Nicola Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell says his family ‘have to be strong’ after body is found

Nicola Bulley’s partner has revealed that he and the family are in ‘agony’ after a dogwalker found a body in the reeds of the River Wyre less than a mile from where she disappeared on January 27.

Paul Ansell, 44, and the couple’s two daughters, aged six and nine, have held out hope that the 45-year-old, who vanished three weeks ago, was still alive.

But yesterday two walkers spotted the body of a blonde woman tangled in reeds on Lancashire’s River Wyre before noon on Sunday. Police have not confirmed if it is Nikki – but the area was sealed off, a white tent erected and the most senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith, was there.

The family is said to be ‘in a lot of pain’ and ‘incredibly heartbroken’ and their agony is set to continue because formal identification could take several days.

Mr Ansell told Sky News: ‘No words right now, just agony. We’re all together, we have to be strong’.

Nicola Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell (pictured together), 44, clung to hope she is still alive despite officers saying their main working hypothesis was that Ms Bulley is in the river. He is heartbroken

Police divers work in the area where a body was found yesterday

A body was found less than a mile from where Nikki was last seen more than three weeks ago

Yesterday police sealed off the scene just down the river from where Ms Bulley’s phone was found after she took the family dog for a walk on January 27. 

Some critics have questioned how police and specialist teams failed to find the body less than a mile down from the village of St Michael’s on Wyre despite weeks of extensive searching. Today flowers have been left on the bench where he phone was found.  Former Scotland Yard Superintendent Nusrit Mehtab said: ‘If that is Nicola, then how did they miss that? Some serious questions need to be asked of Lancashire Police’s decision-making’. 

Former Met Police commander John O’Connor told The Sun: ‘These search teams couldn’t find a currant in a rice pudding. I find it pathetic that a body has been found a mile from where she went missing.’ 

Officers and divers scoured the area where the body was found within the first 48 hours but it had not been looked at since private search expert Peter Faulding investigated it on February 6.

Efforts had instead focused further downstream, towards the sea.

Lancashire Constabulary said it was unable to confirm whether the body was that of missing Ms Bulley. Formal identification could take several days.

A spokesman added: ‘We are currently treating the death as unexplained. Nicola’s family have been informed of developments and our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times. We ask that their privacy is respected.’

It is expected that Mr Ansell or another close relative will now be asked to help identify the body.

Underwater search expert Peter Faulding, who was called in by Ms Bulley’s family to help find her, found no trace of her in the section of river searched by his team and police divers over three days.

On Sunday, Mr Faulding said he had only cleared the area around the bench where her mobile phone was found, and that the tidal section beyond the weir was ‘an open book’.

‘All I can say is when we searched she was not on the bottom of that river,’ he said.

‘We weren’t searching the reeds, our job was to search the water.’

He said a ‘side scan sonar’ his team used ‘does not penetrate reeds above or below the water’. 

Hamish Brown, a retired Scotland Yard detective inspector, said: ‘The identification process isn’t pleasant for anyone. I’m afraid it’s just another line of unpleasant torture for the family, but something nevertheless that must be done.’

Mr Brown explained that it ‘depends on the condition of the body’ whether it can be identified ‘visually’. They will look for other things, like clothing, personal belongings and jewellery as well as examining DNA, he told GB News.

Local councillor Michael Vincent said: ‘I haven’t made contact with the family, but it would be inappropriate to comment further. The not knowing is causing them a lot of pain.’

The moment a dog walker points out to a spot in the River Wyre, Lancashire, as police arrive on the scene

Yellow ribbons and daffodils adorn the bench where the phone of missing Nicola Bulley was found, on the banks of the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre

Sky News reported that the family was ‘incredibly heartbroken by this significant development’. Members of the BringNikkiHome Facebook page uploaded the police statement but disabled comments due to the sensitivity.

Ms Bulley’s parents Ernest, 73, and Dot, 72, were last seen leaving a poignant message of hope four days ago, near where she went missing.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman described the latest developments as ‘heart-breaking and distressing’.

Lancashire police and crime commissioner Andrew Snowden, who has been criticised for his silence over the search, also spoke out in support of the force and Ms Bulley’s family. He tweeted: ‘My thoughts are with Nicola’s family and friends at a difficult time. I’d like to thank the Lancs police officers and staff working on scene and across the force.’

Last night a bunch of daffodils was laid next to a small handful of snowdrops on the wooden bench where Nicola’s mobile phone was left abandoned.

A police helicopter hovered overhead as tearful locals held one another on the bridge overlooking the River Wyre in the heart of St Michael’s. Yellow ribbons, tied to the bridge with messages of hope, flapped in the cold wind.

The 45-year-old mortgage adviser Nicola Bulley (pictured) vanished during a dog walk in St Michael’s on Wyre

The sun sets this evening over the bench near St.Michael on Wyre, Lancashire, where Nicola Bulley’s phone was found after her disappearance

At least three police cars and a van rushed to the scene, with other cars soon following

Lancashire Police issued the update on its Facebook page and requested Ms Bulley’s family’s privacy be respected

Dog walker Nicola Harris, 62, said: ‘It’s sad, it’s absolutely horrendous, but I’m so glad if she’s been found so that her family can move on. It’s been such a complex case but at least it would mean the family can get some answers and have her back.’

Another tearful local added: ‘It is the news we have all been dreading, but maybe what we knew deep down. I just hope this discovery can bring the family some peace. We are all reeling as a community.’

The body was spotted by a man and woman going for a Sunday stroll along the river. The spot where it was found was 0.9 miles as the crow flies from the bench where Ms Bulley’s phone was found, or 1.1 miles following the bends of the river.

Police have in the past week become increasing irate at social media ‘detectives’ descending on quiet St Michael’s and spouting to online audiences their theories as to what happened to Ms Bulley.

The case has been beset with ‘appalling’ speculation, her family has said, with TikTok detectives rummaging through people’s gardens and making ‘cruel’ and baseless accusations against the mortgage adviser’s loved ones.

Before the discovery was confirmed, a witness said: ‘I drove down Rawcliffe Road for almost a mile. I noticed a man and a woman and two police officers on the embankment.

‘I pulled off at about 11.50am and I heard the man talking to police about something in the undergrowth.

‘Police cars were flying down the road with the blues and twos going. A police officer pulled up a few minutes later and got his drone out.

‘Five minutes later the police helicopter arrived. Officers then asked to me get out so I moved 200 yards down the road.

‘I could still clearly see the man pointing at the riverbank. Then more police cars raced down with the blues and twos going. They cleared the entire road.’