case of Nicola bully has attracted worldwide attention from those who are curious about
circumstances surrounding her prolonged disappearance the intricacies of personal
details surrounding her mental state leading up to her disappearance and the heartbreaking
accidental discovery of her remains in the river previously scoured by professionals
and law enforcement finding Nicola has been or should have been the main objective in
this complex missing person's case now that she's been found the family has said finally
Nikki you are no longer a missing person you have been found we can let you rest now at the heart
of this investigation lies a family Nicholas two little girls her loving partner Paul her
distraught parents and troves of heartbroken friends extended family and members of the
community will they get the final closure they need when so many questions are left unanswered
how did she wind up in that River what was her cause of death what was she going through in
her final moments how did a regular day turn into such a nightmare so now let's get into it
on February 19th a body was found and identified as 45 year old Nicola bully the missing mom who
had been missing for over three weeks in the UK Nicola went missing on January 27th after
dropping her kids off at school and headed to a park where she would walk her dog Willow and
log into a work call in a 10 minute window she vanished her phone was left behind on a bench
still logged into her work with her video off and her phone muted her dog was seen between the gate
and the bench without a harness on from there launch a 23-day search for the missing mom the
main Theory from the police was that she was in the river but there were a few obstacles
and questions about that theory a suspicious red van was reported and two fishermen were said to
be suspicious as well and trying to cover their faces the day Nicola disappeared but on February
19th a body was found at 11 36 a.m Witnesses call in about a body in the river wire close
to Rock Cliff Road it was within a mile of where Nicola was this last scene a photo was snapped at
the moment the area was shown to police a man and woman discovered the body while walking their dog
and reported it the Lancashire police stated an underwater search team and specialist officers
have subsequently attended the scene entered the water and have sadly recovered a body no
formal identification has yet been carried out so we are unable to say whether this is Nicola bully
at this time procedures to identify the body are ongoing we are currently treating the death as
unexplained Nicholas family has been informed of developments and our thoughts are with them
at this most difficult of times we ask that their privacy is respected at 11 50 am police raced to
the scene a Witnesses described that police cars were flying down the road to the river wire after
the body was found and the witness said I drove down Rock Cliff Road for almost a mile I noticed
a man and women and two police officers on the embankment I pulled off in in about 11 50 am and
I heard the man talking to police about something in the undergrowth police cars were flying down
the road with the blues and twos going a police officer pulled up a few minutes later and got the
Drone out five minutes later the police helicopter arrived officers then asked the person to get out
so the person moved 200 yards down the road and they said they could clearly see the man pointing
at the riverbank then more police officers raced down the road they cleared the entire Road they
said the police hardly sealed off a road and informed the family about the situation but at
that point that identification was not known and it was deemed and not explained death now Nicola
was found by those two witnesses in those reads and undergrowth less than a mile away from where
she disappeared in this map you can see to the right where Nicola was last seen where the bench
was and if you go all the way to the left you can see where her body was actually found now
the witness that found her said to the officer it was a body it was down there it was a body
of a woman there's definitely a body down there and this mad and woman were later seen sitting on
the wall vaping they said looking Ash and faced now before Nicola was found we heard from her
parents who said every day is a struggle they were waiting to find out more news they had hope they
said we're no further on from three weeks ago we just need a breakthrough to give us some hope and
now they have that breakthrough although so very very painful yet it's no longer a mystery as to
where Nicola is unfortunately it's not the news that any of them wanted to hear so the family was
notified and they confirmed through dental records that it was in fact Nicola bully Paul released a
brief statement and said no words right now just Agony we're all together we have to be strong and
then after the body was identified they said Nikki we can let you rest now they said we
will never forget Nikki how could we she was the center of our world she was the one who made our
lives so special and nothing will cast Shadow over that our girls will get the support they
need from the people who love the most finally Nikki you are no longer a missing person you have
been found we can let you rest now and here's what the family made a statement in the recent
press conference all girls will get the support they need from the people who love them the most
and it saddens us to think that one day we will have to explain to them that the Press and members
of the public accuse their dad of wrongdoing misquoted and vilified friends and family
this is absolutely appalling they have to be held accountable this cannot happen to another family
we tried last night to take in what we have been told in the day only to have Sky News
and ITV making contact with us directly when we expressly asked for privacy
they again have taken it upon themselves to run stories
about us to sell papers and increase their own profits it is shameful they have acted in this way
leave us alone now do the press and other media channels and so-called professionals not know when
to stop these are our lives and our children's lives to those who genuinely helped and supported
us privately we thank you the community support in St Michael's friends neighbors and strangers has
been nothing short of comforting and heartwarming friends you know who you are thank you
our hearts truly break for others who have missing loved ones keep that hope alive finally Nikki
you are no longer a missing person you have been found who can let you rest now we love you
always have and always will we will take it from here now it's a fine line telling the story and
remaining respectful relevant and Reporting facts versus rumor and speculation to sell headlines and
that's what the family has been saying about you know certain people and news Julie McKay
is a former detective and criticized armchair detectives driven by thirst for True Crime she
says that these amateur sleuths has made the process more difficult for the police and Miss
Bully's family she also acknowledged that some people do have a genuine desire to help but she
