Nicola Bulley 45y Old mum of 2 little girls missing from River Wyre area since last Friday morning at 9:15am walking her dog, Willow.

*A huge police search is currently taking place near to the river where the mum of two went missing over three weeks ago, following a tip-off from two walkers.

It is reported that Lancashire Police received a call at around 11:50am and they proceeded to seal off Rawcliffe Road in St Michael’s – less than a mile from where Nicola vanished.*

I am 'glad' this thread has not been taken down - or that people now refrain from posting, as suggested.

It has given posters who've experienced unspeakable trauma through their loss the chance to talk about it - I'm sure the pain never goes away. And that gives others the opportunity to empathise and perhaps give a modicum of comfort through their expression of sympathy, not to mention how it raises awareness of just how devastating it is to the families left behind.

And I believe this is quite a safe space and an appropriate one for Joseanne, Kate, and Annie to talk about their loss. It's terribly sad and heart-wrenching, but I hope it is in some way cathartic for them to share with us what happened to their loved ones. It's very sobering, and really concentrates the mind about the things that really matter.

For a few this tragedy is rather like reading a detective novel and I understand, for many there is much concern, for three there is full knowledge of many unanswered questions this tragedy may bring.

I think you are all very brave to talk about your own experiences and I find it saddening that people have to post such crass, insensitive comments - let alone think them. I'm not religious but it does remind me of there but for the grace of God go I

Many threads on GN don't "serve much purpose" anyway.
But this discussion has wider implications which posters are discussing as and when they arise. For example I had no idea Anniebach had received unpleasant comments on Facebook, I'm guessing in the recent past. That led me to think how in the early 1980s, in my case, when there was no social media there was obviously no public discussion, no comments in the public domain about anyone or anything.
On the other hand, the arrival of social media and the resulting media coverage has very much raised awareness too and it results in people talking too, as in the case of Nicola Bulley.
I would say the personal sharing of one or two posters on here only amounted to one or two out of 22 pages, if that. We certainly were not on this thread to dwell solely on our own experiences.

varian

Here is just one appeal for another missing person

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/18/mackenzie-crook-help-find-missing-sister-in-law-laurel-aldridge

how worrying

Unless the thread breaks guidelines then people are free to post on it.

Joseanne, Kate, and Annie
This thread must be difficult for you all.

Those who feel it’s not being useful may I ask why are you still on here and reading and remarking ?
I don’t believe anything should be hidden how else do people ever learn or get things of their chest
I haven’t read anything nastier than bewilderment and ideas
Its full of feeling and care and sorrow

No-one has insisted others stop posting- but that it serves no purpose, and that it is best to wait.

It is not for others to judge what the purpose of a thread is to others. We can only judge its purpose for ourselves.

lemsip

*This thread needs to be left to rest until
there is some fresh news from the police.
it is repetitive and clear people don't read
comments before posting their own.

Threads do not exist to be sequential. They exist for people to say what they want to say, often regardless of what other have already said. Once that idea has been absorbed and accepted, it's actually very easy to leave a thread alone if it has lost its appeal.

Surely if bored with a thread don’t read it ?

No-one has insisted others stop posting- but that it serves no purpose, and that it is best to wait.

Massive sympathy for anyone who has lost a loved one in similar circumstances, and totally understand that they wish to share. But truly, this thread is just not the place for it, I feel.

Joseanne, Anniebach and Kate

Well said Joseanne. You have summed up the situation very well.
I don’t understand why some posters feel they have the right to come on here only to insist that others stop posting!

I understand that there have been some truly awful comments about this case elsewhere on social media, but here I have only seen genuine concern for Nicola and her poor family.

lemsip

*This thread needs to be left to rest until
there is some fresh news from the police.
it is repetitive and clear people don't read
comments before posting their own.

How do you think that makes the likes of Anniebach, Kate and me feel lemsip? One who has lost a daughter to suicidal drowning, one a brother and one a parent to suicidal drowning? Speaking for myself, I think threads like this should exist for us. Most of this thread is not speculation about anyone's mindset anyway. It is mainly bewilderment. In my opinion posters have been very sensitive. I need people to go over and over things like this. It won't help me to understand my case better, but it reinforces the fact that stuff really does happen, and that I am not alone.

*This thread needs to be left to rest until
there is some fresh news from the police.
it is repetitive and clear people don't read
comments before posting their own.

I do hope there isn’t this speculation on the sites that Nicola’s
Partner and family and friends use, for no one knows what has happened. I can see how her state of mind would be vital information at the time and I’m sure all was discussed with the police.
My heart goes out to them and I do hope they get answers, there are so many missing people in the uk, all those families going through hell.

Quokka

I thought the Ben Needham case had been resolved?

Until he is found, then no.

I thought the Ben Needham case had been resolved?

Germanshepherdsmum

I always felt very sorry for the mother of little Ben who went missing on a Greek island. She returned each year but couldn’t afford the massive publicity that Madeleine McCann’s parents could.

There was a lot of publicity about little Ben Needham, though.
The police had a theory about that, too although his mother didn't believe their theory. However, investigations continued.
His mother launched a fresh appeal for information just last year. South Yorkshire Police still treat his disappearance as an active case with a DCI in charge. There is an active Facebook page - he has not been forgotten.

Fleurpepper

Honestly at this stage I truly think we should stop speculating. It is serving no purpose. We should all wait imho, and hope.

So many days on, and so many pages, and it is more true than ever.

I’ve read several reports saying Nicola always removed the dogs harness when it was off lead. I’ve only used a harness when training a young dog on a long line. My spaniel and more recently the big powerful lab were both encouraged to retrieve from water, wearing their harness. I don’t know anyone who uses a harness who’d take it off for off lead or water play but it s reported Nicola did

25Avalon, teaching a solid stay takes considerable input. Only a very well trained dog would maintain a stay in open countryside with its owner out of sight. Reports are this dog wasn’t in a stay, it was distressed and moving between the bench and the gate. It’s all very difficult to make sense of.

Maybe Nicola or someone else didn’t want the dog to go through the gate with her/them? That would have left a very fretful dog behind, running between the gate and the bench possibly.

The diver said if she had gone further down and jumped from a height she would have moved in a different way from a simple accidental slip.