Third Party Involvement Suspected in Disappearance

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A DIVE expert involved in the search for Nicola Bulley believes a “third party” may have been involved in her disappearance.

If Peter Faulding’s dive team is unable to locate the mother of two today, he believes there may be other reasons for her disappearance.

The diver’s claim revolves around Nicola’s phone, which he claims was found on a bench after she went missing and was still connected to a meeting.

“If Nicola is not in that stretch of the river today, my view is that there is a third party involved, and this was a decoy placed by the river,” he told BBC Breakfast today.

“It could have been placed as a decoy, there is not enough CCTV to cover particular areas here. In the background, the police are working hard to cover everything.

“Because it’s so unusual, we don’t have much to go on.”

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He explained that a stiletto was used to distract investigators during the search for missing Laura Torn in 2003.

However, Nicola’s case has left him “completely perplexed,” according to the 25-year veteran diver.

It comes as police concentrate their efforts on a trail that leads from the fields where Nicola was last seen to Garstang Road in St Michael’s on Wyre.

Lancashire Constabulary stated on Tuesday that they believe this route may hold vital clues and have asked drivers and cyclists to come forward with any dashcam footage from the morning of January 27, when the mother went missing.

The police said in a statement that they used data from the mother’s Fitbit fitness watch and mobile phone to increase efforts on the path.

“We have also spoken to numerous witnesses… and searched the derelict house on the other side of the river as well as any empty caravans in the surrounding area,” they added.

The police said they will send letters to anyone they believe was driving down Garstang Road that morning.

Only drivers with dashcam footage are asked to contact police via email at NicolaBulleyInvestigation@lancashire.police.uk.

ALSO READ: Partner’s Heartbreaking Statement on Nicola Bulley’s Disappearance

Nicola’s friend Emma White said police were working to retrieve data from the missing mother’s Fitbit fitness watch.

The search for Nicola, 45, was focused downstream on the tidal area of the River Wyre in Lancashire yesterday, but the search will shift upstream on Tuesday.

The search area will include and extend beyond the location of Nicola’s belongings, which were discovered on a bench near Garstang Road in St Michael’s on Wyre.

It is a riverbed that is not tidal.

Mr. Faulding elaborated: “We don’t know if Nicola is in the river or if she fell further upstream.

“The key focus has been around the bench area, we have got to rule out everything here.

“We can’t just go for the bench; we need to cover the entire stretch of river to make sure there’s nothing suspicious here.”

On Friday, January 27, the mother from nearby Inskip vanished after dropping her children off at school.

She was last seen around 9.15 a.m. on that particular day.

Lancashire Police released new CCTV images of Nicola from the day she went missing on Monday.

Partner Paul Ansell said in a statement released the same day by cops, “I have two little girls who miss their mummy desperately and need her back.”

In a heartbreaking video of her children looking at search helicopters, Sophia, six, is heard saying, “Those helicopters, they’re looking for mummy.”

‘IT’S NOT IN THE RIVER

Mr. Faulding previously told Sky News that “none of this rings right to me” and that it was “my belief is she’s not in the river at all”.

He is leading a team from Specialist Group International (SGI) that is assisting Lancashire Police divers.

The forensic experts from Dorking, Surrey, are in charge of assisting cops across the southeast with underwater search operations.

They deployed specialized equipment yesterday to scan the river bed and “see everything that is laying down there,” he said.

They are employing a “high-spec” £55,000 side-scan sonar, which creates an image of large areas of sea floors and riverbeds.

The diver said his team can cover areas “extremely quickly” adding that if Nicola is in the water they will “find her in minutes”.

Hundreds of emergency vehicles raced to the River Wyre on Monday night as residents feared a concerning development in the search for Nicola.

ALSO READ: Independent Search Team Utilizes High-Resolution Sonar Technology

“We were called at 5.51 pm today to Shard Road, Hambleton, about the search for Nicola Bulley, who is missing from St Michael’s on Wyre,” a Lancashire Constabulary spokesperson told The Sun Online.

“Lancashire Police and the Coastguard searched the sand and surrounding area near Shard Bridge but found nothing.”

After reviewing CCTV, cops are confident that Ms. Bulley did not leave the field near the river via Rowanwater.

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