Nicola Bulley: Handwritten messages on yellow ribbons left for missing mother on bridge
Friends and family have have left yellow ribbons bearing handwritten messages on a bridge close to where missing mother Nicola Bulley disappeared.
Ms Bulley vanished on January 27 while walking her springer spaniel Willow in St Michael’s on Wyre in Lancashire, shortly after dropping her two daughters, aged six and nine, at school.
It comes as the search for Ms Bulley, 45, a mortgage adviser from Inskip, entered its 17th day on Sunday.
Lancashire Police are continuing to trawl the River Wyre towards the sea at Morecambe Bay, working on one hypothesis that Ms Bulley could have fallen in.
However her partner, Paul Ansell, has said he wants to keep “all options open” about her disappearance, but his “gut instinct” tells him she is not in the river.
He described Ms Bulley as “fun”, “loving”, “the most loyal friend you could ever have” and an “exceptional mum” who “absolutely adores our girls”.
Ribbons with messages including “We need you home Nicola”, “praying for your safe return” and “I love you” have been tied to a footbridge over the River Wyre.
A large poster with a photograph of Ms Bulley has also been attached to the railings.
The search has been aided by specialists and divers from HM Coastguard, mountain rescue and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, with sniffer dogs, drones and police helicopters.
Friends of Ms Bulley's have urged an end to speculation about her disappearance, as the case appeared to attract an influx of curious onlookers to the area.
A friend of the missing mother who had been involved in the search since the outset scolded those arriving to 'help' or 'investigate,' saying they were making many who lived in the area feel unsafe.
On Friday, Lancashire Police appeared to call out social media sleuths for their “hurtful abuse of innocent people” in relation to the case.
It said that speculation about her fate by “so-called experts” was “damaging” to the investigation.
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