Police under fire, but no sign of missing UK mom

Video of a mother disappearing into the River Wyre, but no trace of the 45-year-old missing mother Nicola Bulley

There is a video of a blue glove found in a field that was the last place British mother Nicola Bulley was seen.

Another shows a section of the river near where she vanished in order to prove how shallow the water is. Divers are combing the river because of the fears that she went into the water. “There is no way on God’s earth Nicola is in this river,” the caption reads.

These viral videos have been condemned by police as social media users “playing private detectives” and distracting their search for the missing mother of two.

Bulley’s case has become a hot topic among the general public. Someone goes missing in the UK every 90 seconds. Thankfully, most are found within 48 hours, but a number disappear for much longer.

A short time later, a dog was found wandering alone and her phone was found on a bench next to the river, still logging into a group work call. But police are yet to find a trace of the missing 45-year-old.

After reviewing hundreds of hours of CCTV and dashcam footage, and investigating tip-offs from the public, police officers have insisted that there is still no evidence to indicate third-party involvement and their main working hypothesis remains that she fell into the River Wyre.

The case has baffled the public and attracted widespread media attention with police revealing that Bulley was battling alcohol issues and menopause when she went missing.

The social media frenzy had distracted the investigation according to Rebecca Smith. In 29 years in the police service, I have never seen anything like it.

It has been quite shocking and very sad for the family. We can not ignore anything, and we’ve reviewed everything that came in, but of course it distracted us.

Smith denounced some of the conspiracy theories. She said that the house across the river has been searched three times and that she wasn’t in it.

An investigation into the disappearance of Nicola Everard: Lancashire Police, the Home Secretary and Police have taken criticism for their actions

While asking members of the public to stop inundating them with “false information, accusations and rumors,” Lancashire Police has taken flak for its own handling of the case.

A White, middle class woman from a picture-perfect village where crime was almost absent, will always grab headlines that a working-class Black man from London wouldn’t if he disappeared.

“The Home Secretary and Policing Minister are receiving regular updates from Lancashire Police on its handling of this case, including why personal details about Nicola was briefed out at this stage of the investigation,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The hashtag “menopause” was trending on Twitter in the wake of the police announcements, with some social media users accusing Lancashire Police of letting women down.

At least 16 women have been killed by police officers in the United Kingdom in the last 13 years, most recently Sarah Everard, according to the Femicide Census. Campaigners feel that tackling gender-based violence is not a police priority.

Professor Wilson, who works with and trains the police, understands that sometimes the force is “damned if they do and damned if they don’t.” For him, the tone of Wednesday’s press conference was kind.

A recent press conference was at times “insensitive,” when they rely on the public to provide information, so it was no good saying they sometimes give information that they don’t want.

“Of course the TikTokers and armchair detectives were clearly a hindrance to them, but that is simply a new reality that has to be managed – you can’t wish it away.

He worried that the clarification about what happened to Nicola was made to protect their institutional reputation and forget about the humanity of the people at the heart of the investigation.

We were aware of the release of the statement by the police last night and we wanted to let people know what was in it.

There are people who think that she would want this and that they will sell stories about her. This is terrible and needs to stop.

The police have been criticized. Vera was the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales and she said the criticism of the police was justified.

And British Home Secretary Suella Braverman raised concerns with police over its handling of the case, according to a Home Office spokesperson on Friday.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/18/europe/nicola-bulley-still-missing-intl-gbr/index.html

The Ansell/Benyon Correspondence to the Bulley Dog-Walker at 9:15 a.m. After the Conference Call

Other dog walkers were the last to see her. She kept her camera off and microphone turned off while walking and she called into a conference call. By 9:30 a.m., the call had ended – with Bulley still logged on.

Police are “particularly interested” in the time between the phone being placed on the bench at 9:20 a.m. and the device being recovered 10 minutes later.

Stephanie Benyon, a friend of Bulley’s whose children attend the same school, previously told CNN that she is a “kind, loyal and thoughtful person who adores her two girls and family and friends.” Her partner of 12 years, Paul Ansell, described the situation as a “perpetual hell.”

Our thoughts are with theNicolas family at this difficult time. We want their privacy to be respected.