Mystery item that Nicola Bulley cops could be searching for is revealed by ex-detective as he blasts police ‘failings’ | The Sun
A FORMER detective has given insight into what cops searching the river where Nicola Bulley was found are looking for.
Ex-Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley claims the fact that police have been ordered to re-comb through the water shows “failed their initial search”.
It comes as specialist divers were last week seen searching the water to try to confirm the tragic mum's cause of death.
Nicola's body was found in the river on February 20 – three weeks after she vanished
This week Video showed police combing through the water less than a mile from where Nicola, 45, was last seen on January 27.
And Lancashire Police confirmed coroners requested they re-search the river to get a "complete a picture" of how the mum died.
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However Mr Bleksley explained that it is possible police could be hunting for a personal belonging.
At the time of her disappearance, Ms Bulley was wearing a long black gilet jacket with a hood and had her hair tied in a ponytail.
She had black jeans on with olive green ankle wellies.
Nicola's phone and dog's lead were found on a bench. Her dog was also found safe and well.
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However she was also wearing a light blue fitbit.
Mr Bleksley told The Sun: “I don’t know what they are looking for but we need to look back at what we heard while she was missing.
“We heard about things she may have been wearing – Her fitbit for example.
“However, we don’t know if things like that were already discovered when her body was found.”
The area cops were seen searching is less than a mile from where Nicola was last seen on January 27, after a tip-off from two dog walkers.
Footage, taken by a local resident, shows officers wading through the water.
Mr Bleksley has claimed the decision to re-search shows the force has made a “dog’s dinner” out of the investigation.
He explained: “It shows the police failed their initial search.
“The coroner clearly has questions which shows all the police’s actions in the first place were not sufficient enough
“It shows their search clearly wasn’t as thorough as it could have been.
“It's also tidal water – what is the likelihood of anything being there all these weeks later?
“They have made it a complete dog’s dinner.”
An inquest into Nicola's death is to be heard on Monday, June 26 at County Hall in Preston.
An extensive search was launched to find the mum-of-two, involving police, firefighters, mountain rescue, underwater teams and the local community.
Officers scoured wooded areas, ditches, water margins and the grounds of an abandoned house.
A specialist search was also launched by dive expert Peter Faulding, who used £50,000 sonar equipment to scour the water.
He later pulled out of the hunt, saying he did not believe Nicola was in the river as she could have "stood up" if she fell in.
Nicola's disappearance sparked a huge amount of speculation online with web sleuths flocking to the area she was last seen in an attempt to crack the case.
For her funeral last month a no fly zone was put in place over the church – so sick TikTok sleuths couldn’t film her funeral using drones.
The move comes after a sleuth was arrested for filming and uploading footage of Nicola’s body being recovered from the River.
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Curtis Arnold, 34, of Kidderminster, Worc, was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of malicious communications offences and perverting the course of justice.
A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: "We can confirm we are carrying out some work on the direction of HM Coroner."
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