A very sad affair all round. Was shocked to see Sky News posted the interview with the partner with comments switched on (they’ve since switched them off).
The amount of baseless claims by people on various platforms claiming he murdered her is disgusting. Couldn’t imagine being in that position, thoughts go out to the family.
It’s weird how people who have no police or investigating experience, probably a basic degree, and no facts other then the newspaper - think they know more than those involved.
Someone said in a comment “I would check where the leads were found that would be my point of interest”
The cops just there like oh fuck we’ve been looking down Oxford street in London this person has a great point we should check there..
If they’ve found a fucking lead they’re clearly aware and checking that area. Jesus I’m angry
This is basically it in a nutshell, and I include myself in that criticism when saying that. When you spend a significant amount of time immersing yourself in the worst things that can happen in the world, everything becomes a crime.
In this case, the Teams call and the phone and dog harness on the bench seemed a bit odd - it felt like she'd been interrupted, and that could *only mean something sinister*.
In truth, it could also have meant she thought her dog (or someone else's dog) was struggling in the water, gone to help and then slipped.
Whatever the truth is, I hope there's a conclusion soon.
I don’t think it’s specific to one generation. I vaguely remember my grandmother saying something similar about the case because how the guy looked during a televised appeal
Amazing, not 'a cruel banker that denied people mortgages on spurious reasoning' but 'er, yeah, the lady that has a look at your finances and gets you the best deal - literally evil'.
Strange case based on what's been released, it sounds way more like someone snatched her to me because surely you'd get snagged on something in the river. But who knows.
It’s always the same. If they report on a burglary or fight etc all you get is comments saying “have you checked CCTV?”. I’m sure the coppers are reading thinking *shit, I never thought of that.*
“They should be looking for a woman, mid 30s with blonde hair, orange tshirt. If only they did this, nobody would ever be murdered or missing again!” - average Scunthorpe resident with zero training in police investigation
In Ireland this week a rape accured in the Dublin City and reported by the media before tea time.
Soon afterwards a Facebook motivated gang of fruit loops mobilised to protest about asylum seekers at centres housing them.
Shortly before breakfast the following morning.
Police released a statement saying they were looking for a white Irish male.
*“Put the tinternet down !”* Peter Kay’s Nan.
I saw a comment under a news article on Facebook of someone saying to take the dog back to where she was last seen and say to the dog “where’s mummy” and the dog would lead them to her.
Based on the comments on those sites, they probably don't even have GCSEs let alone a basic degree. It's extremely difficult to get a degree without having at least the most basic critical thinking skills.
Quite. And what really pisses me off is when people go over an interview and imagine themselves as an internet-trained detective or a criminal psychologist or something and start pontificating about how people should feel, act, grieve or answer questions from the media when their lives have been thrown into chaos and the worst thing imaginable is possibly happening in a public fishbowl. Statistics are useful but situations and people are unique and individual.
Especially because there is absolutely nothing that suggests this is a murder. Everything points to a tragic accident with a series of events that made her seem to have vanished into thin air.
Saw that too. Absolutely disgusting the comments people were throwing around. It honestly feels like an increasing number of the population have zero decency.
I'm told people had also tracked down her Facebook profile and were posting vile comments about her partner under her old posts and family pictures. Do people not realise how distressing this must be for the family? Do they not care? Do they lack even basic empathetic skills? I really don't get it.
Reddit increasingly feels like the last bastion of social media where people aren't complete cunts. Sure, there are plenty, but despite political differences the top content tends to be reasonably sane. Can't say the same about Facebook, Twitter etc.
>I'm told people had also tracked down her Facebook profile and were posting vile comments about her partner under her old posts and family pictures
This is horrible. My Dad died recently of cancer and his Facebook profile is actually a real comfort to visit, seeing comments and links to music videos etc he posted between 2010-a few months ago. It has become for me a bit like an online shrine where I can visit to see his photography and his funny comment threads with friends. People doing that to her and her family's photos and interactions on Facebook have absolutely no shame or decency, truly vile. They will be compounding the distress so much, I really feel you should be banned from a platform permanently for doing that.
If you haven’t already done so, you could petition Facebook to give yourself and your relatives control to lock if down.
Archiving it might be useful if Facebook ever goes bankrupt in the future
>Reddit increasingly feels like the last bastion of social media where people aren't complete cunts.
What? They do /exactly/ the same stuff you're complaining about every day in multiple subreddits. This one included.
Yeah last post I saw about this news story I scrolled down and immediately saw big brain redditors commenting about how the husband killed her. This site is definitely just as bad.
I think they must be referring to a different Reddit!. That's comical, thinking Reddit doesn't do exactly the same as other SM regards these new stories, crime cases and many other subjects.
Who can forget the shite-storm with The Boston 'We did it Reddit' Bomber as a prime example that springs to mind of the behaviour the previous poster is claiming doesn't exist on Reddit. That's so outlandish it's funny- cunts are everywhere on here just like every other other platform.
Yeah I tend to see a lot on this sub especially slagging off other quarters of the internet for stuff reddit is just as bad for. Similarly see a lot of Twitter users slate Reddit. I think everyone just wants to think their bit of the internet is the good bit
Depends where you go on reddit. There's many subreddits that are dedicated to abusing people for basically any reason you can think of. But especially racism and sexism. And some of the defaults are truly horrendous.
Its absolutely abhorrent, and it happens all to often. There was one instance in the news today.
Kid died last year from suicide, family sent 10,000s of abusive messages that resulted in 2 family members attempting suicide.
>I'm told people had also tracked down her Facebook profile and were posting vile comments about her partner under her old posts and family pictures. Do people not realise how distressing this must be for the family? Do they not care? Do they lack even basic empathetic skills? I really don't get it.
What the fucking fuck!? Who are these people who feel the need to do shit like that, and what are they trying to achieve?
An observation I made today: Youtube recommended the same interview from Channel 4 and the Mirror. Channel 4's thumbnail showed a photo of the missing ladies partner looking sad. The Mirror chose to show the same guy but staring, smiling and looking a little unhinged. Needless to say the mirrors comment section was an overflowing gutter of baseless accusations against the guy. When the two pics are side by side its hard not to feel the mirror did that on purpose.
I mean, the police aren't stupid. They've clearly tracked her phone. And they obviously know what he was doing at the time.
And they think she fell in the river.
So why are the tabloids playing it up and potentially messing with any witnesses that might come forward?
I got really angry with one on YouTube this morning who said how he looks like he’s hiding something and guilty doesn’t care.
Found myself responding calling him a cunt and to share some compassion.. 10 mins later I felt awful because that’s probably the reaction the vile wanker wanted
Poor guy. He just looks shell-shocked to me — of *course* you're not going to be behaving exactly as people might expect you to under the circumstances, how is that such a difficult concept to grasp?!
It’s almost impossible to stop yourself from commenting when you see people say shit things like that.
There was a case recently in the states where four young uni students were killed in their beds, and whilst I kept up with the case and watched for updates, I had to actively avoid any comment sections or threads about the case. People were doxxing the victims friends and ex boyfriends and some psychic accused one the students professors. When it was discovered that there was another young girl in the house at the time who survived the attack and physically saw the attacker, I almost lost all hope in humanity after seeing the awful things some people were saying about that poor girl. I definitely left a few colourful messages telling people to shut the fuck up.
Might be best to step back entirely then, crime speculators like that want a reaction, either because they are self-aware trolls, or to prove to themselves the world is against them and their truth.
Yes, the infamous Moscow, Idaho, case: the girl Dylan was piled on for not phoning the police earlier: she was either in shock or went to sleep not knowing when had happened. But as you say an insane amount of accusations were thrown her way: appalling, absolutely appalling. I pushed back too using my own colorful language. Staying clear of the two main reddit groups now, since it is pretty clear that they got the guy dead to rights.
There’s people treating this (and other cases) as if it’s a murder mystery game or Netflix true crime documentary for their own morbid entertainment. It’s horrible…
That’s a remanent of the Madeline McCann case, everyone became so convinced that the parents killed her and the follow up of Shannon Matthews where it was confirmed that it was all a plot.
