It’s been one of the strangest stories to dominate the British media in recent times.
The background is simple. Mother-of-two Nicola Bulley disappeared while walking her springer spaniel Willow in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre on January 27. She was last seen at 9.10am on that morning taking her usual route with Willow alongside the river, having earlier dropped off her two daughters at school. And that was it. She was gone.
Police diving teams immediately searched the river for her body, specialist private diving and search teams were also drafted in – but not a trace of Nicola was found, and the claim was made that she was NOT in the section of the river searched. That was the situation until yesterday when the grim news came that two people out walking had found a body floating in the river about a mile from the suspected point of entry. There has been no official conformation of time of writing, but it seems sadly likely that this body is that of the missing woman.
In the first instance, our thoughts should be with Nicola’s family and friends. It’s hard to conceive the agony that they have gone through these past three weeks since she vanished. I don’t want to go into the various theories as to what actually happened to her, we should leave that to the authorities but there are three key points that I want to make;
In the first instance, let’s consider how Lancashire Police have handled this situation and whether lessons can be learned. I think it’s fair to say that as the days passed, and more pressure came to bear on them, the Police came in for a lot of criticism, culminating in what many saw as a disastrous press conference hosted by Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith last Thursday. I watched it and to say the Police were very defensive would be an understatement. Perhaps this was understandable given all the lack of progress against amounting media chorus but it did leave many asking more question. Why had the Police not more effectively cordoned off the scene of her disappearance? I know it was a popular river walk but it also potentially a crime scene. Surely this could have been better managed to seal off the area until the Police and others had exhausted the search? Further, releasing very personal issues that may have affected Nicola seemed discordant to many people and it’s hard to see how they would have led to finding her. Lancashire Police could have handled this better, and they need to learn from this.
Secondly, the body was found in an area of the river that had been searched by private search investigator Peter Faulding. Mr Faulding and his team used sonar technology that could spot stones and sticks on the riverbed but somehow missed this body. He publicly declared that Nicola was NOT in that section of the river, but it appears that she was. Perhaps too much faith is placed in technology? Mr Faulding seemed taken aback when the Police did release the information concerning Nicola’s “vulnerabilities” and said had he known that, it would have changed his search strategy. Of course, none of us can say with any certainty how Nicola’s body ended up in the place where it was found!
Finally, when anyone goes missing in this very public way, the private agonies of the family are only further exacerbated when the mainstream media hype the story to build their audience. Grief sells and there is the only maxim “if it bleeds, it leads”. Yet does this help the traumatised family? In addition, social media was ablaze with all kinds of speculation. Some of this raised valid questions but again I can’t see how it eases the pain of the family? Had the Police handled things better, of course, amateur sleuths would have not required.
The loss of a mother is always a terrible blow, at any age. Nicola Bulley leaves behind two daughters, aged six and nine. We can but imagine how they feel but this is the moment to keep them in our thoughts.
Views: 0
