What happened to Nicola Bulley?

James Cheng-Morris
An inquest in June last year found Nicola Bulley died due to accidental drowning. (PA)

Nicola Bulley’s partner has said the online fixation and obsession with her disappearance was a “monster” that got out of control.

Paul Ansell said his family initially welcomed the huge public interest after she vanished. But her disappearance soon attracted a wave of amateur social media “sleuths” posting hurtful and wildly misleading claims about the case, with the family receiving online hate.

“I think anything like that is a double-edged sword,” Ansell told the BBC. “That’s the problem. You’re poking a monster.”

It comes as a BBC documentary, The Search For Nicola Bulley, explores the media coverage and impact of internet sleuths conducting their own investigations. It will be broadcast on Thursday 3 October.

Here, Yahoo News sets out what happened to Bulley and the prevalence of conspiracy theories in her case.

Bulley vanished on 27 January last year after dropping off her daughters, then aged six and nine, at school and taking her usual walk along the River Wyre in St Michael’s, Lancashire, to walk her dog.

She headed towards a bench in a field and at 8.53am sent an email to her boss, followed by a message to her friends six minutes later, before logging on to a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am.

The bench where Nicola Bulley's phone was found. (PA)
The bench where Nicola Bulley's phone was found. (PA) (PA)

She was seen by a witness at 9.10am, the last-known sighting. Her phone was in the area of the bench at 9.20am before the Teams call ended 10 minutes later, with her mobile remaining logged on. At 9.33am, another dog walker found her phone on a bench beside the river, with her dog, Willow, darting between the two.

Lancashire Constabulary launched an investigation into her whereabouts on the same day and appealed for witnesses to contact them. The force deployed drones, helicopters and police search dogs as part of the major missing person operation. They were assisted by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, as well as Bowland Pennine mountain rescue team and the North West underwater search team.

Local residents held a meeting at the village hall to organise a search party, with 100 people taking part.

After a huge search lasting more than three weeks that captured the attention of the nation, her body was found in the river on 19 February.

Bulley’s disappearance was extensively covered by all national media outlets. That interest extended to social media, where there was frenzied speculation and multiple conspiracy theories, including false rumours of third-party involvement.

Days before her body was found, senior investigating officer Det Supt Rebecca Smith said her officers were being distracted from the probe as they were “inundated with false information, accusations and rumours”.

Police said unfounded rumours and the presence of sleuths distracted from the investigation. (PA)
Police said unfounded rumours and the presence of sleuths distracted from the investigation. (PA) (PA)

On the day her body was identified, her family said it “saddens us to think that one day we will have to explain to [her children] that the press and members of the public accused their dad of wrongdoing, misquoted and vilified friends and family. This is absolutely appalling, they have to be held accountable.”

The prevalence of conspiracy theories was such that coroner Dr Adeley said one purpose of her inquest was to “allay rumour and suspicion”.

Following Bulley's disappearance, TikTok videos with the hashtag of her name had hundreds of millions of views.

Police went on to accuse “TikTokers” of “playing private detectives” near the scene of her disappearance, with the case attracting dozens of amateur sleuths to the area.

One social media influencer was even fined by police after joining the search. Three days before her body was found, Dan Duffy was arrested and handed a fixed penalty notice under section 4 of the Public Order Act – fear or provocation of violence.

After Bulley went missing, Duffy had posted a number of videos on TikTok, as well as three others on his YouTube channel.

Candles lit around a photo of Nicola Bulley and her partner Paul Ansell on an altar at St Michael's Church. (PA)
Candles lit around a photo of Nicola Bulley and her partner Paul Ansell on an altar at St Michael's Church. (PA) (PA)

Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire, recorded her death as accidental at her inquest in June last year. He said she fell into the river and suffered “cold water shock”, and that there was “no evidence” to suggest suicide or third party involvement.

At a news conference days before she was found, Lancashire Police had controversially made public that Bulley had “significant issues” with alcohol brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause.

Dr Adeley said: “Her behaviour in the week before her death was back to normal, she had restarted her HRT therapy, stopped drinking some time before, was making plans for play dates and spa days with several people, was becoming increasingly successful at her new career as a mortgage broker and behaved entirely normally during her parents visit of the night before and with Paul Ansell on the morning of her death."

The inquest heard her Fitbit watch recorded a significant spike in heart rate at 9.22am, a feature of cold water shock.

Dr Adeley also noted the area around the bench was above a steep grassed slope, with an “almost vertical drop” to the water.

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