'People don't just vanish into thin air', says family of missing mum Nicola Bulley

  • Nicola's dad, Ernest, says they're a "close-knit family" who just want her home


The family of missing Nicola Bulley has said "people don't just vanish into thin air" as the search continues to find the mum of two in Lancashire.

The 45-year-old went missing last Friday morning.

Her mobile phone was found on a bench near where she was last seen on a towpath by the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre.

Speaking about the events of the last week, her sister Louise Cunningham said: "It feels like I'm stuck in a nightmare. We're going round in circles to piece together what happened.

"We've got to keep an open mind. We have no idea where she is. There's no evidence to point us in any direction.


"We're just going round in circles"


"My hope is that she's still out there. We just want her home. Her children need her home.

"It's heartbreaking. We're such a close-knit family, we'd do anything for any one of us.

"Somebody must know something, people don't just vanish. If there's anything you might have seen, please get in touch with the police."

Police searching the River Wyre. Credit: PA Images

Sitting alongside her were Nicola's mother Dot and father Ernie Bulley.

Ernie said: "It's been very difficult, it's been so painful. We're a close knit family. We talk to our children every day.

"This has emptied our lives. We appreciate everything everyone is doing to find her. It's given us hope that someone might find something.

"There's two young children that want their mummy back. If Nicola is out there, just come home - contact the police or ourselves.

"The kids know their mum is coming home, they're thinking everyone's looking for her - so it's only a matter of time.

"She's done this route 1,000 times. She parks her car every day and walks the dog through the field. It's just routine. We are baffled by it."

Police have released this CCTV image of a potential witness they believe to have been in the area at the time. Credit: Lancashire Police

Lancashire Police has now released a CCTV image of a potential further witness, who they believe was in the area at the time.

The force said: "We would stress that the woman is sought as a witness and nothing more.

"She is described as wearing a red and white coat with a fur hood, light-coloured trousers and a light bobble hat. She was walking a small, white dog.

"The woman was seen on CCTV at around 8.48am on Allotment Lane, close to where Nicola was last seen and was also seen near to the gate at the end of Allotment Lane."

Anyone with information should call 101 quoting log 565 of 30 January.


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