Body found in search for missing dog walker Nicola Bulley

Police searching for Nicola Bulley recovered a body on Sunday less than a mile away from where she disappeared as officers faced growing questions over their investigation.

Two walkers spotted a body washed up in reeds on the bank of the River Wyre on Sunday morning, more than three weeks after the mother-of-two went missing.

Lancashire Police confirmed the discovery and said the process of identification had begun. The death was being treated as unexplained, a spokesman said.

On Sunday night, Ms Bulley’s family were said to be “heartbroken”. Her partner Paul Ansell told Sky News he had, “no words right now, just agony”.

The discovery came 23 days after Ms Bulley vanished while walking her dog Willow on Friday, January 27, in the Lancashire village of St Michael’s on Wyre after dropping her two daughters off at school. Her phone was discovered on a nearby bench, while her dog was found dry and off its lead.

Her disappearance prompted a massive police search, with helicopters, drones and specialist dive teams equipped with sonar scouring the riverbed and the sea.

But the discovery of a body less than a mile from where Ms Bulley vanished will prompt further questions for Lancashire Police, which has already faced criticism for disclosing her struggles with alcohol and the menopause.

On Sunday, Penny Mordaunt, Leader of the Commons, said the disclosure of private information about the missing mother-of-two by police tasked with investigating her disappearance was “shocking”, adding that it “really does grate with a lot of women”.

The new development came after police hurriedly sealed off roads around a section of the River Wyre at around 12pm on Sunday.

The body was found by a man and woman going for a stroll along the river, who were seen pointing to a section of undergrowth and shrubbery on the riverbank.

One witness saw the male pointing to where it was in the undergrowth and saying: “There’s definitely a body there.”

Police closed nearby roads and deployed divers, while helicopters and drones were seen overhead.

Det Supt Rebecca Smith, the senior investigating officer on the case, was also photographed at the scene, before a forensics tent and van arrived.

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, said her thoughts remain with Nicola’s family and tweeted:

Mr Ansell, 44, previously said it was “torture” waiting for news about the mother of his two daughters aged six and nine.

Local councillor Michael Vincent said: “I haven't made contact with the family, but it would be inappropriate to comment further.

“All I can say is that they face an agonising wait. It is difficult to know what they are going through right now.

“I just hope whatever comes of this – whether it is confirmation or not – that it brings them some peace.”

A police spokesman said: “We were called today at 11.36am to reports of a body in the River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road.

“An underwater search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, entered the water and have sadly recovered a body.

“No formal identification has yet been carried out, so we are unable to say whether this is Nicola Bulley at this time.

“Procedures to identify the body are ongoing. 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.”

Meanwhile, the search expert who was adamant Ms Bulley was not in the river has claimed he never ruled out a body being found in the water.

Peter Faulding, CEO of Specialist Group International, spent three days searching the river where the 45-year-old mortgage advisor went missing.

He said at the time: “If Nicola was in that river I would’ve found her. She’s not there.” He said he wanted to give Mr Ansell “some confidence that Nicola is not in that river”.

But on Sunday night, Mr Faulding denied he gave the family false hope by insisting she was not in the river.

He said: “If I gave them false hope, then what about the police search teams there every day?

“I was there for three days as a volunteer. I think that would be totally unfair, to be honest with you, and I would sling the hook and give up searching.

“I’m going to get slated one way or the other. All I can say is when we searched she was not on the bottom of that river.

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

On Sunday senior police defended Det Sept Smith after she was criticised for wearing a tight-fitting black dress as though she was “auditioning for Love Island”.

Andrew Snowden, the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner, 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:

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

They wrote: “We pray every day for you. Love you. Mum and dad xxx” on yellow ribbons on a footbridge over the River Wyre.

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

A police helicopter hovered overhead nearby as tearful locals held one another on the bridge.

07:18 PM

Map

07:08 PM

Recap: pictures from Nicola Bulley investigation

The body found in the river has not been formally identified and police say work to identify is ongoing.

However, here is a recap of the search so far in the Nicola Bulley investigation. The missing mother-of-two who was walking her dog in St Michael's on Wyre at the riverside when she went missing.

04:59 PM

'Lessons must be learned' from Nicola probe

Lessons must be learned from Lancashire Constabulary's investigation into Nicola Bulley's disappearance, a former Scotland Yard Superintendent has said.

Nusrit Mehtab told Sky News: “It has just been sad all the way through and Lancashire Police have obviously tried their best, but things have gone wrong."

The former senior Metropolitan Police officer called for a full “independent review” of the probe by another force, rather than Lancashire “marking its own homework”.

Ms Mehtab said “some serious questions have to be asked about whether it was necessary” to release private medical information about Ms Bulley’s struggles with alcohol and the menopause.

She asked: "Did they look at the wider impact, because what was their key messaging and how has this left the public perception, trust and confidence?

"Certainly when you sit back and think how this is going to impact, are women or anybody now liable to come forward or give police the whole story when they feel that such information will be released into the public domain?

"All those questions can be answered with investigation and some real lessons learned because this needs to be stopped and policing needs to ensure this doesn't happen again."