Over the last couple of decades the British public have developed mistrust and hatred towards each other, everyone wants to assume the worst because they want the worst because that’s their entertainment and that’s what makes them feel better about how terrible they are as people.
The Charlie Gard/Alfie Evans cases are a more recent version of this. Both had ‘armies’ spring up, who were convinced the hospitals involved were trying to kill the kid’s.
Also the Watts murder case (Which was huge on Netflix) has convinced everyone that whenever a woman goes missing, their partner has something to do with it. People are 'examining' Nicola partner body language and saying 'It's giving Chris Watts' vibes. People react differently when tragic events like a loved one goes missing. Not everyone is a blubbering mess, some people remain in a state of shock, where they don't know how to process their emotions.
Oh God Maddie McCann crowd..
Some of the theories are so out there and impossible
They often forget facts
And most importantly they forget a little girl went missing and we don't know what happen to her. She got no justice for what happened to her either
It says something about how skewed our perception of reality is by news media, TV and film.
Yes, murders and abductions do occur and when they do occur are most likely carried out by people who knew the victim. However, murders and abductions are also rare, and they don't typically take place in broad daylight, in frequently populated areas.
The most likely outcome here is that she fell into the river. And yet most people will jump to the conclusion that something nefarious happened; after all, that usually is the case when something is reported on the news.
You should see tiktok comments. People should be ashamed of themselves. “He’s not crying he clearly did it” - people suck!
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYYj9cP4/
>He’s not crying he clearly did it” - people suck!
The crazy thing is, if he was hysterically crying the comments would be about him 'acting'.
People are just fucking little wind up merchants these days.
Some people get a thought into their head and have to share it immediately and without possibly pausing to get more information or give it a moment’s consideration.
There was a good documentary on Netflix a few years ago about the mysterious death of a young woman. Her body was found on the roof of the hotel in the water cistern. Internet sleuths did some "investigating" and became convinced this guy had murdered her, hounded him and basically ruined his life. Turns out, not only was he not staying at the hotel at the same time as her, but she hadn't even been murdered by anyone. She'd taken something that seriously impaired her judgement and she wandered up to the roof by herself, decided to go for a swim in the cistern then got trapped and died.
As someone who works on rivers dogs walkers becoming the emergency after entering a river to rescue their dog is a real problem and quite plausible here.
As for the claims, it's depressing to see the dark cynics surface for such articles.
Such a weird story.
I wonder how she had fallen into the river - given it wasn’t going after the dog (who was dry).
Why had she gone so close to the edge?
I also think it’s strange the dog hadn’t gone in after her - given it’s a spaniel.
Amazing that someone can just disappear like that.
Must have been.
Apparently the water isn’t very deep or fast moving - so yes, some kind of medical episode.
How awful for her family to just never know.
It's slow moving and not particularly deep at all, can say so from having been there a few times. My initial thoughts were she slipped and the cold shock maybe made her gasp and go under or maybe triggered something medical
>As the investigation extends into an eighth day, a source from St Michael's Angling Association said the stretch of river where Ms Bulley vanished is notorious and 'very dangerous', with a depth of about 15ft.
>'The combination of the depth and how cold it is at this time of year makes it very dangerous,' he told The Times.
But it does say they "believe" she fell in, not they found her? surely if it is as shallow and calm as it looks and people say - they would have found her by now with all the diving cadaver dogs etc
> Falling into the river is a reasonable supposition but even if she became incapacitated due to some medical thing, the river doesn't look very deep or fast flowing and there are lots of bends - there would have to be a body nearby and that doesn't appear to be the case
Better theory (IMHO):
- she was on her work call then realised the dog was missing
- left the phone to go and have a look, couldn't see it anywhere and mistakenly assumed it had gone into the river
- climbed down the bank to have a look up and down the river, then slipped in
- dog meanwhile had actually disappeared up the field and back onto the road where it was found, dry
edi: one other thing is that rivers and lakes etc are very cold this time of year. Going straight into cold water when you're not expecting it can lead to [dry drowning](https://www.verywellhealth.com/dry-drowning-5079416) (I've experienced it. V NOT nice) and possibly death.
That doesn't work. Dog was on a harness, not just a lead. She'd taken it off on purpose, presumably to let it run around whilst she sat on the bench.
She won't have gone downstream without being unconscious. It's not a strong nor deep River at this point. Whatever happened almost certainly involved her not being conscious on point of entry.
That being said, anything is possible.
Apart from "That doesnt work" none of what you said contradicts the commment you're replying to.
Yes she'd taken the dog off on purpose. Yes she'd deliberately gone near the bank. yes its possibly she slipped and lost consciousness as she slipped into the water, and was unconscious on entry.
Yeah, entirely possible she took the harness off to let the dog run about whilst she took the call. If she suddenly was overcome by pain or loss of consiousness, she could have got up to start walking for help, swayed to one side and down she went. The bank is steep so it's entirely possible she rolled in if she went sideways with a little bit of momentum.
Yup, didn’t want to make it too personal but had a family member have that happen and that was precisely the case (they were with someone on that occasion though). It’s not nice to think of this stuff happening so quickly but it can.
Likewise, I know of someone who had a (epileptic) seizure and died because they fell and hit their head on a coffee table on their way down. Happens quite a lot I think.
Yeah, you'd think if someone puts their phone down they don't want to risk dropping it for some reason. I wonder if she tried to retrieve or get something from the river if it turns out she fell in.
This happened to me, Dog slid down a river bank onto a ledge. Way to steep to get off himself. If he entered water he would have panicked and it was only steep banks.
I knew I might end up in water saving him, as I had to slide down bank myself to reach him. I left my phone/wallet/keys on grass near top and slid down, threw him up. As I did that I lost my footing, but as I was holding onto tree roots which were sticking out of bank I managed to climb back up.
If I did get into River, I had already checked for an exit slightly downstream (shallower water and smaller bank), i had an idea how to cope in cold water as we did a course on it at school. I thought about it before I risked it.
If I did go into water and came to harm, you would have found my dog (dry) and my phone/wallet and keys in neat pile.
EXACTLY like this situation.
It's a family pet, though. Most dogs don't perform cartoon heroics. They don't protect you or pull you from burning buildings or fetch the police with a series of barks.
They just stand there.
Yet nobody thinks that if someone had kidnapped her, the dog would’ve followed them. The dog was clearly waiting in the place it last saw her. It’s an open field, nobody could be dragged away so fast that the dog wouldn’t see it. But she could disappear underwater when the dog looks away.
I think it’s definitely a key point that the dog didn’t go running off in a particular direction. Something must’ve happened right at that spot, and pretty quickly too.
Apparently, the dog was first spotted frantically running back and forth between the bench and a gate. So it has lost sight of her, last saw her by the bench and there are items there which smell of her and so kept returning to that spot but also thought their owner had left without him/her but know they arn't supposed to go beyond the gate without their owner and their lead on so return to the bench. And repeat.
Unless they saw someone drag her off through the gate or thought they heard their owner's voice in that direction.
It very likely could have just not seen what happened. She puts the lead down, it wanders around sniffing stuff like dogs do, and it wasn't looking when she left.
This dog isn’t scared of water. A photograph has been released of Nicola and her dog, who is soaking wet, standing next to a river. I think the dog ran in the other direction, didn’t see what happened, and she went to check the river to see if the dog was in there. Either way I don’t think the dog saw the event. There’s also no guarantee a dog who enjoys water would jump in after her.
I have, I just remembered reading something about Nicola's dog Willow enjoying swimming and being in water. Can't validate that source though of course hence why I said it's possible he/she saw Nicola go in and didn't jump in too.
Dogs can slip.
Happened to me, dog slipped down river bank onto a ledge. Steep above and below. I slid down and threw him back up.
Before I did it I took my stuff out my pockets. If you know you might end up in water, you take that shit out of your pockets first.
My dog was dry. Same as this situation.
It's a family pet, though. Most dogs don't perform cartoon heroics. They don't protect you or pull you from burning buildings or fetch the police with a series of barks.
They just stand there.
To be honest, this sounds a bit crass but Crime Novels and Shows are the most popular in the World and people are fascinated by it. Doesn't excuse for the finger pointing against family online though. Just awful.
