The mum-of-two, 45, vanished in St Michael's on Wyre while walking her dog after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at school on January 27. Lancashire Police sadly recovered the mortgage adviser's body in the river on Sunday morning.
Police revealed in a press conference on Wednesday that Ms Bulley was classed as a "high-risk" missing person immediately after her partner Paul Ansell reported her disappearance, "based on a number of specific vulnerabilities". Ten minutes later, Ms Bulley sent an email to her boss, followed by a message to her friends six minutes later, then logged on to a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am. She was last seen at 9.10am.
January 28: Police deploy drones and helicopters The force deployed drones, helicopters and police search dogs as part of the major missing person operation. Police urged volunteers to exercise caution, describing the river and its banks as "extremely dangerous" and saying that activity in these areas presented "a genuine risk to the public".
He is understood to have lived locally and been a regular on the route, but had not seen Nicola on the day she vanished. They said they had urged the police to reconsider whether Nicola may have been abducted or attacked, but were told this was unlikely. Ms Riley urged against speculation, but said it was "possible" that an "issue" with Ms Bulley's dog may have led her to the water's edge.
She said: "When we are talking about a life we can't base it on a hypothesis, surely we need this factual evidence. That's what the family and all of us are holding on to, that we are sadly no further on than last Friday." The force insisted she was "very much being treated as a witness" as it warned against "totally unacceptable" speculation and abuse on social media.
February 7: Search extends to the sea Superintendent Sally Riley said river searchers are now spreading out towards the sea at Morecambe, but reiterated that police do not believe there was any foul play involved in the disappearance. Mr Faulding said the case is "baffling" but was glad his team hadn't found a body as it meant Nicola may still be alive somewhere.A group, believed to have travelled to Lancashire from the Liverpool area, tried to search a building by the river for the missing mum-of-two. They were reportedly issued a dispersal order by police.