04:43 PM

Lancashire Police probe mired in controversy

It is 23 days since Ms Bulley vanished, which has fuelled one of the most extensive, divisive and controversial investigations in recent times.

Lancashire Constabulary is under fire over its probe to date, which saw it initially focus search efforts on the River Wyre, then the sea, before these were scaled back as Ms Bulley's family demanded more land searches.

After Ms Bulley's phone was found on a bench by the river, with the family's pet, Willow, running loose nearby and its harness on the ground, a search was launched but a senior investigating officer was not appointed until three days later.

The force sparked a major backlash on Thursday by revealing that Ms Bulley had struggled with alcohol issues brought on by the menopause in the months before she disappeared.

While the force said this would dampen speculation, critics said it only fuelled it further.

Det Supt Rebecca Smith, the lead investigator, insisted officers had kept an open mind as they revealed Ms Bulley's long-term partner Paul Ansell, 44, had told them of a "number of specific vulnerabilities" that caused them to treat her disappearance as "high risk" .

Lancashire Police said on Friday that it will launch an internal review of its search for the mother of two as the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed “concern” over its decision to release private information about her.

The Home Secretary Suella Braverman also "asked for an explanation" as women's campaigners and the former victims' commissioner Dame Vera Baird voiced anger.

04:24 PM

Home Secretary reacts to 'heartbreaking' find

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, tweeted on Sunday afternoon: "These are heartbreaking and distressing developments. My thoughts remain with Nicola's family at this extremely difficult time."

03:36 PM

'Britain's FBI' drafted in to probe Nicola's disappearance

As part of the investigation to find Nicola Bulley, Lancashire Police drafted in a senior detective from the National Crime Agency (NCA), dubbed Britain's FBI, who worked on the case of Julia James, the police community support officer murdered while out walking her dog.

The beleaguered force requested that the NCA detective help Det Supt Smith, who is leading the investigation, and is thought to have recommended that external experts help analyse the search, family liaison and digital forensic work on Ms Bulley's phone and Fitbit.

A forensic clinical psychologist and a behavioural expert have also been asked to assess Ms Bulley’s state of mind and map any potential profile of a potential offender, the Sunday Times reported, before the body was discovered.

A dog behavioural specialist has also been brought in to see if Ms Bulley's spaniel can assist, despite Det Supt Smith saying in a press conference last week that she "can't talk to the dog".

Police later said on Sunday afternoon that the body has not been formally identified and identification work is ongoing.

03:18 PM

Map: Where body was found

Here is a map showing where the body was found on Sunday, compared to the original search area around the Lancashire village of St Michael's on Wyre.

As the map shows, the area where the body was found is remote and walkers tipped off the police after spotting something in the river.

03:16 PM

Ashen-faced vaping after discovery was made

The man and woman who found the body in the River Wyre were later seen sat on the wall vaping, looking ashen-faced, as police frantically called for reinforcements.

The man told the first response officer: “It was a body. It is down there. It was a body of a woman.  There is definitely a body down there.”

03:04 PM

Moment police 'raced' to the scene

A witness has described police cars "flying down the road" to the River Wyre after a body was found in the search for Nicola Bulley, the dog walker missing for three weeks, Susie Coen reports.

Amid the flurry of new police search activity on Sunday morning, 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."

02:57 PM

In pictures: Police search activity on Sunday

02:51 PM

Same stretch was searched by Peter Faulding

Miles-long stretches of the River Wyre around where Ms Bulley went missing were previously searched extensively by Lancashire Police divers and Peter Faulding, a diving specialist requested by her family.

After his team, Specialist Group International, scoured the river using state-of-the-art Sonar technology for three days with no results, Mr Faulding told reporters last week: "If I can't find them, it means they're not there."

He added: "The area where Nicola went in was searched thoroughly by very professional police divers on the day - very thoroughly - and she was not there, which leads me to believe that she is not in that river."

But he later said he was "not passed this crucial information" about Ms Bulley's vulnerabilities prior to the search, "which would have changed search strategy", such as what signs he was looking for.

02:50 PM

More on this morning's search

A helicopter, drone and police officers were combing a section of the River Wyre less than a mile from the bench where Ms Bulley's phone was found at 11:50 on Sunday morning.

A man and woman were seen pointing to a section of undergrowth and shrubbery on the river bank while police searched the area, in a new flurry of police activity.

Lancashire Constabulary shut down the entire length of Rawcliffe Road within minutes and initially said they could not disclose why it was closed off.

A police car was stopped half a mile from the area with officers telling dog walkers the section is closed.

02:43 PM

Lancashire Police statement in full

A spokesman for Lancashire police said:

02:25 PM

Helicopters seen searching the area

A helicopter was photographed flying above a section of the River Wyre on Sunday.

02:20 PM

Witness report from near the river

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.

"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."

02:19 PM

A police diving team arrive at the River Wyre

01:14 PM

Hello and welcome to The Telegraph's liveblog

We're bringing you the latest updates as police launch a new search in the River Wyre for missing dog walker Nicola Bulley following a tip-off from two walkers.