New details have emerged about two "suspicious men" who were seen in the area of Nicola Bulley's disappearance by a witness.
The mom-of-two, 45, was last seen on January 27 while taking her dog for a walk near the River Wyre after dropping her two young daughters off at school.
Her phone was found a short while later on a bench near the river still connected to a work conference call, while her springer spaniel dog Willow was found on her own nearby, appearing agitated.
Despite extensive searches of the water using divers and specialist sonar equipment, no trace has been found of Bulley, over two weeks on from when she was last seen.
New reports have said that police are looking into a sighting of two "suspicious men" near to where Bulley was last seen after a witness came forward.
The witness, who reported the sighting to the police, told The Sun that the men were carrying fishing rods and wearing hats or hoods which covered their faces.
"They were trying to hide their faces," the witness claimed, adding: "It was very strange. It made me uneasy."
He added that he first saw the two men at around 7:45 AM the day before Bulley went missing and probably "wouldn't have thought anything about it" and assumed they were normal fishermen had their faces not been covered.
The fact that their faces were obscured stuck out to him as "odd" as the weather had been mild, meaning he found their behavior "strange".
The witness added that he also thought they may be poachers, as some do operate around the river and do not wish to be seen, but reported it after hearing of a missing woman.
He also claims to have seen one of the men closer to the bridge at around 7:45 AM on the following day - the Friday Bulley was last seen - with the second man potentially following some way behind.
The witness also found it odd that neither man was carrying a tackle or bait box, just a fishing rod, and had their faces covered.
He had reported the sighting a few days after Bulley disappeared but claims not to have heard back from police until he rang them again a week later.
"I couldn’t understand it — there’s a woman missing and I’ve seen these men in the area. Why haven’t they called me?," he told The Sun.
"Then they called me back last Wednesday and took all the info. It’s frustrating — it would have been much better if I had been spoken to straight away as it was fresher in my mind.”
Police are said to be looking at CCTV footage from the 24-hour period before Bulley vanished, including from a nearby garage which has cameras that capture one of the exits of the area Bulley was walking her dog.
Officers had initially concentrated their efforts on the water, believing the missing mom had most likely fallen into the river.
However, expert forensic diver Peter Faulding, who was involved in the search, has claimed it is unlikely Bulley fell in as most drowning victims are found close to the spot they entered the water, and no trace of Bulley has been found despite many days of searching.
Bulley's partner Paul Ansell also urged police to consider other alternatives in the search for the missing mortgage adviser, believing someone in the local village must "know something" about where she is.
The family has also speculated whether Bulley may have been "taken" by a third party, as CCTV covering one of the exits of the park near where Bulley's phone was found was not working at the time.
