'When is mummy coming home?': Father of missing mum Nicola Bulley shares daughters’ heartbreaking question
2 February 2023, 08:21 | Updated: 2 February 2023, 09:26
The father of missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley has said he is struggling to ‘hold it together’ as the search for her enters a seventh day.
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She was last seen walking her Spaniel, Willow at 9.15am on Friday morning near the River Wyre in Lancashire. She was dialled in to a work conference call at the time.
Her father told the Mirror he is struggling to be in the same room as his granddaughters, aged six and nine, as they ask: “Where mummy is, and when is mummy coming home?”
“It’s so hard,” he added.
Her last known movements
- 9.15am January 27: Nicola was seen walking east along a towpath alongside the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire She was walking her dog there after dropping her daughters off at School, leaving her car in the school car park nearby
- 10.15am: The alarm is raised at 10.15am by a walker who found her Springer Spaniel running loose The dog’s harness and lead were found on a bench, along with her phone, which was still connected to a work conference call
Her parents, Ernest, 73 and Dot, 72 told the paper yesterday: “We will never stop looking for her.”
They said she was in good spirits last time they spoke and that her disappearance was totally out of character.
Her dad said there was 'no sign' of her having fallen in the river. Ernest said: "There was no sign of a slip or falling in so our thought was 'has somebody got her'?
Talking about their last conversation, her dad said: “"She had done her work and she was very upbeat about getting her mortgage sorted.
"I said we better go now and Nicola came to the front door, and I gave her a kiss and told her I loved her and that was the last conversation I had with her."
Police and sniffer dogs are searching the perimeter of an 'abandoned' old house in the hunt for her.
It comes after it emerged Nicola's daughters heard the devastating news their mum had gone missing when their dad told them “mummy’s lost.”
Nicola’s daughters broke down in tears at the news and a friend of hers said: “We just want her home.”
Nicola has been missing for five days now, after she vanished while walking her dog on a towpath by the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
Her phone was on a bench near the spot she went missing, still dialled into a business call.
Ms Bulley's mum told the Sun: “Paul had to tell the girls what was going on. He just told them, ''Mummy's lost''. It's heartbreaking.”
An abandoned house has been searched as part of the hunt for missing mum Nicola.
Kev Camplin of Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue told The Mirror: "The abandoned house is right opposite the bench on the other side of the river, over a 10ft garden wall.
"We didn’t go into the house, as a volunteer search and rescue team we don’t actually go into buildings. We might go into a barn or something. We leave that to the police.
"While the team was searching the grounds, the owner was there for some reason, and we asked him to go in and he had a quick look around and she wasn’t there."
Earlier on Tuesday, Lancashire Police had appealed to find a witness who was believed to have been in the area at the time mother-of-two Nicola Bulley, 45, was last seen.
She went missing last Friday morning, with her mobile phone found on a bench near to where she was last seen on a towpath by the River Wyre in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire.
Immediately before going missing, Ms Bulley was walking her dog, springer spaniel Willow, who was found loose between the river and bench.
A police spokesman said of the potential witness: "He has since been located and is currently being spoken to.
"Our thanks to those who shared our appeal."
Read more: Woman, 45, who went missing while walking dog ‘was on work conference call when she disappeared’
Earlier police had said the man, who was walking a small white fluffy dog on a lead, had spoken to a woman in the area who found Ms Bulley's dog, before he walked in the direction of Rowanwater.
Police have said they are keeping an "open mind" about what happened, but do not believe Ms Bulley was attacked.
In a statement, her family said: "We have been overwhelmed by the support from our community and would like to thank everyone for their ongoing efforts to help us find Nicola.
"The girls are desperate to have their mummy back home safe with them and your ongoing efforts have provided comfort to them whilst we await news on Nicola.
"We ask for anyone who thinks they may have any information that may help the police find Nicola to please come forward and help them with their inquiries."
A search of the area involving police specialist resources, the Coastguard and Bowland Mountain Rescue is continuing.
Ms Bulley is described as white, 5ft 3in, with light brown, shoulder-length hair.
At the time of her disappearance she was wearing a long black gilet jacket with a hood, black jeans and olive green ankle wellington boots.
Superintendent Sally Riley said: "We remain extremely concerned for Nicola and we continue to do everything we can to try and find her and to provide some answers for her family, who are obviously beside themselves with worry.
"I must stress at this time that this remains a missing person inquiry and at this time there is nothing to suggest any third-party involvement in Nicola's disappearance.
"We appreciate there is also a great deal of concern in the local community, and we appreciate people want to help. However, parts of the riverbank are treacherous, and we would ask that nobody puts themselves in danger and that the police and partner agencies' efforts to find Nicola are not compromised.
"If anybody has any questions or concerns, they are welcome to speak to officers in the area."
Anyone who has seen Ms Bulley, or has information about where she might be, is asked to call 101, quoting log 565 of January 30, or call 999 if they have an immediate sighting.
