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.

My experience of policing is as about as far removed from the real job as you can probably get, Rosina, so if I used the wrong word in "endearing" then I apologise. But what I observed in this case as a member of the public was a very unswerving "she's in the river full stop" with no evidence, no real explanations and few appeals for information. Even the 101 phone number wouldn't take anyone to an incident desk, would it? I am puzzled why did the police not wish to appear on the C5 programme or stage their own reconstruction? I grew up to believe the police were a visible presence who were there to help us, who we could trust. The partner didn't seem convinced.
Anyway, I do not wish to turn this into an argumentative or blaming anyone thread, so will say no more. Just basing my comment above on last night's programme.

Paul Ansel is Not a former police officer!!.........,
lots of the experts around him are ex police officers.

The Police hold back information which might be sensitive, misconstrued or give too much information to the wrong people. If there is any detail that might help, of course they make it known. They are not here to endear themselves to the public, and I do get tired at the way they are criticised constantly in the media - why anyone ever joins the police service today is a mystery; they are on a hidiing to nothing.

Yes, poor chap. He did say quite definitely that he thought the police were doing a good job although he would like them to search the village thoroughly. Of course, this translated in the media to 'Paul critical of police operation in Nicola search'.

I read that he is a former police officer. Obviously you cannot believe everything you read but is this true, does anyone know?

I thought the programme was good, in that the partner had the opportunity to explain the timeline better. The 3 alternatives were spelt out several times by the police people, and I believe the force involved is investigating all three scenarios, although you'd think they are obsessed with the river one. What the programme was good at doing was criticising the way the case has been handled in the public domain. The police think it will be in the community that the answer will be found, but they aren't endearing themselves to those very people by holding back information and getting details wrong.
The friend was very articulate and willing to do whatever it takes, I'd trust her. The partner was distraught.

I thought it was a very good programme it was as informative as they could be it was sensitively handled I felt the partner held himself very well but we re no further forward as to what could have happened
There’s really only 3 alternatives, Fell in the river, left on her own for reasons unknown or was abducted None seem any more viable than the other I’d 99% knock the leaving on her own out, I felt the river was the most likely but its not giving up anything so no one is any further forward than the day it happened
Poor poor family

Hour and a quarter even.

I’ve gone over to Scott and Bailey 🤔

This programme does not need to be stretched out over an hour.

I’ve just remembered a documentary I saw about cadaver dogs. I wondered if they’d used them. I would assume they have: I did see one on the news in one of the boats.

at 9pm tonight on channel 5. 'vanished, nicola bulley' with Dan Walker

Spaniels are loyal, they were bred to flush birds and to retrieve, they’re generally good swimmers.
I read the dog was agitated, moving, pacing between the bench and the gate. If lost or upset, dogs tend to return to the place they ‘lost’ their owner.

Unless this dog has been trained to ‘go find Johnny’ for example, there’d be no point expecting the spaniel to do more than she was doing when found. Demonstrating something distressing had happened. I haven’t seen any photographs of the police dog teams but it would be unusual not to call them in a missing person enquiry

I agree Joseanne it makes good sense to vary times and walking routes so that a pattern of behaviour doesn’t emerge in secluded areas. 99 times out of 100 nothing will happen but why take risks if a simple change of routine can mitigate the odds in your favour?

In all my years of walking my dogs in even very isolated locations, I have only ever had one occasion where I felt unsafe because of someone else's behaviour. I'm not sure if I have been lucky

Yes, but it’s best not to do the same walk at the same time every day. Especially with all the dog thefts that were happening:; although I think they seem to have stopped now.

It would worry me more if my daughter or son didnt walk their dog because of fear. A life curtailed by fear of risk is not without its own risks.

Yes. It’s dangerous to do the same walk every day. It worries me that my daughters jogs the same route and walks her dog in quite a secluded area.

I don't think it 'hurts' anyone if people are sensitively considering what might have happened on social media
I also think it gives those of us who do very similar walks food for thought.

The dog was taken back to the spot it was found! it was stated in the news. don't you think that would have been the first thing the police would have thought of.

Lizbethann55

Veejay. How do you know they haven't searched the caravan camp? It strikes me that there are too many arm chair detectives on here who seem to think that the police are just pretending to search. There will be a lot going on that we do not know about.

There will be a lot going on that we do not know about.

Exactly. The police are not compelled to give a blow-by-blow account of their moves or lines of enquiry, some of which obviously have to be carried out without the glare of publicity. I'm sure they will share much more information with the family than they do with the general public.

I don't think it 'hurts' anyone if people are sensitively considering what might have happened on social media - you never know what just might trigger someone to remember something - if they were in the area at the time - which could help the police.

I cannot imagine what the family are going through.

A dogs sense of smell is astounding, isn’t it. My whippet can sniff things out much better than eg my daughters Miniature Schnauzer even though she’s a sight hound. Mind you, if anything happened to me and my whippet was running free I think she’d just go ‘woohoo, I’m free, I’ll just go chasing squirrels’. Whereas I’m pretty sure my spaniels would have gone looking for me.

Spaniels are very food orientated so if someone threw food to distract her it would have worked.
Spaniels can sniff food from a long way away.

However, the springer spaniels used as sniffer dogs are highly trained.

Chestnut

Others on this thread have said that spaniels are good sniffer dogs and surely he would want to follow his mistress.

Yes, I said it myself. I’m interested to know if the police did a re-enactment involving the dog. Maybe tonight’s programme will reveal a bit more.

Anniebach

Not all dogs act to commands such as ‘seek’ .

They would use whatever term they like, 'find mummy' or 'where's mummy' or whatever. I simply used the work 'seek' to cover all these expressions.

I was once sat in a car in a car park in Cornwall. The rest of the family took her for a walk along the beach but when they let her off lead ( quite a way from the car) she ran straight back to me. It scared me at the time because she ran across a car park to get to me. Also she was running back to the place she had left. Had the family stayed in the car and I’d gone for a walk would she have followed me? I agree: it’s the behaviour of the dog that complicates everything. Spaniels are very food orientated so if someone threw food to distract her it would have worked.

Others on this thread have said that spaniels are good sniffer dogs and surely he would want to follow his mistress.