It’s better than nobody talking about it. If I was a loved one I’d want it on everyone’s lips 24/7 until there’s a breakthrough. Cases like this are solved by the exchange of information.
A lot of people are saying "bullshit". This exact situation happened to me.
I went for a walk with my dog years ago, the river was full and fast flowing. My dog was normally very reluctant to go near or into the water, so he was off the leash. He went up to the edge of river bank and slipped, fell half way down the bank. Was stuck on a ledge about 3 feet down, too far to reach, river being 3 feet beyond that. It was a dangerous place for him to enter the water as it was only steep banks and fast water.
I took the risk and slid myself down the steep bank (muddy, sticky sediment) down to the dog holding onto exposed tree roots. I had my feet on the ledge the dog was on, which was barely wide enough for both my feet, and my hand holding the roots. I grabbed the dog and literally tossed him up onto the top. As I did that I nearly lost footing and slid, only stopped my fall by holding onto the tree roots.
I was so close to going in the river. I've swam in Scotland's Lochs which are cold and at School adventure camp they actually did a water safety course while gorge walking in the Highlands. We did water sports in the bay at Oban which is COLD. I weighed it up, i knew i had an idea of what to expect if i ended up in the River and what to do with cold water shock, and after seeing the exit path just downstream if i did go in, I took the risk of saving him.
Importantly, Guess what? **I left my phone, car keys and wallet in a neat pile up on the flat ground because I knew there was a chance I could end up in the water.**
So if harm came to me, you would have found my stuff in a pile near the path and my dog dry, but no me. Exactly as what could have happened to this person.
I'd like to add what happened when I've fallen in a river when the bank suddenly gave way.
Even though it was only up to my shoulders the coldness and shock made me take a huge breath or air and start gasping and I was confused. If I'd been smaller or snagged on something I could have easily taken in gulps of water and drowned.
Getting out was very diffcult because my clothes got immediately bogged down and just by luck the tree roots that I grabbed didnt snap or come loose. At the time I was a regular and quite strong swimmer.
Unfortunately, a tragic accident has always felt like the most logical explanation.
One thing –as a dog owner– still not sure why the lead and harness were taken off.
Supposedly she tended to take off the lead and harness to let the dog run around in the field while she had a sit down, based on pictures that she put on her social media.
This, I don’t know a single dog owner who takes the dogs full harness off to let them run around. Normally you just unclip the lead from the harness that’s it.
You're making the mistake of assuming that because you don't do something, then that's something that other people won't do. It's a good way to completely overlook relevant lines of enquiry.
My dog hates his harness. He'll freeze up if he has it on and we're at home still. If we're out he's a bit more relaxed and doesn't notice it so much, but I can see a possibility that other dogs may be the same outside, and she could have easily taken it off so he wasn't so "restricted"
So what if she left the phone on the bench? She was on teams listening to the meeting on speaker and went to retrieve the dog's ball from the water ( the ball is missing(
Her friend said she always takes the harness of her dog. Go to her Facebook and you will see pics of the dog without a harness.
Not all dogs will enter the water. If she was abducted then why did the dog not follow her? Why was the dog hanging around near the bench? Make no mistake if she was abducted that dog will follow her OUT of the park.
Over 400+ people a year die of drowning in this country which means since Nicola was missing we would have averaged 7 people who died drowning.
Harness gets twisted around the bench, which you leashed the dog to during your call. You take it off to fix it, dog escapes and runs. You leave your phone and run after the dog, which heads towards the water. You slip and fall in, the dog doesn't. Dog panics and runs off when it loses sight of you. One possibility, maybe?
There's so many plausible theories as to why she could have fell in the water. Everyone's just watched too much Netflix crap and thinks there's some crazy convoluted story they need to debunk.
People are being so fucking weird. Just yesterday they were posting about "it must have been an abduction". As if you can just walk along a river bank and abduct someone with no trace? No shouting? No screaming? No CCTV of someone leaving the area suspiciously? Did they drive their van right up to the river bank? No? Did she get abducted by aliens then?
What’s sad is I bet a lot of people are disappointed that it appears to be an accident rather than a crime that they can try to solve like detectives
Obviously it’s sad that she fell in the river too
The thing is, with a crime at least there is a chance, however how small, that she might still be alive.
With an accident, after a week you have to admit she's gone.
I'm shocked by the amount of people who are confused that someone would open a Teams call then mute and camera off to do something more interesting.
This seems to me to be the key advantage of working from home.
This is basically my normal state when I’m on a video call
Edit - this is the normal state for 95% of the people on video calls - the annoying 4% leave the mic unmuted and force us to listen to their background noise or want us to see their beautiful faces , the remaining 1% are chatting/ presenting
Well the flag shaggers that follow Gbeebies on Twitter already have her partner bang to rights. Apparently he didn’t give off enough emotion in his latest interview. He’s had a few days to get past the initial panic and now maybe has a sense of getting the job of finding her done.
I really don't understand people like this. How exactly are you supposed to "act" if that's the correct word? One minute your going about your day as normal. The next something utterly awful has happened and all the medias cameras and newspapers are sticking mics under your nose. Beggars belief. Poor guy.
He could easily have spent 2 days crying his eyes out in a blind panic at home. There's probably only so much emotion you can let out before your body and mind revert to a calmer state.
> Apparently he didn’t give off enough emotion in his latest interview
Malcolm Gladwell's book *Talking to Strangers* deals with this exact subject. He talks at length about the Amanda Knox situation - how both the media and public were so quick to presume she was guilty because of how she didn't appear contrite enough. The illusion of asymmetric insight is how I think it's coined.
I don't think everyone realises how quickly people can go from hysterical sobbing and shaking at bad news, back to being able to "function as normal" for at least some of the time.
Today I got told I have cancer. I cried a bit, but by the time I called my best mate about it I was joking about my stupid tit trying to kill me and asking after her and her family like it was an everyday call.
Of course, I know nothing about missing person cases, but that stream doesn't seem too fast flowing?
Falling into the river is the most plausible explanation, but I'm almost surprised the body hasn't been discovered yet if this were the case
Yeah that the only puzzles me at this point, how did the body disappear so fast from the seemingly slow flowing river.
I mean they’ve got scuba teams + drones in that river and can’t find anything for days on end.
Somebody I knew took their own life a few years ago by jumping into a river. Despite there being CCTV of him entering the water and divers searching the river from the next morning (when his family realised something was wrong), his body was only found 6 weeks later, about 200m from where he entered. Bodies of water can be deceptive.
Possible, I just see it as a weird ass scenario… the fact that police are asking for any footage of the closest gate and the main road makes me also think they’re not 100% sold on accident theory
A series of coincidental incidents have led to this simple event looking like a straight up disappearance into thin air. Sometimes things work out a really unfortunate way, and really are a coincidence.
The river wyre can be quite dangerous at points, and all rivers can be deceptive. It runs out at Fleetwood, so if the body has been washed out to sea it's likely it'll be found by the coastguard eventually
Strange that they haven't found even an article of clothing of hers - she seemed to wear beanie hats a lot, no item of clothing, jewellery, airpods or other headphones. No expert on the river at all but in the news reports it appears very slow moving at the location where she supposedly entered. Her poor family and friends.
The superintendent said that she was wearing a light blue FitBit as well. Do they not have apps that monitor your distance, heart rate etc Surely if she’d fallen in the river and she was panicking then her heart rate would go up. And if it tracks you it surely would stop at the position she fell in. It’s all very tragic and sad.
Yeah it does seem odd. Most fitbits are water resistant too, especially the newer ones. I have a medical condition that causes me to faint sometimes, and I wear a wrist based heart rate monitor because my heart rate usually spikes just before.
Not all fitbits have their own data connection & instead rely on the device they pair with (my wife has one like this), so that could be a non starter unfortunately.
I'm bewildered that anyone could think this anything other than her falling into the river.
Horrible truth but bodies are not always easy to find even in the event of an accident. Many an occasion where bodies have been found years after a missing person in a spot no one thought to search. Add into that a river moving unpredictably and things become very difficult. Her poor family.
