Nicola Bulley's partner has visited the river where the police believe she fell in, alongside a diving expert who disputes that she is in the water.
The search for Bulley, 45, began on January 27 after she was reported missing by a concerned citizen near the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
The mom-of-two had been walking the family dog Willow and was last sighted at around 9:30 AM, with her dog being found alone and in a distressed state an hour later, BBC News reported.
Bulley had dropped her two children at school before taking her dog for a walk, and it appeared that she was on a work conference call when she went missing, as her phone was found still connected to the call on a park bench.
The police are currently working under the hypothesis that the 45-year-old fell into the river, as Superintendent Sally Riley said, via iNews: "It does remain our belief that Nicola sadly fell into the river and this is a missing person inquiry."
Paul Ansell, Bulley's partner, has visited the spot where police believe she fell in alongside dive expert Peter Faulding who disputes the police claims.
Ansell is said to have spent 10 minutes near the riverbank with police, who briefed him on the current status of their searches.
Faulding told Ansell that "she's not there" as the group stood on the banks of the River Wyre where Bulley was last sighted.
The expert diver has recently stopped searching for the 45-year-old, as he firmly believes she is not in the river.
Speaking to Talk TV (via The Daily Mail), Faulding said: "After 25 years of doing this kind of work, after hundreds of cases, I am well and truly baffled. Normally you would expect the divers to find them easily."
He added that when somebody drowns in a body of water, you "usually" find them within 10 meters of where they fell in, and after intense searches, there is no sign of Bulley.
Ansell has recently spoken out for the first time since his partner's disappearance, telling Sky News that it seems "absolutely impossible" that she hasn't been found yet.
"I just can't believe that we're a week on, and as yet, it seems like we're no further on. it just seems absolutely impossible, just like a dream. I can't get my head around any of it," he said.
Our thoughts remain with Nicola Bulley's loved ones, and Lancashire police encourage anybody with information to get in contact as soon as possible.
