A forensic search expert who said Nicola Bulley was not in the River Wyre has re-stated his belief that she did not drown at the location where her phone was found.
Peter Faulding, chief executive of Specialist Group International (SGI), was commenting on the discovery yesterday of a body in the river about a mile from where she was last seen.
Faulding, who was called in by the family to search the river using sonar, said he still does not believe she drowned near the bench where her phone and dog's harness were found.
He told GB News: “I would like to make it very clear that the police have searched that area with sonar and divers for the last three weeks. We spent four hours searching for Nicola on that strip of the river.
“I categorically confirm that Nicola was not on the river bed, we would have seen her body.
“If it was Nicola, and I hope it's not or whoever it is, the body was found in the reeds not on the river bed and I was clear with the media that our sonar does not search in the reeds.
“They all know that and the police know that there was no sign of Nicola on the bottom.”
In a discussion with Isabel Webster and Eamonn Holmes during Breakfast on GB News, he said: “If Nicola had fallen in at the bench where the phone was found, she would have landed in two feet of water, she would not have drowned at that location.
“I don't believe Nicola went in because the police divers searched that area thoroughly that afternoon and drowning victims go to the bottom, she could not have made it over the weir in a day.
Image: GB News
“There's no way and my whole team and other police police have looked at this. It baffled me and I am the one on here today defending my good work to try and help all the families that we do free of charge.
“I want to say again, the police have searched that area along the banks for three weeks thoroughly with divers, using side-scan sonar, and us - and you know there's always a fall guy and it looks like it's me, but I'm not accepting it.
“We've got the sonar imagery of the river bed…we did the best with our ability, but it was not our remit to search the reeds at all. That was the land search teams.”
The discovered body, which has not yet been formally identified, was found on Sunday morning around a mile from where the 45-year-old mortgage adviser was last seen.
Bulley had been walking her dog in St Michael’s on Wyre after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at school on January 27.
Nicola Bulley's disappearance has resulted in a wide-scale police operation
Peter Byrne
He added: “My thoughts go out to the family. I’ve remained in close contact with the family.
“The trolls out there, we need to get a grip of these people. These are just the vile comments against the family, the police, myself - it's no one's fault.
“It's a very hard job dealing with drownings and missing people. It's not easy.
“We have to take our hats off to everyone who actually got involved with this search. And it's the trolls who need to be exposed, I'm afraid.”
It is understood that a man and a woman walking their dog discovered the body and called police.
Nicola Bulley had been walking her dog in St Michael’s on Wyre
Family handout
Lancashire Constabulary said officers were called to the River Wyre close to Rawcliffe Road at around 11.35am.
“An underwater search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, entered the water and have sadly recovered a body,” a statement said.
“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.”
