A body has been found in the search for Nicola Bulley - the mother of two who disappeared 23 days ago while on a dog walk.
The 45-year-old went missing on Friday, January 27, after she dropped her two daughters - aged six and nine - off at school. She then went for a walk around the River Wyre in St. Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, with her dog Willow in tow.
At around 9:00AM Bulley - a mortgage adviser by profession - logged onto a work call via Microsoft Teams - but her microphone and the camera were turned off. It ended some 30 minutes later, with previous reports stating that she remained logged onto the call.
A passerby came across Bulley's distressed springer spaniel at 10:30AM and noticed a phone had been left on a bench beside the river. Since then a high-profile search effort for the missing woman has emerged.
Via its official Twitter account, Lancashire police revealed on Sunday, February 19, that they had found a body amid their search for Bulley, adding, though, that the body has yet to be formally identified.
Police wrote: "This morning, Sunday, 19 February, you may be aware of police activity around the river near to St Michaels. We want to provide you with an update on that activity.
"We were called today at 11:36AM to reports of a body in the River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road."
Police continued: "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."
They added: "Procedures to identify the body are on-going. 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."
Authorities had emphasized previously that their main hypothesis was that Bulley had fallen into the River Wyre and that this was "not suspicious but a tragic case of a missing person".
Specialist diving teams were deployed to search the River Wyre for the missing woman.
A police source told the Daily Mail earlier this month: "The underwater teams are performing what's known as an arc search, whereby they monitor the riverbed by moving in a side-to-side motion from bank to bank. As of yet nothing of significance has been found but it'll be a long, thorough process."
Anger towards the police involved in the search for Bulley has grown as the case becomes increasingly high-profile. This was particularly the case after police held a press conference in order to reiterate that there is "not a single piece of information or evidence to suggest that there is any third-party involvement" in Bulley's disappearance.
This is a breaking story. More to follow...
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