Death of Nicola Bulley, Lancashire UK

Or unless it is a total tool of a dog. I’ve a spaniel he’s smart as hell, my brother in law has another one and he’s thick as the wall.

Yeah they should have acted straight away. I also found it odd that the second person who came to the scene recognised the phone as Nicola's - I couldnt identify anybodies phone by just looking at it - soemtimes I even have problems finding my own if on a table of other phones etc!. Assuming that after a short while the phone locked and noone could access photos/numbers etc without a password how the hell would they know that the phone was Nicolas. She could have had a distinctive cover etc but most people dont note peoples phone covers - I dont anyway. Maybe she recognised the dog but reports say though that this person recognised the phone as Nicolas which is strange.

True I hadnt though of that!

She didn't recognise the phone or the dog, she didn't know her.

She told her family when she got back and her family went down an hour and 17 minutes later and recognised the dog and then alerted the school.

Yeah it may be completely normal for Nicola to turn off her camera and microphone or it may be unusual . She may not be required to have any input in the meeting and was just listening in/logged in. Im sure the police have looked into this.

I wonder what her normal routine was.

• Did she go on this same walk every day
• Did she usually stop and sit at the bench
• The zoom call suggests it was a working day for her so probably she had planned a short walk and be back at her desk working. What time would she usually have been back home at.

Apologies I read it wrong.

For what appeared to be a bit of a popular walking spot it is strange no one else came across the scenario and has come forward in that rather large time frame.

The "problem" with the case is the police are pretty absolute of what happened (at least publicly), but her friends and family are pretty absolute too and some are vocal in the media.

That private search company were brought in not to find a body but to prove there wasn't one in the river. So their pretty outspoken owner has added credence to the friends and families claims, add in the fact their is an entry and exit point not covered by cameras which leads to an extremely busy road.

So either the police are spot and it was a freak accident, or that is the narrative they are pushing to achieve something else.

Bringing in the NCA into a case of suspected accidental drowning is fairly strange though. As is having 40+ detectives on it - although that could explained by the amount of attention on the case.

If the police are not playing a part for operational reasons, then the most plausible scenario is a freak accident TBH.

I live fairly near a river and sadly suicides/ accidental drownings are common. We would see river rescue/ rescue helicopter out fairly regular looking for people. Usually bodies are found pretty quickly. It usually never even makes local newspapers let alone national newspapers. Drownings in rivers in England is also an everyday occurrance that doesnt make the news. The Nicola Bulley case has been made very public though by the police which is unusual. The police have been known to use media to divert attention and put suspects at ease etc - they use it to divert attention which could be whats happening here.

The private diving expert has been too vocal but he could be 100% correct in what he is saying. Weather conditions are quite good for the time of year and the river is actually low. Bodies in rivers are usually found and divers know the river well. The convenient bench to place the phone is odd, the dogs behaviour is odd etc. I agree with you that for what seems to be a popular spot nobody seen anything - surely some walker along the river would have spotted something.

One way or the other ( dead or alive) I hope she is found for the families sake.

There's plenty of potential bias/reaching for conclusions from both sides I think.

- Police where starting to come under pressure with relation to public safety concerns from community

- Private hire diver was brought in to prove a negative

Her family have said she's a strong swimmer. I'd like to know what that equates to. I swim in the Irish sea regularly enough and I still wouldn't call myself a strong swimmer. I'd say I'm competent.

But put hiking boots and winter clothing on me and throw me in a river unexpectedly and I'm unsure how I'd react.

Id hope the police are still looking at the potential for foul play as well as their main working theory of accidental drowning.

They should have come out and said that's our main theory but we're not ruling out foul play as we've no body yet.

indeed, In general research points to that people who have decided how they will die, actually become quite upbeat in the days up to the date they have chosen.

However, no one knows in this particular case and I’m not going to speculate either. If the river “took” her, it could have been accidental, a sudden illness (heart attack or similar), a deliberate act by her or someone else.

The river has many bushes and reeds and what not lining the edge of it- it also can flow fast at times- it also flows into the Irish Sea- I do wonder what level of checks they have made on the whole river or just how much of it has been searched at this point

News reports from a couple of days ago suggest that they’ve analysed the data.

Search extended to the Coast.

I think at this stage this guy is the biggest red herring in the case so far. Experts can and have known to be wrong. Take what he says on board sure but pretending that just because this one lad says she can’t be in the water means she 100% isn’t is silly.

Unlikely things happen all the time.