criticized those who were driven by their own gratification their own self-promotion or even
narcissistic approaches and this case has been massive in the news people in Canada the states
everywhere is hearing about it but they said that this has distracted significantly from their
official investigation Rebecca Smith who is the senior investigating officer we've seen her in the
press conference she said in 29 years is Police Service I've never seen anything like it some of
it has been quite shocking and really hurtful to the family there's criticism not just with
sleuths there's and tick-tockers there's criticism of the actual investigation the Lancashire police
are facing a lot of criticism their main theory has always been that Nicola ended up in the river
which is where she was found however recently they did a press conference announcing that
Nicola was high risk due to vulnerability specific vulnerabilities but at that time they said they
didn't want to go into specifics out of respect for the families but later that day they announced
publicly that Nicholas struggled with alcohol issues said brought on by menopause which is in my
last videos brought in a whole slew of comments so this caused an opera from several people and not
just the public but other authorities and what was interesting they didn't give these specifics to
people assisting in this investigation like Peter falding who's a specialist who searched for Nicola
in the river the Prime Minister stated that there was concerns over announcing this information
about Nicola to the public and that there's going to be an internal review that will be conducted
the independent office for police conduct is also investigating the contact officers had with Nikola
on January 10 17 days before she went missing they did a call to her house and no one got arrested
but it was a welfare check former Lancashire police chief superintendent Bob Eastwood
defended the forces investigation amid an absolute onslaught of criticism when he was asked how it
was possible a body could be found a mile from where Nicola's last location was despite a huge
extensive search he said that the river is tidal and fast flowing he says the way the tide comes
and goes it is possible that the body could have flowed in and flowed out and has eventually been
given up by the water to jump in and automatically assume that the body was there the whole time is
a step too far now he goes back to saying about about the detective superintendent Rebecca Smith
the senior investigating officer on the case says that she has been subjected to misogynistic abuse
during a three-week search that has attracted this national attention in the Nicola bully case and
then he was talking about so-called Specialists who impose themselves on this case he said that
they fed into a lot of people's obsessions and he said I'm hoping their consciences are currently in
overdrive now another person Andrew Snowden who's lancashire's police and crime commissioner said
officers were being as transparent as they can be in what is an incredibly sensitive and complex
case Britain's FBI were brought in as well for this investigation and Lancashire police called
in a senior detective from the National Crime agency to assist with the Nikola bully case
and this detective worked on a Case called the Julia James case where a police Community Support
Officer was murdered while walking her dog this NCAA detective recommended that external experts
analyze the search the family liaison and digital forensics on Nicholas phone and her Fitbit and a
forensic clinical psychologist and a behavioral expert were brought in to assess Nicholas state
of mind and map any potential profile of potential of offenders before the body was discovered and a
dog behavioral specialist was also brought in to see if Nicholas spaniel Willow would be able to
assist in the case and then when it comes to Peter falding who's the specialist who was searching
the river he's defending his search and he said this owner doesn't go into the reads that's why
he didn't see it and he's also saying that he could probably get canned for things that he's
been saying that River was thoroughly searched using Sonar technology for three days but Nicola
wasn't found and he was adamant that she wouldn't be but he also wasn't told about this alcohol
situation and he said he would do a different search and before that he was searching also
land just in case she might have been buried read there Peter said the area where Nicola went in was
searched thoroughly by very professional police divers on the day very thoroughly and she was
not there which leads me to believe that she is not in that River but then he said that he wasn't
passed on this crucial information like I said about the alcohol and he would have changed his
search strategy but he says a body could Lodge in the Reeds under debris and you wouldn't see it on
any form of sonar either the police or our sonar if a body gets lodged in the Reeds it usually
gets found by a dog walker that is normal now I'm curious because if we had authorities searching
all that area did they not look in there or was it a case that she popped up or what happened but
after Nicola was found he tweeted and said our thoughts are with Nicholas family and friends at
this difficult time he said in an interview I know I'm going to get canned for this but I don't care
police search teams walk that River every day what do you think let me know below a former inspector
named Zoe Billingham criticized the police for releasing unnecessary details and questioned
whether they would have done the same for a man she said this information literally stopped me in
my tracks there's no need whatsoever to put the level of detail into the public domain as the
force did if it is relevant now it would have been 20 days ago would they have released that
information if it weren't a woman and what are the future implications for families whose loved
ones go missing now the investigation isn't over we still need to know what the cause of death is
there's so many questions left on answered did she hit her head did she fall down was there a
medical emergency was she pushed what happened was it accident was it Foul Play what were those
final moments and what did it indicate there was nothing suspicious that morning it started out
as a normal day she dropped the kids off to school she chatted with a parent she went to the park she
texted a friend she was on a work call and you know she met with other dog walkers and it was
said Nichola was a strong swimmer and knew about that River now the family is wanting some privacy
there are friends and loved ones and people who are paying tribute to Nicola around that area I
saw ribbons on a bench and the actual Bridge as well the friends and family have also launched a
GoFundMe I will put that in the description box below to help pay for funeral planning and also
for nickel and Paul's little girl's future let's take a moment and put some yellow Hearts down for
Nicola and her family and I know it's not what anyone was hoping for but now they know where
Nicola is and now they can move on and try to heal thank you so much for watching we'll see you soon