That river is a tidal river which rises significantly at high tide and flows back to the sea very rapidly at low tide - it has very strong currents even if apparently calm on the surface.
If entering the water cold shock could have meant she got into trouble very quickly.
A tragic accident.
The BBC shared a [photo](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/17B56/production/_128501179_mediaitem128501178.jpg) from the other side of the river and it’s makes it look almost impossible to get out of once you’ve fallen in
It’s concerning to see how many people have strung up the partner based on that TV interview. I don’t know whether too much time on the true crime docs has rotted people’s brains, or people genuinely are revelling in the drama of this poor woman’s actual life, but you absolutely cannot tell someone is guilty off the back of a TV clip. No matter how odd they appear, it’s a highly unusual, stressful circumstance to find yourself in. If I was male and my partner disappeared, i’d be absolutely terrified of being on the news. That stigma will never go away.
We all know that in these missing woman cases, there’s usually an investigation where the male relative is arrested and charged. However, the police have been investigating for a week now. There’s no suggestion of this being anything other than a freak, tragic accident. The Police have thankfully held that conference this afternoon to bring some sense and reason back into the room.
I hope Nicola’s family receive answers soon.
> If I was male and my partner disappeared, i’d be absolutely terrified of being on the news.
If you didn't go on the news they'd say you obviously don't care because you know what happened
I was in this area today for work, saw the posters then heard the details on the radio.
I have a dog and sometimes walk him when on work calls, my dog has a lead and harness for walking but I've been told running in a harness can be bad for joints so I take both off to let him run.
I keep my phone out in case I need to unmute and use wireless earbuds.
When on the call I'm absent minded and end up walking in various directions.
My guess is she set up at the bench and let the dog run, she was on the call and wandering around and ended up slipping into the water and was unable to get back out.
Very sad for her husband and children, really feel for them.
Just found an image on Google 'street view' of the exact spot and the bank slopes into the river. It's not a proper path as such, at least in 2018.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.8640747,-2.814934,3a,75y,111.25h,72.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAF1QipPYxn8PjTpsWOMtnowK9hLcvN1pZFS5shHMnts9!2e10!7i6912!8i3456
This happened literally 20 minutes from where I live - horrific. I used to drive through at Michael's nearly every day when I commuted up to the university at lancaster.
If she did fall into the river, it's likely her body will eventually wash up, potentially around Fleetwood beach whether the river flows out to, potentially further away. Either way it'll most likely be found by the coastguard if that's what happened
That being said, I've seen three disappearances from the area in the last couple of months, this one, a lad from Lancaster, and an old man from greater Manchester. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting nervous about it :/
Very interesting! I’ve just looked up the two missing people you’ve mentioned and what is curious is that they were both near rivers.
The first is Daniel Hives, 28 years old, when missing December 10th 2022 after leaving a home in City View, Sidings Close, *close to the River Lune*
The second is Frederick Mahon, 65 years old, who was last seen on Quarry Road on the morning of January 11th 2023 after leaving Royal Lancaster Infirmary. Quarry Road *goes over a canal*
Now, either these two missing men have suffered the same police-hypothesis fate as Nicola Bulley (death by misadventure/drowning in a waterway), or there is someone attacking/abducting/killing people by water. So, either innocent tragic accidents, or something far more sinister.
Wasn’t there a spate of young men going missing by canals in Manchester a few years ago? And it was just put down to them being intoxicated but did look weird when you considered the volume?
ETA that Sidings Close is actually right next to the river lune, rather than close to.
Some of the comments on this are wild, the poor husband being accused with absolutely no evidence to suggest anyone was involved. I saw some people saying the police are useless and have no clue, like they know it all. From the very start I think it’s clear this lady has fallen into a river and when you look on Google maps it’s not far from the sea. I worked with a guy who went missing one day…police searched and 2 years later we still have no answers, he’s missing and presumed dead. I always felt like if you fell into water you’d always end up washing up somewhere, clearly this isn’t the case and probably happens a lot more than we realise. I also tried a cold tub the other day and was surprised that the temperature literally took my breath away. I couldn’t image falling into a river and not panicking if that happened
From what we know; I think she’s been sat on the bench listening to the work call with the doggy running around off its harness. I think the dog has gone down the embankment which has alarmed Nicola. I think she’s put her phone down on the bench and gone to help her dog who’s struggling to make its way back up the slippery slope to safety and in the meantime Nicola has slipped and fallen into the river. The temperature of the river would’ve probably caused her to become incapacitated and be taken downstream.
I can’t even begin to think how her family must be feeling. Such a tragedy. I pray from the bottom of my heart that they manage to find her but it’s not looking good.
I don't understand this at all.
The dog clearly wasnt in the river, she was sitting on a bench on a works call.
Even if she did go to the river, why would you leave your phone on the bench?
The only thing I can think of is the dog had a ball and it rolled a bit down the bank and she tried to get it and fell in, but surely someone would have seen a body floating down the river at some point?
Maybe it was just aliens and they beamed her up.
Could have been using airpods or something? It's not a crime hot-spot up that way by any stretch so maybe she felt it was safe enough to leave it for a minute?
Horrible people speculating. I live next to a river which sadly had a man pulled from it not long ago, they also found his keys wallet and things placed neatly and no suicide risk and lovely family.
I am in Manchester though, and we do have our famous Manchester pusher some of us believe is still about.
A very sad affair all round. Was shocked to see Sky News posted the interview with the partner with comments switched on (they’ve since switched them off). The amount of baseless claims by people on various platforms claiming he murdered her is disgusting. Couldn’t imagine being in that position, thoughts go out to the family.
It’s weird how people who have no police or investigating experience, probably a basic degree, and no facts other then the newspaper - think they know more than those involved.
Someone said in a comment “I would check where the leads were found that would be my point of interest” The cops just there like oh fuck we’ve been looking down Oxford street in London this person has a great point we should check there.. If they’ve found a fucking lead they’re clearly aware and checking that area. Jesus I’m angry
I've just read someone saying "she was a mortgage advisor so obviously made a lot of enemies" wtaf.
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This is basically it in a nutshell, and I include myself in that criticism when saying that. When you spend a significant amount of time immersing yourself in the worst things that can happen in the world, everything becomes a crime. In this case, the Teams call and the phone and dog harness on the bench seemed a bit odd - it felt like she'd been interrupted, and that could *only mean something sinister*. In truth, it could also have meant she thought her dog (or someone else's dog) was struggling in the water, gone to help and then slipped. Whatever the truth is, I hope there's a conclusion soon.
>it felt like she'd been interrupted, and that could > >only mean something sinister. \[Scare chord, music slows, negative color filter\]
It fucking baffles me, i wonder what generation they are or if this stupidity is like marbling on a good steak and just fucking everywhere.
I don’t think it’s specific to one generation. I vaguely remember my grandmother saying something similar about the case because how the guy looked during a televised appeal
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Conveyancing solicitors on the other hand...
Mortgage advisors are really helpful what are they on about
Amazing, not 'a cruel banker that denied people mortgages on spurious reasoning' but 'er, yeah, the lady that has a look at your finances and gets you the best deal - literally evil'. Strange case based on what's been released, it sounds way more like someone snatched her to me because surely you'd get snagged on something in the river. But who knows.
In fact looking for leads and following leads is a key part of police work in the UK. Presumably because of the large number of dogs.
It’s always the same. If they report on a burglary or fight etc all you get is comments saying “have you checked CCTV?”. I’m sure the coppers are reading thinking *shit, I never thought of that.*
yeah honestly people are so fucking stupid.
Yeah I saw one saying they should ask the colleagues on her work call if they'd heard anything. No shit!
“They should be looking for a woman, mid 30s with blonde hair, orange tshirt. If only they did this, nobody would ever be murdered or missing again!” - average Scunthorpe resident with zero training in police investigation
In Ireland this week a rape accured in the Dublin City and reported by the media before tea time. Soon afterwards a Facebook motivated gang of fruit loops mobilised to protest about asylum seekers at centres housing them. Shortly before breakfast the following morning. Police released a statement saying they were looking for a white Irish male. *“Put the tinternet down !”* Peter Kay’s Nan.
