some of what Becky and I will say today has already been made public and this has
been widely reported but I'm acutely aware that there continues to be extensive media interest
commentary speculation and indeed some criticism of our police investigation therefore to try and
address some of that we will take you through in some detail more than would normally be the
case with an investigation what exactly we've done over the last 19 days and continue to do
to remind us Nicola we're missing on the morning of Friday the 27th of January and since that
time we have done an unprecedented amount of work on the investigation to try and find her
the sole focus of that work is to find Nicola
to bring it home to a family and give them the answers they so desperately need
the investigations involved a dedicated team of more than 40 detectives they've been looking
through hundreds of hours of CCTV dash cam footage speaking to numerous Witnesses carrying out
digital inquiries and examining literally hundreds of pieces of information submitted by the public
and I would like to thank the public for all of their assistance throughout this investigation
there are also dozens of other officers and staff who have helped in the investigation searches
and reassurance of the local community in Sim Michaels we've involved a range of Specialists
both locally regionally and nationally the investigation has not wanted at any
stage for experts who are the best in their field available to law enforcement in the UK
I would emphasize that it Remains the case there is no evidence to to indicate a criminal aspect
or third-party involvement in Nicholas disappearance however the the officers
involved in the investigation are the same experienced Specialists and many senior offices
who are concerned with the investigation of the most serious and complex crimes
that is the importance and focus we've given to the investigation to find Nicola
to give you some figures to back up some of what I've described we visited more than 300 premises
spoken to almost 300 people and received around about 1 500 pieces of information into the inquiry
in terms of the physical searches both water-based and on land
we've used specialist resources from both police a range of other agencies but I'm grateful to
those other agencies who've supported us we continue to extensively the river wire
and surrounding area Downstream and out into the sea towards the estuary
we've consulted with national experts in their field including environmental and title experts
and we're carrying out an extension have carried out an extensive land search
surrounding the river including some properties around the area where Nicola went missing
slides has been made available for you to to see which show in some detail
exactly where we were searched but it's impossible it's important to say that our
activity as at every stage been directed by expert trained police search advisors who return pulses
and they've been following nationally recognized Doctrine around search strategy which will be
followed by any expert police search advisor in UK policing so it Remains the case at the
present time there is no evidence in all the exhaustive inquiries we've made that suggests
any crime has been committed or that there is any third party involvement in Nicholas disappearance
it is important for me to stress that the investigation continues it is ongoing
and we are meticulously reviewing all information gathered from others gathered from members
of Nicholas family the public CCTV dash cam and other digital devices to name just a few