river yards from the bank.

Divers were seen entering the water where the mother was last seen on the towpath.

Helicopters, sniffer dogs and drones are also used to support the search.

Lancashire Police today confirmed they are “really open about what could have happened”.

Supt Sally Riley said: “We know that Nicola’s disappearance has raised major concerns in the wider local community and has obviously been a terrible time for her family.

“This remains a missing persons inquiry and at this time there is no evidence of any third party involvement in Nicolas’ disappearance.

“I appreciate that there are unanswered questions about what happened to Nicola, but I would urge people not to speculate or spread false rumours. We will post updates when we can, but we must remain factual.

“Nicola’s family is being kept abreast of events and is being supported by officials.

“We are very grateful to the community for their help and cooperation so far, but I would like to reiterate that parts of the riverbank are treacherous, especially after the recent rains, and we would ask that no one puts themselves in danger and that the Die Efforts by police and partner agencies to locate Nicola will not be affected.”

Nicola is from the area and regularly shared pictures of her walks with Willow along the river on the Strava app.

Her latest post, dated November 7, shows her leading her along the shore using the same path she was said to be walking when she disappeared.

Nicola was described as white, 5 feet 3 inches tall with light brown shoulder length hair

She was last seen in a long black hooded vest, black jeans and olive green wellies with her hair in a ponytail.

Nicola has an Essex accent and ties to the Thornton Cleveleys area near Blackpool.

Anyone with information as to where she may be is asked to call 101 and quote log 473 of January 27.

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