A close friend of Nicola Bulley has urged trolls on social media to stop causing “hurt and distress” as she laid out facts about the case of her missing friend. Nicola has now been missing for nine days. She was last seen on January 27 while walking her dog Willow in St Michael’s on Wyre in Lancashire.
Police have previously suggested that she may have fallen into the river, but now say evidence does not indicate this happened. They also found no signs of foul play at the scene where Nicola’s phone and dog were found.
Nicola’s friend, Tilly Ann has published a post on Facebook addressing “disgusting” comments made about Nicola’s partner, Paul Ansell.
She proceeded to lay out 11 facts about the case to try and clear up speculation online.
Tilly Ann wrote: “Paul and Nikki both mostly work from home which is why he was at home that day. They have CCTV and there is a reason why Paul has never been a suspect.
“Family and friends need these accusations to stop immediately. The fact that I’ve had to write this is disgusting to be honest.
“They both do this walk regularly and Paul is very well known in the community and very well recognized. The dog never has her harness on for a chunk of that walk, it’s removed at the gate of the top field and then put back on at the gate when they leave.
“They very rarely take the ball out for walks with Willow now because she is very protective over the ball and haven’t done it for a while. Nikki quite often would put her phone on loud speaker when talking.
“The dog was found very close to the bench and the harness. The harness was found on the floor not on the bench.
“Nikki is an incredibly strong swimmer. Nikki drove to the school and then left her car there and walked to the river. The dog was dry when found.
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“The dog has since been back. There’s CCTV at the back of the caravan park. The only camera that isn’t working is the one that would have seen everything.”
She added: “What her family needs right now is as much positivity as possible please.”
Police are continuing to search the nearby area. After the Lancashire force had suggested Nicola may have fallen into the river, Nicola’s family and friends questioned this theory.
Friend Emma White told Sky News: “Willow used to love a tennis ball very much but it used to disturb their walks so they haven’t had a tennis ball since way into last year.
“Obviously she loved the tennis ball so she’d always be by you, pestering you for the ball – but it wasn’t a nice walk when the dog’s pestering – so there was definitely no ball.”
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Nicola’s partner Paul, has spoken candidly about his family’s anguish since Nicola disappeared.
Earlier this week, he said the situation was “insane” and it was like Nicola “vanished into thin air.”
He said: “We’re never going to lose hope, but right now it’s as though she vanished into thin air, it’s just insane.
“I can’t believe we’re a week on and of yet it seems we’re no further on, it seems absolutely impossible. It’s like a dream, I can’t get my head around it.”
