Nicola Bulley: partner of missing woman talks of search ‘brick wall’

The partner of nan missing female Nicola Bulley has said each script has travel to a “brick wall” arsenic he pledged to “stay strong” for their daughters.

Speaking adjacent nan segment wherever she was past seen, Paul Ansell said nan enigma of her disappearance was “absolutely impossible” to comprehend.

Bulley, 45, a owe advisor from Inskip, Lancashire, vanished while stepping her canine aft dropping disconnected her daughters, aged six and nine, astatine schoolhouse last Friday morning. Her mobile telephone and nan lead and harness for her dog, a springer spaniel called Willow, were recovered connected a chair adjacent to nan River Wyre successful St Michael’s connected Wyre successful nan Lancashire countryside.

Ansell told broadcasters connected Friday: “I don’t really person thing to opportunity different than what nan family said yesterday. My full attraction is nan 2 girls. Stay beardown for them. I’m frightened that if I put immoderate attraction connected to thing other it’s going to return my attraction disconnected that.”

He went on: “I conscionable can’t judge that we’re a week on, and arsenic yet, it seems we’re nary further on. It conscionable seems perfectly impossible. It’s for illustration a dream, I can’t get my caput astir immoderate of it.”

“Every azygous script comes to a ceramic wall,” he added. “And past each we’re doing is sitting location going information and information going done each scenario. Back to nan first script and do nan full point again. All time long, that’s each we’re doing.”

Asked really he was coping, he said: “I don’t cognize really I’m coping. I don’t want to deliberation astir it. It’s conscionable astir nan girls. I’m location for them. I don’t really want to elaborate connected that. I don’t want to return my oculus disconnected that.”

He thanked nan organization for nan support shown, adding: “We’re ne'er going to suffer nan hope, of people we’re not. It’s arsenic though she has vanished into bladed air. It’s insane.”

Meanwhile, a female approached arsenic a imaginable witnesser by constabulary investigating nan disappearance said she “doesn’t cognize anything”. Christine Bowman, 67, had been identified arsenic personification who whitethorn person been 1 of nan past group to spot Bulley earlier her disappearance arsenic she walked her canine adjacent nan river.

Bowman, a retired teacher, was traced pursuing a constabulary entreaty and told nan Daily Mirror she had already spoken to officers. She added: “It has made section women fearful. If they person husbands aliases partners, they person been taking nan dogs retired instead.”

Lancashire constabulary person launched a immense hunt cognition and person said contempt “unanswered questions”, group should not “speculate aliases dispersed mendacious rumours” astir Bulley’s disappearance.

Police divers utilizing master instrumentality person been seen searching nan River Wyre beneath wherever Bulley’s items were recovered connected nan bench. She was past seen astatine 9.10am past Friday while stepping her dog. She had logged connected to a activity Teams call, which ended astatine 9.30am while she was still logged on.

Bulley and her family are primitively from Essex but moved to Lancashire astir 25 years ago.

Lancashire constabulary person said they do not judge immoderate crime has been committed and are treating nan incident arsenic a missing personification inquiry.