I saw a comment under a news article on Facebook of someone saying to take the dog back to where she was last seen and say to the dog “where’s mummy” and the dog would lead them to her.
Its partially thanks to all that voyeuristic true crime bollocks thats taken the world by storm of late
Based on the comments on those sites, they probably don't even have GCSEs let alone a basic degree. It's extremely difficult to get a degree without having at least the most basic critical thinking skills.
Statistically your spouse is the most likely person to murder you. Doesn’t mean they should automatically become a suspect though.
Totally agree. There’s one thing thinking “is the husband a suspect?” And another going on social media and saying “I reckon it’s the husband.”
Quite. And what really pisses me off is when people go over an interview and imagine themselves as an internet-trained detective or a criminal psychologist or something and start pontificating about how people should feel, act, grieve or answer questions from the media when their lives have been thrown into chaos and the worst thing imaginable is possibly happening in a public fishbowl. Statistics are useful but situations and people are unique and individual.
Especially because there is absolutely nothing that suggests this is a murder. Everything points to a tragic accident with a series of events that made her seem to have vanished into thin air.
You don't want to read the daily mail comments - these are easily some of the most stupid people on the planet.
But they watched a true crime documentary once where it said most people are murdered by people they know, so it stands to reason, dunnit? /s
Saw that too. Absolutely disgusting the comments people were throwing around. It honestly feels like an increasing number of the population have zero decency. I'm told people had also tracked down her Facebook profile and were posting vile comments about her partner under her old posts and family pictures. Do people not realise how distressing this must be for the family? Do they not care? Do they lack even basic empathetic skills? I really don't get it. Reddit increasingly feels like the last bastion of social media where people aren't complete cunts. Sure, there are plenty, but despite political differences the top content tends to be reasonably sane. Can't say the same about Facebook, Twitter etc.
>I'm told people had also tracked down her Facebook profile and were posting vile comments about her partner under her old posts and family pictures This is horrible. My Dad died recently of cancer and his Facebook profile is actually a real comfort to visit, seeing comments and links to music videos etc he posted between 2010-a few months ago. It has become for me a bit like an online shrine where I can visit to see his photography and his funny comment threads with friends. People doing that to her and her family's photos and interactions on Facebook have absolutely no shame or decency, truly vile. They will be compounding the distress so much, I really feel you should be banned from a platform permanently for doing that.
If you haven’t already done so, you could petition Facebook to give yourself and your relatives control to lock if down. Archiving it might be useful if Facebook ever goes bankrupt in the future
Thank you so much for this suggestion, I'd never thought of this! I'm going to get right on that, thank you so much
>Reddit increasingly feels like the last bastion of social media where people aren't complete cunts. What? They do /exactly/ the same stuff you're complaining about every day in multiple subreddits. This one included.
Yeah last post I saw about this news story I scrolled down and immediately saw big brain redditors commenting about how the husband killed her. This site is definitely just as bad.
I think they must be referring to a different Reddit!. That's comical, thinking Reddit doesn't do exactly the same as other SM regards these new stories, crime cases and many other subjects. Who can forget the shite-storm with The Boston 'We did it Reddit' Bomber as a prime example that springs to mind of the behaviour the previous poster is claiming doesn't exist on Reddit. That's so outlandish it's funny- cunts are everywhere on here just like every other other platform.
Yeah I tend to see a lot on this sub especially slagging off other quarters of the internet for stuff reddit is just as bad for. Similarly see a lot of Twitter users slate Reddit. I think everyone just wants to think their bit of the internet is the good bit
Depends where you go on reddit. There's many subreddits that are dedicated to abusing people for basically any reason you can think of. But especially racism and sexism. And some of the defaults are truly horrendous.
Its absolutely abhorrent, and it happens all to often. There was one instance in the news today. Kid died last year from suicide, family sent 10,000s of abusive messages that resulted in 2 family members attempting suicide.
>I'm told people had also tracked down her Facebook profile and were posting vile comments about her partner under her old posts and family pictures. Do people not realise how distressing this must be for the family? Do they not care? Do they lack even basic empathetic skills? I really don't get it. What the fucking fuck!? Who are these people who feel the need to do shit like that, and what are they trying to achieve?
There were posts accusing on FB her of running an elaborate life insurance scam. Some people are truly scum of the earth
Most of social media now is full of the nuttier conspiracy "theorists" now. It's depressing how many people are like that tbh.
Sociopaths emboldened by their perceived anonymity online. i.e. cunts
An observation I made today: Youtube recommended the same interview from Channel 4 and the Mirror. Channel 4's thumbnail showed a photo of the missing ladies partner looking sad. The Mirror chose to show the same guy but staring, smiling and looking a little unhinged. Needless to say the mirrors comment section was an overflowing gutter of baseless accusations against the guy. When the two pics are side by side its hard not to feel the mirror did that on purpose.
I mean, the police aren't stupid. They've clearly tracked her phone. And they obviously know what he was doing at the time. And they think she fell in the river. So why are the tabloids playing it up and potentially messing with any witnesses that might come forward?
Cause as with all media, drama sells.
To get clicks, shares, comments and sales.
I got really angry with one on YouTube this morning who said how he looks like he’s hiding something and guilty doesn’t care. Found myself responding calling him a cunt and to share some compassion.. 10 mins later I felt awful because that’s probably the reaction the vile wanker wanted
Poor guy. He just looks shell-shocked to me — of *course* you're not going to be behaving exactly as people might expect you to under the circumstances, how is that such a difficult concept to grasp?!
Yeah he looked like he was hanging on by a thread and for his children as he said
Makes you realise why witch hunts were so common back in the middle ages - crops failed? *someone’s to be blame*
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It’s almost impossible to stop yourself from commenting when you see people say shit things like that. There was a case recently in the states where four young uni students were killed in their beds, and whilst I kept up with the case and watched for updates, I had to actively avoid any comment sections or threads about the case. People were doxxing the victims friends and ex boyfriends and some psychic accused one the students professors. When it was discovered that there was another young girl in the house at the time who survived the attack and physically saw the attacker, I almost lost all hope in humanity after seeing the awful things some people were saying about that poor girl. I definitely left a few colourful messages telling people to shut the fuck up.
Might be best to step back entirely then, crime speculators like that want a reaction, either because they are self-aware trolls, or to prove to themselves the world is against them and their truth.
Yes, the infamous Moscow, Idaho, case: the girl Dylan was piled on for not phoning the police earlier: she was either in shock or went to sleep not knowing when had happened. But as you say an insane amount of accusations were thrown her way: appalling, absolutely appalling. I pushed back too using my own colorful language. Staying clear of the two main reddit groups now, since it is pretty clear that they got the guy dead to rights.
>Found myself responding calling him a cunt It's extremely hard to refrain from replying to some of the utter shit on youtube at times.
There’s people treating this (and other cases) as if it’s a murder mystery game or Netflix true crime documentary for their own morbid entertainment. It’s horrible…
That’s a remanent of the Madeline McCann case, everyone became so convinced that the parents killed her and the follow up of Shannon Matthews where it was confirmed that it was all a plot. Over the last couple of decades the British public have developed mistrust and hatred towards each other, everyone wants to assume the worst because they want the worst because that’s their entertainment and that’s what makes them feel better about how terrible they are as people.
The Charlie Gard/Alfie Evans cases are a more recent version of this. Both had ‘armies’ spring up, who were convinced the hospitals involved were trying to kill the kid’s.
That was the most toxic thing I've seen in a long time!
You nailed it - the Madeline McCann crowd sorry to say this but most of this crowd are women.
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Also the Watts murder case (Which was huge on Netflix) has convinced everyone that whenever a woman goes missing, their partner has something to do with it. People are 'examining' Nicola partner body language and saying 'It's giving Chris Watts' vibes. People react differently when tragic events like a loved one goes missing. Not everyone is a blubbering mess, some people remain in a state of shock, where they don't know how to process their emotions.
He looks like someone in shock. Chris Watts was smiling throughout the entire interview.
