Nicola Bulley: Friends join search for missing dog walker

Friends and family of a woman who vanished while walking her dog say they still have hope she will be found alive as the search for her continues.

Nicola Bulley, 45, was last seen walking by the River Wyre off Garstang Road, in St Michael’s on Wyre, at about 09:15 GMT on Friday.

Her phone was found on a bench near the riverbank, still connected to a work call, Lancashire Police said.

Ms Bulley’s friend, Emma White, said the situation was “a nightmare”.

A major search is under way involving police, the fire service and mountain rescue teams, after Ms Bulley’s dog was found close to where she disappeared.

“Our ultimate priority is to find Nikki,” said Ms White. “We still have hope.

“We don’t know what’s happened, it was just a normal day in a normal life.”

Members of the community have joined the search for Ms Bulley, also known as Nikki, with friends and family setting up a base at the village tennis club to co-ordinate volunteers.

Ms White said: “The community, friends, people from all walks of life have just pulled together and have done a fantastic job in offering support, which the family need right now.

“It’s overwhelming. I must have got 100 messages a day from people i don’t even know just offering us support.”

On Monday Ms Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell, said it was “perpetual hell” for her family.

Speaking from their home in Inskip, he said: “We are living through this but it doesn’t feel real.

“All we can say is we need to find her. She’s got two little girls that need their mummy home.

“We have got to get some good news now.”

Ms Bulley, who works as a mortgage adviser, is described as white, 5ft 3in (1.6m) tall, with light brown shoulder-length hair.

She speaks with an Essex accent and was last seen wearing a long black gilet jacket with a hood, black jeans and olive green ankle wellies.

As well as Inskip and St Michael’s, Ms Bulley also has links to Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire Police said.

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