Dive Expert: Health Issues Would Have Altered Search Approach
The reasons why Nicola Bulley was considered vulnerable from the moment she went missing have been revealed by the police.
Nicola, 45, vanished on January 27 while walking her dog at St. Michael’s in Wyre, Lancashire.
Peter Faulding, chief of Specialist Group International, stated that Lancashire Police did not inform him and his team that Nicola Bulley was vulnerable, which would have altered their strategy.
An independent dive specialist who participated in the search for Nicola Bulley stated that his team’s strategy would have been entirely different if the police had informed them of her health problems.
Considering the new information, he believes it is more likely that she was swept out to sea or simply wandered off.
The 45-year-old mother went missing while walking her dog along the River Wyre on January 27; Specialist Group International was called in ten days later.
They spent 72 hours scouring an area of water near where the missing mother’s phone was discovered on a bench, with police investigators reportedly working on the theory that she had fallen into the water but remained mentally stable.
ALSO READ: Cops reveal missing mum Nicola Bulley’s ‘vulnerabilities’ during high-risk disappearance
However, SGI chief Peter Faulding told the Mirror yesterday evening that he was as surprised as anyone when Lancashire Police disclosed Nicola’s problems.
Additionally, he has criticized the decision to release sensitive information to the public.
The police stated that Nicola had “significant” alcohol problems in the past, which were caused by menopausal difficulties and had recently resurfaced.
17 days before her disappearance, police had visited her Inskip residence in response to concerns for her welfare.
Mr. Faulding stated that he was briefed daily but was told none of this when he arrived at the scene.
He explained, “Normally, I would be given this information to make my job easier and to deploy the appropriate resources to conduct this search.”
Due to the weak current and numerous shallows, if she had drowned her body would have been within 500 meters of the entry point, according to Mr. Faulding. SGI had been working under the assumption that she had fallen into the water.
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But a missing person with high suicide risk and possible intoxication completely alters that, he said.
Due to the false information, Mr. Faulding was “adamant” that she could not have fallen into the river, and his three-day search confirmed this.
Adding the other factors, however, he concluded that the phone left on the bench may be a red herring, as if Nicola were disoriented, she may have wandered upstream and entered there.
And had she jumped in, she would have likely been carried out to sea.
“We would have extended our search upstream even further. “Just because you have a phone doesn’t mean you have an access point,” he continued.
Mr. Faulding and his team would be “looking for other evidence” if they were knowingly searching for a potential alcoholic, he said.
“I’d be looking for items such as whisky bottles, because in many suicides – if it’s a suicide – we find bottles of pills, half a bottle of whisky, and whisky bottles,” he continued.
“Last year, I performed autopsies on three female suicide victims, and they all had pills and bottles of brandy or whisky in their possession before the procedure.
ALSO READ: Search for Missing Nicola Bulley Intensifies with Focus on Anglers
“In that case, they may attempt to jump in and swim before deciding, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to do this.’ Therefore, they begin paddling downstream.
“If they drown, simply by falling in and drowning, they tend to descend straight down; they do not drift. Unless it is flood water that was not present on the day in question.”
Mr. Faulding stated that if Nicola had wandered back through the gate where her dog Willow was discovered and to the bridge – a CCTV blindspot – “she could have wandered off without anyone noticing.”
The expert in underwater forensics then inquired whether the police are concealing any additional information.
He asked, “Do they know something else that they are not telling us?”
“Is there another piece of information that we don’t know about?”
Since he left the search on Wednesday, Mr. Faulding has offered to return and use his expertise in a land search, but he has not heard from the police.
ALSO READ: Ex-Detective Suggests Blood-Spattered Bench in Nicola Bulley Case
He stated, “My offer is open to the Lancashire Police, but I have had no contact with them since we left.”
“Our phone has been quiet. Because I don’t want to interfere, I’m not calling them, but we have had no contact.
“We left the scene, our mission accomplished. We completed our assigned tasks,” he added.
He then criticized the police for releasing the information in any form.
“From my perspective, this information should have never been released to the public this afternoon. “It’s not fair,” said Mr. Faulding.
“If we were given that information on the search, she is a vulnerable “misper,” which is normal for me to receive, and she’s had alcohol problems, etc., I will not tell you.
“If I’m told to keep quiet I keep it between us. Our approach to the media may have been fundamentally different from day one.”
He added, “My thoughts are with the family, and I regret that information has been made public.”
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