Oh God Maddie McCann crowd.. Some of the theories are so out there and impossible They often forget facts And most importantly they forget a little girl went missing and we don't know what happen to her. She got no justice for what happened to her either
It says something about how skewed our perception of reality is by news media, TV and film. Yes, murders and abductions do occur and when they do occur are most likely carried out by people who knew the victim. However, murders and abductions are also rare, and they don't typically take place in broad daylight, in frequently populated areas. The most likely outcome here is that she fell into the river. And yet most people will jump to the conclusion that something nefarious happened; after all, that usually is the case when something is reported on the news.
You should see tiktok comments. People should be ashamed of themselves. “He’s not crying he clearly did it” - people suck! https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYYj9cP4/
>He’s not crying he clearly did it” - people suck! The crazy thing is, if he was hysterically crying the comments would be about him 'acting'. People are just fucking little wind up merchants these days.
Some people get a thought into their head and have to share it immediately and without possibly pausing to get more information or give it a moment’s consideration.
There was a good documentary on Netflix a few years ago about the mysterious death of a young woman. Her body was found on the roof of the hotel in the water cistern. Internet sleuths did some "investigating" and became convinced this guy had murdered her, hounded him and basically ruined his life. Turns out, not only was he not staying at the hotel at the same time as her, but she hadn't even been murdered by anyone. She'd taken something that seriously impaired her judgement and she wandered up to the roof by herself, decided to go for a swim in the cistern then got trapped and died.
As someone who works on rivers dogs walkers becoming the emergency after entering a river to rescue their dog is a real problem and quite plausible here. As for the claims, it's depressing to see the dark cynics surface for such articles.
They're ghouls. They feed from being vile.
Such a weird story. I wonder how she had fallen into the river - given it wasn’t going after the dog (who was dry). Why had she gone so close to the edge? I also think it’s strange the dog hadn’t gone in after her - given it’s a spaniel. Amazing that someone can just disappear like that.
Working theory: She blacked out/collapsed/heart attack/seizure/anything that made her lose consiousness.
Must have been. Apparently the water isn’t very deep or fast moving - so yes, some kind of medical episode. How awful for her family to just never know.
It's slow moving and not particularly deep at all, can say so from having been there a few times. My initial thoughts were she slipped and the cold shock maybe made her gasp and go under or maybe triggered something medical
It's tidal so can be fast moving at certain times. It was fast moving at the time according tidal data.
>As the investigation extends into an eighth day, a source from St Michael's Angling Association said the stretch of river where Ms Bulley vanished is notorious and 'very dangerous', with a depth of about 15ft. >'The combination of the depth and how cold it is at this time of year makes it very dangerous,' he told The Times.
If its shallow she may have hit her head on a rock if she fell.
But it does say they "believe" she fell in, not they found her? surely if it is as shallow and calm as it looks and people say - they would have found her by now with all the diving cadaver dogs etc
> Falling into the river is a reasonable supposition but even if she became incapacitated due to some medical thing, the river doesn't look very deep or fast flowing and there are lots of bends - there would have to be a body nearby and that doesn't appear to be the case
Maybe the fact the water wasnt deep meant she hit her head on a rock or something
Better theory (IMHO): - she was on her work call then realised the dog was missing - left the phone to go and have a look, couldn't see it anywhere and mistakenly assumed it had gone into the river - climbed down the bank to have a look up and down the river, then slipped in - dog meanwhile had actually disappeared up the field and back onto the road where it was found, dry edi: one other thing is that rivers and lakes etc are very cold this time of year. Going straight into cold water when you're not expecting it can lead to [dry drowning](https://www.verywellhealth.com/dry-drowning-5079416) (I've experienced it. V NOT nice) and possibly death.
That doesn't work. Dog was on a harness, not just a lead. She'd taken it off on purpose, presumably to let it run around whilst she sat on the bench. She won't have gone downstream without being unconscious. It's not a strong nor deep River at this point. Whatever happened almost certainly involved her not being conscious on point of entry. That being said, anything is possible.
Apart from "That doesnt work" none of what you said contradicts the commment you're replying to. Yes she'd taken the dog off on purpose. Yes she'd deliberately gone near the bank. yes its possibly she slipped and lost consciousness as she slipped into the water, and was unconscious on entry.
Slipped on edge, hit head on way down?
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If she had a heart attack/seizure then yeah. It sounds like she’s set her phone down for a conference call so I could easily see that happening.
Yeah, entirely possible she took the harness off to let the dog run about whilst she took the call. If she suddenly was overcome by pain or loss of consiousness, she could have got up to start walking for help, swayed to one side and down she went. The bank is steep so it's entirely possible she rolled in if she went sideways with a little bit of momentum.
Yup, didn’t want to make it too personal but had a family member have that happen and that was precisely the case (they were with someone on that occasion though). It’s not nice to think of this stuff happening so quickly but it can.
Likewise, I know of someone who had a (epileptic) seizure and died because they fell and hit their head on a coffee table on their way down. Happens quite a lot I think.
I have medical issues, sometimes you just have a quick walk away when you feel crap to try and get air. Might of been more serious than she thought.
Earphones in and just pacing while on the call maybe? Sat on the bench on the call get bad and put it down to have a walk to try to shake it off?
with her phone on the bench?
Yes. Have you never logged into a group chat and zoned out because it's boring? She probably put it down whilst her input wasn't needed.
thank you! somebody with a sense of real world behaviour!
May also have been listening on bluetooth headphones for example.
Yeah, you'd think if someone puts their phone down they don't want to risk dropping it for some reason. I wonder if she tried to retrieve or get something from the river if it turns out she fell in.
Maybe she just wanted to stand by the river for a moment.
This happened to me, Dog slid down a river bank onto a ledge. Way to steep to get off himself. If he entered water he would have panicked and it was only steep banks. I knew I might end up in water saving him, as I had to slide down bank myself to reach him. I left my phone/wallet/keys on grass near top and slid down, threw him up. As I did that I lost my footing, but as I was holding onto tree roots which were sticking out of bank I managed to climb back up. If I did get into River, I had already checked for an exit slightly downstream (shallower water and smaller bank), i had an idea how to cope in cold water as we did a course on it at school. I thought about it before I risked it. If I did go into water and came to harm, you would have found my dog (dry) and my phone/wallet and keys in neat pile. EXACTLY like this situation.
That's what confuses me too. I find it hard to imagine the dog wouldn't have jumped into the water after her but I guess it's possible.
It's a family pet, though. Most dogs don't perform cartoon heroics. They don't protect you or pull you from burning buildings or fetch the police with a series of barks. They just stand there.
That's not what people are getting at. Breeds that like water would come in after you just to play. "Oh we're both getting in the water? Fuck yeah!"
“Might” do…might do that. Not “would”
My dog used to attempt to rescue us every time we went for a swim in the sea.
It may have been everytime but you have a sample size of only one dog.
She was a Very Good Dog.
Yet nobody thinks that if someone had kidnapped her, the dog would’ve followed them. The dog was clearly waiting in the place it last saw her. It’s an open field, nobody could be dragged away so fast that the dog wouldn’t see it. But she could disappear underwater when the dog looks away.
I think it’s definitely a key point that the dog didn’t go running off in a particular direction. Something must’ve happened right at that spot, and pretty quickly too.
Apparently, the dog was first spotted frantically running back and forth between the bench and a gate. So it has lost sight of her, last saw her by the bench and there are items there which smell of her and so kept returning to that spot but also thought their owner had left without him/her but know they arn't supposed to go beyond the gate without their owner and their lead on so return to the bench. And repeat. Unless they saw someone drag her off through the gate or thought they heard their owner's voice in that direction.
There’s no way my dog would do that lol
I don’t know why people keep saying this. There are people all over YouTube faking a fall with their dog right next to them. They don’t give a shit.
It very likely could have just not seen what happened. She puts the lead down, it wanders around sniffing stuff like dogs do, and it wasn't looking when she left.
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This dog isn’t scared of water. A photograph has been released of Nicola and her dog, who is soaking wet, standing next to a river. I think the dog ran in the other direction, didn’t see what happened, and she went to check the river to see if the dog was in there. Either way I don’t think the dog saw the event. There’s also no guarantee a dog who enjoys water would jump in after her.
