A body was discovered Sunday about a mile from where the 45-year-old woman, who is considered a “vulnerable” person, was last seen in late January.
A tragic epilogue to this affair that will have kept the UK in suspense for weeks. On Monday, police confirmed that the body found in a river in northwest England on Sunday was that of Nicola Bulley, a mother who mysteriously disappeared in late January.
“Unfortunately we can now confirm that we recovered Nicola Bulley from the River Wyre yesterday,” Lancashire Police said in a brief press conference.
The offense is excluded
Nicola Bulley, 45, was last seen on the River Wyre on January 27 walking her dog after taking her two little girls to school. His phone was still connected to an online conference when he was found on a bench. Her dog had not gone into the water, which some saw as a sign that the mother of the family could not have fallen into the river.
The body was found about a mile from where it was last seen.
The investigators had ruled out the hypothesis of a criminal act since the beginning of the investigation. Blows had achieved nothing, no more than specialized teams searching the river. In the absence of the slightest element, the theories had blossomed on social media, with the Nicola Bulley hashtag being used nearly 1.8 million times, according to Sky News.
The family accuses the media
Some had impromptu amateur detectives who went to the crime scene at the risk of making police work more difficult.
It had emerged a few days ago that Nicola Bulley was considered a “vulnerable” person due to alcohol problems and difficulties related to premenopause.
She had been criticized for leaking those details, but the announcement was apparently intended to prevent those details from being sold to the tabloids.
In a statement on Monday, the family denounced the “appalling” behavior of “the press and the public”.
“The press and public accused her father (of the two little girls, ed.) of misconduct, misquoted and slandered friends and family. It’s absolutely appalling, they need to be held accountable, this can’t happen to another family,” she said.
In particular, the family recounted how certain television sets tried to follow them on Sunday night after the body was discovered, despite asking everyone to respect their privacy.