Nicola Bulley's Fitbit reportedly continued to show activity for a further eight days after she slipped and fell into a river where she eventually drowned.
The search for the mother-of-two gripped the world in January, as the 45-year-old went missing on January 27, with her dog Willow having been spotted alone at around 10:30AM near the River Wyre in St. Michael's On Wyre, Lancashire.
Her phone was located on a park bench next to the river, and it was still connected to a work conference call.
The search lasted over three weeks, and many began questioning the police during the investigation, and they were forced to defend themselves in a press conference, especially after her history with alcohol was made public.
Bulley's body was discovered on February 19, after a then-unidentified body was located and removed from the River Wyre. Further questions were raised about how the police had failed to locate Bulley's body in the three weeks of searching, especially as dive expert Peter Faulding had pulled out of the search and often appeared on different news stations where he constantly questioned the competence of the police.
Earlier this week, Bulley's cause of death was finally confirmed, with the Home Office pathologist Dr. Alison Armour addressing Preston County Hall and revealing that the mother's face was covered in mud, and she had a wound to the bridge of her nose and her eye, but evidence suggests this happened after she passed away. While Bulley had a small amount of alcohol in her system, this is reportedly common with the post-mortem process involving bacteria, per the Independent.
An inquest on Monday (June 26) heard that Bulley's Fitbit was recording heart activity for just over a week after she drowned. The device was still attached to her wrist and is believed to have lost power on February 4, as this was the last date any data was recorded.
On the day of Bulley's death, her Fitbit recorded 4,548 steps between 8:00AM and 9:30AM, with no further steps recorded after this time frame. DC Keith Greenhalgh said on Monday that he believes Bulley fell into the water between 9:18AM and 9:30AM, per Wales Online.
He continued by saying: "A possible explanation for Nicola's Fitbit continuing to provide [heart rate] output sporadically until 4 February could be a result of the movement of water passing between the device and Nicola's wrist. Testing on inanimate objects provided similar results when there was a movement in the water."
Also during the inquest was a discussion by drowning experts who stated that entering into cold water can cause a person to gasp and inhale water, meaning they can drown within seconds. Drowning expert Professor Michael Tipton revealed that there would have been a "fairly rapid incapacitation" after Bulley went into the river, which may have been as cold as 37F.