A former missing persons detective says Lancashire Police’s omission Nicola Bulley was vulnerable when she vanished sparked a circus of theories and conspiracies.
The constabulary yesterday detailed the mother-of-two had battled drink problems struggling with the menopause and was visited by officers two weeks before she vanished over ‘concerns for welfare’.
This extraordinary amount of information on Ms Bulley’s medical situation is said to have caused agony for her family.
But it also raised questions as to why the constabulary had not been ‘forthright from the start’ and suppressed the fact the beloved mother-of-two was vulnerable.
In missing person cases it is extremely common for people to be described this way if it is relevant to the case.
Experts and former officers today expressed disbelief at Lancashire’s failure to do this and said the omission had fed a three-week mystery that saw the force at one point have to issue a dispersal notice to deter TikTokkers and amateur sleuths.
Ex Scotland Yard detective and former head of Lambeth’s missing persons unit, told MailOnline: ‘I don’t think they needed to mention the alcohol and the menopause, but they should have mentioned mental health from the start.
Lancashire Police has sparked anger and grief after detectives revealed that mother-of-two Nicola Bulley, 45, (pictured with her partner Paul) had been struggling with alcohol issues brought on by ongoing struggles with menopause
Ms Bulley’s parents and sister spoke an appeal a number of weeks ago to try and find her
‘At the start they said she was completely ordinary – they’ve told a lie.
‘It is bad management of publicity, there has been this covering up, things they have not disclosed, that has caused all this.
‘The police have created an unnecessary circus by not being forthright from the start.
‘I would have said she was vulnerable at the beginning, with a mental health background from the start.’
‘In my experience the police don’t know how to handle media and they have got very insular.
‘You can only imagine that in this case they have decided to treat her and portray her as a kind of ‘everymum’.’
Mark Williams-Thomas, a former police officer turned investigative journalist who helped expose Jimmy Savile’s crimes, is to probe Ms Bulley’s disappearance and is now in the area.
He tweeted today: ‘If police dealt with high risk status at [the] start it would have provided much more understanding, leading to less confusion, public hysteria & media involvement (which police haven’t coped with ) & led to less damage to [Nicola’s partner] Paul & family, who are right now after y/day in a terrible place’.
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson (left) and Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith of Lancashire Police updates the media yesterday
The bench where Nicola’s mobile phone was last seen when she vanished on January 27
Setting out his own theories about what has happened, he said: ‘I just can’t believe she jumped in the water at the point by the bench to die for many reasons.’
He said that the main lines he is considering are that Nikki went in water ‘at a different point’, left on foot and is still in area.
‘It’s now clear why the police didn’t t secure scene forensically and ruled out 3rd party involvement so quickly-because they were treating Nicola Bulley as high risk misper [missing person]. But this action fuelled speculation and criticism of the police when confidence is along all time low’, he tweeted.
Former undercover Met detective Peter Bleksley – who is also known for his appearances on Hunted – also lambasted Lancashire Police.
He said: ‘The naivety on behalf of the police has been absolutely staggering. They’ve tried to manage the situation and they’ve got it wrong at virtually at each and every turn.
‘If the public can’t trust what the police are telling us, and they have no trust in their media strategy, it’s quite natural for some people to perhaps not trust their investigation.’
After Lancashire Police revealed her issues with alcohol ‘brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause’, the force was strongly condemned by MPs and campaign groups.
Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, said: ‘The decision to disclose this level of detail on a missing person’s private life, with no evidence that this is assisting in finding her, is deeply troubling.
‘The police need to be much clearer as to why any of this helps find Nicola Bulley or support this investigation.’
A forensic diving expert involved in the search for Nicola Bulley said she ‘could have ended up in the sea’ after police revealed she was ‘high risk’ and had been struggling with alcohol.
Peter Faulding said it is ‘absolutely outrageous’ the information was withheld from him, as it would have changed how he searched the stretch of the River Wyre in the village of St Michael’s.
His comments follow Lancashire police revealing that Ms Bulley, 45, suffered ‘significant issues with alcohol brought on by ongoing struggles with menopause’.
A police officer walks past a missing person appeal poster for Nicola Bulley and yellow ribbons and messages of hope tied to a bridge over the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre
More officers seen by the river today as they continued their search for missing Ms Bulley
Former Surrey Police officer Mark Williams-Thomas, 53, the journalist who helped expose Jimmy Savile’s crimes, is in the area to probe Ms Bulley’s disappearance
Police initially said she had ‘vulnerabilities’ yesterday, but hours later shared more details, explaining they felt it was ‘important to clarify’.
But the decision to publicly share personal information about the mother-of-two has been called ‘deeply troubling’ by MPs and campaigners.
Ms Bulley vanished while walking her dog along the River Wyre in St Michael’s on January 27.
A briefing yesterday explained Ms Bulley was immediately classified as high risk when she was reported missing due to her ‘vulnerabilities’.