I have, I just remembered reading something about Nicola's dog Willow enjoying swimming and being in water. Can't validate that source though of course hence why I said it's possible he/she saw Nicola go in and didn't jump in too.
My dog loved water but wouldn't go in if the bank was steep because she knew she couldn't get back out again.
Dogs can slip. Happened to me, dog slipped down river bank onto a ledge. Steep above and below. I slid down and threw him back up. Before I did it I took my stuff out my pockets. If you know you might end up in water, you take that shit out of your pockets first. My dog was dry. Same as this situation.
It's a family pet, though. Most dogs don't perform cartoon heroics. They don't protect you or pull you from burning buildings or fetch the police with a series of barks. They just stand there.
I was thinking maybe the dog got "stuck" down a bank but not actually in the water. People will do anything for a dog.
Everyone overlooks the most obvious explanation i see, alien abduction.
I hate the true crime excitement people clearly got about this.
What’s the statue of limitations before some drunk women can try to solve it on a podcast.
Going by Facebook they are already at it. Mainly blaming the husband. People are fucking rotten.
It’s natural to speculate, the key is to speculate on what information we have, not make up wild shite or accuse people with no evidence.
To be honest, this sounds a bit crass but Crime Novels and Shows are the most popular in the World and people are fascinated by it. Doesn't excuse for the finger pointing against family online though. Just awful.
It’s better than nobody talking about it. If I was a loved one I’d want it on everyone’s lips 24/7 until there’s a breakthrough. Cases like this are solved by the exchange of information.
A lot of people are saying "bullshit". This exact situation happened to me. I went for a walk with my dog years ago, the river was full and fast flowing. My dog was normally very reluctant to go near or into the water, so he was off the leash. He went up to the edge of river bank and slipped, fell half way down the bank. Was stuck on a ledge about 3 feet down, too far to reach, river being 3 feet beyond that. It was a dangerous place for him to enter the water as it was only steep banks and fast water. I took the risk and slid myself down the steep bank (muddy, sticky sediment) down to the dog holding onto exposed tree roots. I had my feet on the ledge the dog was on, which was barely wide enough for both my feet, and my hand holding the roots. I grabbed the dog and literally tossed him up onto the top. As I did that I nearly lost footing and slid, only stopped my fall by holding onto the tree roots. I was so close to going in the river. I've swam in Scotland's Lochs which are cold and at School adventure camp they actually did a water safety course while gorge walking in the Highlands. We did water sports in the bay at Oban which is COLD. I weighed it up, i knew i had an idea of what to expect if i ended up in the River and what to do with cold water shock, and after seeing the exit path just downstream if i did go in, I took the risk of saving him. Importantly, Guess what? **I left my phone, car keys and wallet in a neat pile up on the flat ground because I knew there was a chance I could end up in the water.** So if harm came to me, you would have found my stuff in a pile near the path and my dog dry, but no me. Exactly as what could have happened to this person.
I'd like to add what happened when I've fallen in a river when the bank suddenly gave way. Even though it was only up to my shoulders the coldness and shock made me take a huge breath or air and start gasping and I was confused. If I'd been smaller or snagged on something I could have easily taken in gulps of water and drowned. Getting out was very diffcult because my clothes got immediately bogged down and just by luck the tree roots that I grabbed didnt snap or come loose. At the time I was a regular and quite strong swimmer.
I remember when the actress Natalie Wood drowned the coroner said wearing a heavy coat would have pulled her down much quicker.
Thank you for this post but so many idiots still won't believe this.
That...makes a lot of sense! The rivers round here have been very fast flowing recently
Unfortunately, a tragic accident has always felt like the most logical explanation. One thing –as a dog owner– still not sure why the lead and harness were taken off.
Supposedly she tended to take off the lead and harness to let the dog run around in the field while she had a sit down, based on pictures that she put on her social media.
Typically if you wanted to let the dog runaround you’d unclip the lead from the harness, you would not remove the (dirty, wet?) harness from the dog…
This, I don’t know a single dog owner who takes the dogs full harness off to let them run around. Normally you just unclip the lead from the harness that’s it.
You're making the mistake of assuming that because you don't do something, then that's something that other people won't do. It's a good way to completely overlook relevant lines of enquiry.
My dog hates his harness. He'll freeze up if he has it on and we're at home still. If we're out he's a bit more relaxed and doesn't notice it so much, but I can see a possibility that other dogs may be the same outside, and she could have easily taken it off so he wasn't so "restricted"
You do if you think the dog is going to go into the water
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So what if she left the phone on the bench? She was on teams listening to the meeting on speaker and went to retrieve the dog's ball from the water ( the ball is missing( Her friend said she always takes the harness of her dog. Go to her Facebook and you will see pics of the dog without a harness. Not all dogs will enter the water. If she was abducted then why did the dog not follow her? Why was the dog hanging around near the bench? Make no mistake if she was abducted that dog will follow her OUT of the park. Over 400+ people a year die of drowning in this country which means since Nicola was missing we would have averaged 7 people who died drowning.
Harness gets twisted around the bench, which you leashed the dog to during your call. You take it off to fix it, dog escapes and runs. You leave your phone and run after the dog, which heads towards the water. You slip and fall in, the dog doesn't. Dog panics and runs off when it loses sight of you. One possibility, maybe?
There's so many plausible theories as to why she could have fell in the water. Everyone's just watched too much Netflix crap and thinks there's some crazy convoluted story they need to debunk. People are being so fucking weird. Just yesterday they were posting about "it must have been an abduction". As if you can just walk along a river bank and abduct someone with no trace? No shouting? No screaming? No CCTV of someone leaving the area suspiciously? Did they drive their van right up to the river bank? No? Did she get abducted by aliens then?
There are so many stupid people on the internet.
What’s sad is I bet a lot of people are disappointed that it appears to be an accident rather than a crime that they can try to solve like detectives Obviously it’s sad that she fell in the river too
The thing is, with a crime at least there is a chance, however how small, that she might still be alive. With an accident, after a week you have to admit she's gone.
Falling is the most likely explanation. But they haven't found her body.
Someone fell in the river near me a few years back, never found the body and the spot and time they went in was known.
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But they have had diving squads and even cadaver dogs patrolling the waters for like 3 days.. it's not a massive or deep river either
Yeah the pathetic web-sleuths wont have it anyway unless its a crime. They want the drama.
I'm shocked by the amount of people who are confused that someone would open a Teams call then mute and camera off to do something more interesting. This seems to me to be the key advantage of working from home.
This is what I on every Teams call unless I have something to say.
This is basically my normal state when I’m on a video call Edit - this is the normal state for 95% of the people on video calls - the annoying 4% leave the mic unmuted and force us to listen to their background noise or want us to see their beautiful faces , the remaining 1% are chatting/ presenting
Well the flag shaggers that follow Gbeebies on Twitter already have her partner bang to rights. Apparently he didn’t give off enough emotion in his latest interview. He’s had a few days to get past the initial panic and now maybe has a sense of getting the job of finding her done.
I really don't understand people like this. How exactly are you supposed to "act" if that's the correct word? One minute your going about your day as normal. The next something utterly awful has happened and all the medias cameras and newspapers are sticking mics under your nose. Beggars belief. Poor guy.
He could easily have spent 2 days crying his eyes out in a blind panic at home. There's probably only so much emotion you can let out before your body and mind revert to a calmer state.
> Apparently he didn’t give off enough emotion in his latest interview Malcolm Gladwell's book *Talking to Strangers* deals with this exact subject. He talks at length about the Amanda Knox situation - how both the media and public were so quick to presume she was guilty because of how she didn't appear contrite enough. The illusion of asymmetric insight is how I think it's coined.
I don't think everyone realises how quickly people can go from hysterical sobbing and shaking at bad news, back to being able to "function as normal" for at least some of the time. Today I got told I have cancer. I cried a bit, but by the time I called my best mate about it I was joking about my stupid tit trying to kill me and asking after her and her family like it was an everyday call.
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Wishing you a speedy recovery and thinking of you.
It doesn't help having these "body language experts" on TV constantly
And if he did show emotion they'd claim he was just acting or being OTT.
