Boy, two, drowned in river that police believe has claimed the life of missing Nicola Bulley
A two-year-old boy has drowned in the river where police suspect missing mother Nicola Bulley died.
Reece Maybury of Rochdale drowned in May 2000 after disappearing from the River Wyre Caravan Park, Mains Lane, Singleton.
The child’s body was found on a sandbar in the shadow of Shard Bridge half a mile downstream near the base of Shard Bridge.
The little boy drowned just seven miles upriver from where Nicola Bulley went missing.
A major search was launched after the child’s grandfather reported him missing at the caravan site.
Two-year-old Reece Maybury drowned in river where police suspect missing mother Nicola Bulley died
The little boy drowned just seven miles upriver from where Nicola Bulley, 45, pictured right, went missing and where police believe she may have died trying to retrieve her dog’s tennis ball
Police helicopters, civilians and the Coast Guard searched the banks at high tide where the body was found two hours later.
Nicola, 45, mother of two daughters aged nine and six, disappeared last Friday morning during a dog walk.
She was walking along the River Wyre in Lancashire when she disappeared without a trace, just minutes after texting a friend to arrange to meet them.
The mortgage advisor sent the text at 8:57 am, just before logging into a Teams call while walking her dog, locals were told at a village meeting.
Her last sighting was at 9:10 a.m. and 25 minutes later, her phone and dog leash were found on a riverside bench.
After a week of searching the river and surrounding areas, a police helicopter was seen continuing the search for Nicola over the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, where she lives with her partner and two children.
Police yesterday expressed concern over the missing mother-of-two who may have fallen into the icy waters of the River Wyre while trying to retrieve her dog Willow’s tennis ball.
Specialist search teams have not recovered the ball – or anything of note – at this stage.
The mother of two daughters aged nine and six disappeared last Friday morning during a dog walk. She was walking along the River Wyre in Lancashire when she disappeared without a trace, just minutes after texting a friend to meet up.
As the search for Mrs. Bulley enters its ninth day, the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of the mother of two remain.
Police have released a detailed timeline of Ms Bulley’s morning showing she was last seen walking her dog along the river by a witness known to her. The witness saw that her dog was not on a leash and was not wearing a harness.
Ten minutes later, at 9:20 am, the police know that her phone was on the couch and would be found later.
At 9:33 a.m., Nicola’s dog was found in an agitated state, near the couch where her phone, the dog’s leash and harness were.
An important part of the investigation concerns what happened during those missing ten minutes – this could dramatically advance the police investigation.
Investigators are also trying to substantiate whether Ms. Bulley put her phone on the couch herself because her dog was in danger.
They think it’s possible that she put her phone on the couch for a moment before going to the riverbank, and then fell into the river.
The banks of the river are known to be treacherous and slippery, and Mrs Bulley could have fallen in and been pressed under her heavy clothing.
But no footprints or signs of a fall were found in the area, her family said.
Another crucial line of inquiry is where Ms. Bulley’s belongings may now be.
She was last seen wearing an ankle-length black quilted gilet, a waist-length black Engelbert Strauss coat, slim-fitting jeans and green boots.
She wore a necklace and light blue Fitbit on her wrist as she took her spaniel, Willow, on a brisk walk by the River Wyre – a route she often took after taking her daughters to school nearby.
Police are searching a 10-mile river into the Irish Sea but have so far found no sign of the 45-year-old.
The public is urged to look out for anything that could be hers and to contact police if they find any clothing matching the description.
Police said on Friday their main hypothesis is that Ms Bulley fell into the Wyre while trying to help her dog.
But when Willow was discovered, she was found to be “bone dry,” meaning she couldn’t have entered the water at any point.
She was also described as agitated when she was discovered by another walker.
One theory suggests that instead of helping Willow, Mrs. Bulley could have tried to retrieve her dog’s ball if it rolled into a location that was too difficult for the dog to retrieve.
Photos show her often letting her dog loose to play by the river, and the ball may have slipped along the river bank. No ball was found at the scene or during police searches, but it may have fallen into the river and was lost.
While there are no signs that she fell, such as footprints, police said yesterday they have “no evidence whatsoever that there is anything suspicious about her disappearance or any third party involvement in her disappearance.”
The family does everything they can to divert attention from Nicola’s two young children.
They try to keep their lives as normal as possible while they wait for more information about their mother.
They stick to their routine and let them go to their weekend clubs and have sleepovers.
