Nicola Bulley's partner has opened up about his "agony" after divers discovered a body in the search for the missing mother-of-two.
On January 27, Bulley went missing after dropping her two daughters - aged six and nine - off at school. She then took her dog Willow for a walk around the River Wyre in St. Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire.
At around 9:00 AM, the 45-year-old - who worked as a mortgage adviser - logged onto a work call via Microsoft Teams but her microphone and the camera were turned off. The call ended 30 minutes later, with previous reports stating that she remained logged on.
A passerby came across Bulley's distressed springer spaniel at 10:30 AM and noticed her mobile device had been left on a bench beside the river. Since then a thorough search investigation has been launched for the missing woman.
On Sunday (February 19), Lancashire police revealed on their social media page that had found a body amid their search for the mother-of-two, but they specified that it is yet to be formally identified.
"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," they wrote. "We were called today at 11:36 AM 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," the police continued. "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," they added. "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."
Upon hearing the devastating discovery, Bulley's partner Paul Ansell told Sky News that he had "no words right now, just agony" after the police made the announcement, adding: "We're all together, we have to be strong."
Authorities had previously stressed that their main hypothesis was that the missing woman had fallen into the River Wyre and that this was "not suspicious but a tragic case of a missing person".
Over the past few weeks, specialist diving teams were deployed to extensively search the river for Bulley, with a police source revealing to 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," they added.
There has also been public outrage towards Lancashire Police are the case grows more high profile. The investigators have been criticized for disclosing information about Bulley’s struggles with alcohol and menopause in a press conference last week.
The police have stated that a date has been set for an internal review of the investigation. According to Evening Standard, a spokeswoman said: "A review of the investigation is diarised and will be conducted by our head of crime detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables."