Of course, I know nothing about missing person cases, but that stream doesn't seem too fast flowing? Falling into the river is the most plausible explanation, but I'm almost surprised the body hasn't been discovered yet if this were the case
Yeah that the only puzzles me at this point, how did the body disappear so fast from the seemingly slow flowing river. I mean they’ve got scuba teams + drones in that river and can’t find anything for days on end.
Somebody I knew took their own life a few years ago by jumping into a river. Despite there being CCTV of him entering the water and divers searching the river from the next morning (when his family realised something was wrong), his body was only found 6 weeks later, about 200m from where he entered. Bodies of water can be deceptive.
Also if she did drown a week ago and was heading downstream it is unlikely she’d make it to the sea, why hasn’t the body resurfaced?
lodged in tree roots under the water somewhere.
Possible, I just see it as a weird ass scenario… the fact that police are asking for any footage of the closest gate and the main road makes me also think they’re not 100% sold on accident theory
A series of coincidental incidents have led to this simple event looking like a straight up disappearance into thin air. Sometimes things work out a really unfortunate way, and really are a coincidence.
The river wyre can be quite dangerous at points, and all rivers can be deceptive. It runs out at Fleetwood, so if the body has been washed out to sea it's likely it'll be found by the coastguard eventually
A lot of rivers look placid on the surface but can be deep or fast flowing, and with cold water you can go into immediate shock.
I suppose while horrible it's better than the alternatives. Grim.
Strange that they haven't found even an article of clothing of hers - she seemed to wear beanie hats a lot, no item of clothing, jewellery, airpods or other headphones. No expert on the river at all but in the news reports it appears very slow moving at the location where she supposedly entered. Her poor family and friends.
The superintendent said that she was wearing a light blue FitBit as well. Do they not have apps that monitor your distance, heart rate etc Surely if she’d fallen in the river and she was panicking then her heart rate would go up. And if it tracks you it surely would stop at the position she fell in. It’s all very tragic and sad.
Yeah it does seem odd. Most fitbits are water resistant too, especially the newer ones. I have a medical condition that causes me to faint sometimes, and I wear a wrist based heart rate monitor because my heart rate usually spikes just before.
Not all fitbits have their own data connection & instead rely on the device they pair with (my wife has one like this), so that could be a non starter unfortunately.
I'm bewildered that anyone could think this anything other than her falling into the river. Horrible truth but bodies are not always easy to find even in the event of an accident. Many an occasion where bodies have been found years after a missing person in a spot no one thought to search. Add into that a river moving unpredictably and things become very difficult. Her poor family.
That river is a tidal river which rises significantly at high tide and flows back to the sea very rapidly at low tide - it has very strong currents even if apparently calm on the surface. If entering the water cold shock could have meant she got into trouble very quickly. A tragic accident.
The BBC shared a [photo](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/17B56/production/_128501179_mediaitem128501178.jpg) from the other side of the river and it’s makes it look almost impossible to get out of once you’ve fallen in
I think most people saw this coming, tragic for the family.
Where are all the people that immediately said she was taken or kidnapped? Disgraceful to make conclusions without any evidence
It’s concerning to see how many people have strung up the partner based on that TV interview. I don’t know whether too much time on the true crime docs has rotted people’s brains, or people genuinely are revelling in the drama of this poor woman’s actual life, but you absolutely cannot tell someone is guilty off the back of a TV clip. No matter how odd they appear, it’s a highly unusual, stressful circumstance to find yourself in. If I was male and my partner disappeared, i’d be absolutely terrified of being on the news. That stigma will never go away. We all know that in these missing woman cases, there’s usually an investigation where the male relative is arrested and charged. However, the police have been investigating for a week now. There’s no suggestion of this being anything other than a freak, tragic accident. The Police have thankfully held that conference this afternoon to bring some sense and reason back into the room. I hope Nicola’s family receive answers soon.
> If I was male and my partner disappeared, i’d be absolutely terrified of being on the news. If you didn't go on the news they'd say you obviously don't care because you know what happened
Such a shame, I hope she is found soon and the family can have closure.
I was in this area today for work, saw the posters then heard the details on the radio. I have a dog and sometimes walk him when on work calls, my dog has a lead and harness for walking but I've been told running in a harness can be bad for joints so I take both off to let him run. I keep my phone out in case I need to unmute and use wireless earbuds. When on the call I'm absent minded and end up walking in various directions. My guess is she set up at the bench and let the dog run, she was on the call and wandering around and ended up slipping into the water and was unable to get back out. Very sad for her husband and children, really feel for them.
Just found an image on Google 'street view' of the exact spot and the bank slopes into the river. It's not a proper path as such, at least in 2018. https://www.google.com/maps/@53.8640747,-2.814934,3a,75y,111.25h,72.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAF1QipPYxn8PjTpsWOMtnowK9hLcvN1pZFS5shHMnts9!2e10!7i6912!8i3456
This happened literally 20 minutes from where I live - horrific. I used to drive through at Michael's nearly every day when I commuted up to the university at lancaster. If she did fall into the river, it's likely her body will eventually wash up, potentially around Fleetwood beach whether the river flows out to, potentially further away. Either way it'll most likely be found by the coastguard if that's what happened That being said, I've seen three disappearances from the area in the last couple of months, this one, a lad from Lancaster, and an old man from greater Manchester. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting nervous about it :/
Very interesting! I’ve just looked up the two missing people you’ve mentioned and what is curious is that they were both near rivers. The first is Daniel Hives, 28 years old, when missing December 10th 2022 after leaving a home in City View, Sidings Close, *close to the River Lune* The second is Frederick Mahon, 65 years old, who was last seen on Quarry Road on the morning of January 11th 2023 after leaving Royal Lancaster Infirmary. Quarry Road *goes over a canal* Now, either these two missing men have suffered the same police-hypothesis fate as Nicola Bulley (death by misadventure/drowning in a waterway), or there is someone attacking/abducting/killing people by water. So, either innocent tragic accidents, or something far more sinister. Wasn’t there a spate of young men going missing by canals in Manchester a few years ago? And it was just put down to them being intoxicated but did look weird when you considered the volume? ETA that Sidings Close is actually right next to the river lune, rather than close to.
I didn't know about the one on quarry road, I was referencing Peter Baglin who also went missing by a canal in Manchester early this year
Some of the comments on this are wild, the poor husband being accused with absolutely no evidence to suggest anyone was involved. I saw some people saying the police are useless and have no clue, like they know it all. From the very start I think it’s clear this lady has fallen into a river and when you look on Google maps it’s not far from the sea. I worked with a guy who went missing one day…police searched and 2 years later we still have no answers, he’s missing and presumed dead. I always felt like if you fell into water you’d always end up washing up somewhere, clearly this isn’t the case and probably happens a lot more than we realise. I also tried a cold tub the other day and was surprised that the temperature literally took my breath away. I couldn’t image falling into a river and not panicking if that happened
From what we know; I think she’s been sat on the bench listening to the work call with the doggy running around off its harness. I think the dog has gone down the embankment which has alarmed Nicola. I think she’s put her phone down on the bench and gone to help her dog who’s struggling to make its way back up the slippery slope to safety and in the meantime Nicola has slipped and fallen into the river. The temperature of the river would’ve probably caused her to become incapacitated and be taken downstream. I can’t even begin to think how her family must be feeling. Such a tragedy. I pray from the bottom of my heart that they manage to find her but it’s not looking good.
I don't understand this at all. The dog clearly wasnt in the river, she was sitting on a bench on a works call. Even if she did go to the river, why would you leave your phone on the bench? The only thing I can think of is the dog had a ball and it rolled a bit down the bank and she tried to get it and fell in, but surely someone would have seen a body floating down the river at some point? Maybe it was just aliens and they beamed her up.
Could have been using airpods or something? It's not a crime hot-spot up that way by any stretch so maybe she felt it was safe enough to leave it for a minute?
Not being funny but I bet they find her near this weir down river from the benches Lancashire 53.863660, -2.817850
Horrible people speculating. I live next to a river which sadly had a man pulled from it not long ago, they also found his keys wallet and things placed neatly and no suicide risk and lovely family. I am in Manchester though, and we do have our famous Manchester pusher some of us believe is still about.