The police have reiterated their belief that Nicola Bulley fell into a river as rescuers remain unable to find her.
The missing mother-of-two disappeared on January 27 when she was walking her dog Willow near the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
The 45-year-old mortgage adviser had just dropped her children - aged six and nine - off at school and had logged on to a Microsoft Teams call at around 09:00 AM.
The call concluded at around 09:30AM but Bulley's phone remained logged on. Around one hour later, a passerby saw her distressed dog alone as well as her mobile device and harness on a bench next to the river.
Bulley's disappearance has stunned the United Kingdom as it has been 11 days now and search teams are unable to find her, and the details surrounding what happened to her remain unclear.
The Lancashire police attempted to trace the missing woman by working with the coastguard, fire service, and underwater search experts Specialist Group International to search the river and riverbank using sonar, pole cameras, and underwater drones.
Officers also followed 500 lines of inquiry, contacted 700 motorists in the area on January 27, as well as analyzing data from Bulley's Fitbit smartwatch, per BBC News.
According to iNews, Superintendent Sally Riley emphasized at a press conference that they do think that Bulley fell into the river, saying: "It does remain our belief that Nicola sadly fell into the river and this is a missing person inquiry."
"Any information that comes in that indicates otherwise is being checked out. We’re not closed in any way to any particular line of inquiry and we remain genuinely open to that," she added.
The outlet shared that Peter Faulding of Specialist Group International (SGI) stated that Bulley's case is the most uncommon one he has seen during his time on the force as most victims that drown are discovered close to where they enter the water.
He told the publication that if law enforcement doesn’t find her today "it’s a very difficult one," because "in my view, if she went in where we found the phone, then potentially she would have been found by the police team by now".
However, Riley explained at a press conference that while she is grateful for Fauding's assistance, he "isn’t included within all the investigation detail, any more than members of the public".
She explained that based on surveillance and dashcam footage surrounding all entrance points from the place where Bulley vanished: "We can say with confidence that Nicola remained in the riverside area."
"I understand that this is frustrating for those observing the investigation when the river has been searched and Nicola has not been found," she stressed. "That does not mean, however, that Nicola was not in the river at some point due to the tidal flow of the river."
The police repeated that the river is "a complex area to search" because it's "a fast-flowing moving water that is tidal in parts," adding: "as they are tidal we have researched them to ensure that nothing has been washed back into those searched areas," per BBC News.
In addition to the press conference, the publication revealed that detectives slammed amateur sleuths for reportedly breaking into properties near where the mom-of-two was last seen.
"There are some properties along the riverside which are empty or derelict and while it may be well-intentioned that people think that could be a line of inquiry, I would ask them to desist from doing that," she said, as noted by the outlet.
The superintendent has also called on people to not share "distressing" hypotheses about what may have happened to Bulley as it heavily affects her family and friends.
The missing woman's friend Heather Gibbons told the outlet that the unsubstantiated rumors about the disappearance had been difficult for the family and the number of people arriving in the area had made it feel like a "tourist spot".
Our thoughts continue to be with Bulley's family and friends at this time.
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