Though on February 3, detectives stated she was not unwell and not being treated for any illness.
The police also revealed that on January 10, officers did a welfare check at her home. They confirmed that no one has been arrested and that it is being investigated.
Former detective Martyn Underhill told Sky News that he had never ‘seen such a level of detail’ released in a missing persons case.
Speaking to Kay Burley, Mr Underhill said ‘You can understand why some people are saying it’s victim blaming to protect their own reputation.
‘I can’t see how it progresses the case any further forward now we’re three weeks in, to be frank.’
Mr Faulding previously said the mother could not be in the river, after conducting a search under the premise she had slipped in.
But he now believes she could be much further downstream if she intended to take her own life.
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson (left) and Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith. The police said it is an ‘unusual step’ to reveal such detail about someone’s private life, but that they we felt it was ‘important to clarify’ what they meant by ‘vulnerabilities’
Lancashire Police said that Nicola was immediately graded as ‘high-risk’ due to ‘specific vulnerabilities’
Mr Faulding told Jeremy Kyle on TalkTV that: ‘If she had jumped in, intended to take her own life or walk off, that would change my whole plan.
‘She could have ended up in the sea.’
And he told The Times: ‘I find it absolutely outrageous this was not shared with me. It’s disgraceful and someone needs to take responsibility for this.’
Nearly three weeks have passed since Ms Bulley vanished, but a search expert advising the police told the newspaper that it can take up to 100 days to find a body in a river.
The expert, who was not named, said in some cases the body is never found.
On the day Ms Bulley went missing, the river was flowing at a rate of 3.8 cubic metres per second.
Enough to carry her over the weir and off downstream, according to the expert.
Police officers near the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, as police continue their search today
In the highly-detailed public briefing from Lancashire Police, the force said it had an open mind but that there was no evidence anyone was involved.
It remains the the police’s ‘working hypothesis’ that Nicola fell into the river while taking her dog, though they were following a number of lines of inquiry.
The mortgage adviser had been struggling with menopause. Experts say women go through the menopause at the age of 51 years on average, although it can begin when someone is anywhere between 40 and 58 years old.
During this period the body goes through major hormonal changes, as the ovaries stop making estrogen and progesterone.
In the early stages this triggers hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings among other symptoms.
Reacting to the police announcement, Labour MP Ms Creasy questioned the decision to publicly reveal details about Ms Bulley’s personal life.
She tweeted: ‘The decision to disclose this level of detail on a missing person’s private life, with no evidence that this is assisting in finding her, is deeply troubling.
‘The police need to be much clearer as to why any of this helps find Nicola Bulley or support this investigation.’
Silkie Carlo, of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said the decision to broadcast Ms Bulley’s health issues and hormone status was ‘serious invasion of her privacy with no obvious benefits for the investigation’.
Many social media users felt the decision highlighted the police’s treatment of women – which has recently been under scrutiny following high-profile cases involving former officers such as Wayne Couzens and David Carrick.
Jamie Klingler, co-founder of social justice organisation Reclaim These Streets, said she ‘was not invested in the Nicola Bulley story until the police started using her as a shield to protect their own incompetence’.
She added: ‘This is not how to treat a missing woman. It is cruel to her babies and to her. And they do it all the time.’
Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, asked how the police will justify their decision if the mother is found alive.
‘No evidence to indicate a criminal aspect or third party involvement’ in Nicola Bulley’s disappearance, Lancashire Police Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson said to a press conference this morning.
He tweeted: ‘If, as we all hope, Nicola Bulley is found alive how will the police justify a breach of her confidentiality to, what looks like, manage their own reputation?’
Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP for Rutland, tweeted: ‘I am deeply uncomfortable with the police releasing Nicola Bulley’s so-called ‘vulnerabilities’ on menopause & alcohol.
‘I struggle to ascertain how this will assist Police in their search & investigations.
‘I do see how it would assist those wishing to victim-blame or diminish.’
The briefing earlier in the day revealed Ms Bulley’s long-term partner Paul Ansell had told them of a number of specific vulnerabilities that caused them to treat her disappearance as ‘high-risk’.
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said: ‘As soon as she was reported missing, following the information that was provided to the police by her partner Paul, and based on a number of specific vulnerabilities that we were made aware of, Nicola was graded as high-risk.
‘That is normal in a missing person investigation with the information we were in possession of. As any senior investigating officer does, you form a number of hypotheses – that is scenarios which are possible from the information to hand.’
Yesterday, Lancashire Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson said the force had undertaken an ‘unprecedented amount of work’ in searching for Nicola.
He said this had included visiting more than 300 premises, speaking to almost 300 people and receiving roughly 1,500 pieces of information.
Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said at the time: ‘Those vulnerabilities based our decision-making in terms of grading Nicola as high risk and have continued to form part of my investigation throughout.’