A Mystery To Chew On.

[BIAD]

Thanks for the sat picture. It helps me put it into perspective. (My rural American idea of isolated trail and the English version of an isolated trail are two different things I guess.)

Sounds like a missing 411 to me for sure.

My first guess would be the river. But there was no indication of a slide anywhere, no body in the water, and a weir downstream which would catch something. Maybe she is snagged deep, and the divers just missed her?

Second guess is abduction. But there was the dog, it was daylight, she was on the phone during the time she would have been grabbed, and it seemed like people/dwellings were near.  not impossible but those circumstances make it way more difficult to grab somebody.

If she was planning on leaving it all behind, she picked a bad way to do it. Now the whole place is looking for her. Her picture is online worldwide.

Maybe she was grabbed by someone in a boat?  From the Google map, that looks like the nearest quick means of get-away.  A quick trip to that concrete drainage works a few hundred meters to the north east. Then a waiting car on the dirt trail and then to the paved road.   

Where is Peggy Powler when we need her?

Ah yes, this case has escalated quite a bit from its initial beginnings of a presumably middle-class lady in a typical
English rural setting, taking her dog for a walk along a quiet river bank not far from the charmingly-named village
of St. Michael's on Wyre.

The local Police took the stance that she'd fallen into the water and asked the media to restrain themselves from
offering the public alternatives on how Ms Bulley had vanished. Of course... they didn't and tossed suggestions
about like confetti. Social-media became a playground where all-sorts of accusations regarding Ms Bulley's long
-term partner and two people were arrested for malicious messages due to the frenzy the media had whipped-up.

Then a chap called Peter Faulding appeared on TV screens and explained his credentials.
Mr Faulding is a world-leading confined space rescue and forensic search specialist and has been asked to work
alongside UK law enforcement in the past. With the latest high-tech and his own expertise, he assured the public
-via his many media-links (there's a ton of 'em!) that Nicola had not fallen into the river and drowned as his private
company would have located her body by now.

The Police continued with their requests to keep calm and for the prominent leaders of the established media to
stop their emotive rhetoric. Again... they didn't and haven't. Family members, relatives and neighbours all showed
up on people's TV screens and in newspapers with their own opinions on what may have happened on that late
-January morning and the media-clamour to solve the conundrum only became more intense.

So in an attempt to move the volatile assertions away from hinting the Police are incompetent or 'out of their depth'
as some pundits like to say, they released a statement saying that Nichola Bulley was a 'high risk' individual.

Now that Covid, Zelensky and the balloons were no longer news-worthy for ratings, this mysterious comment drove
the media into a frenzy and it wasn't long before Lancashire Police had to explain what they meant. They expounded
that the missing woman had "significant issues" and revealed these issues had to do with alcohol. As of writing this,
the Police added she also had ongoing struggles with the menopause.

16th February:

Nicola Bulley's reputation 'destroyed' by police, says ex-detective
'Lancashire Police released a statement saying Ms Bulley had suffered "significant issues" with alcohol brought
on by her "struggles with the menopause" after initially refusing to confirm why she was classed as high risk and
vulnerable...'

Sky News:

Police are slammed for leaving Nicola Bulley's family in a 'terrible place' with 'deeply troubling'
handling of case by revealing her battle with alcohol issues while struggling with menopause
that saw officers visit her home 17 days before she vanished

Daily Mail:

And not to be left out...

Nicola Bulley dive specialist Peter Faulding explains how search would have changed had
he known about personal issues

'Peter Faulding has changed his views on what could have happened to Nicola since new information was
shared by police yesterday...'

Lancs.Live:

The Carnival continues and Miss Powler awaits a telephone call.