Nicola Bulley's partner reveals reveals his panic on when she vanished
‘It’s like your world just drops’: Nicola Bulley’s shattered partner reveals his growing panic and desperation as he recalls the day she disappeared without a trace
- Paul Ansell gave Channel 5 a detailed account of Nicola Bulley’s disappearance
- He said Nicola would ‘never in a million years’ leave Willow their dog
Nicola Bulley’s distraught partner gave a detailed account of the moment when he realised she had gone missing.
Paul Ansell told Channel 5 he was about to drive down to the river where she had taken their springer spaniel Willow for a walk to look for her. But he received a call from the receptionist at their daughters’ school saying Ms Bulley’s phone and the dog had been found – but there was no sign of her.
Channel 5’s Dan Walker (DW): So at what point are you thinking, “Something’s not right here”? When did it feel, Where’s Nikki”? At what point did that kick in?
Paul Ansell (PA): So she’s usually back, like, quarter to ten [on] average, ten o’clock at a push. So I’d gone up into the office at ten thinking that she’d be back in a minute. So I logged on, I was just going through some emails and stuff, setting my day up… It got to half-past. And that’s when I thought, she’s quite late now. More late than usual. So I tried ringing her phone.
And there was no answer. I tried ringing again on WhatsApp. And again, there was no answer. I tried the mobile again and no answer. Now I sort of started to get a bit panicky, I think. So that’s when I thought, I’m going to have to go down there and see if she’s alright… I still expected that I’d just get there, and there she is.
Nicola Bulley’s distraught partner gave a detailed account of the moment when he realised she had gone missing
I go to the gym on a Friday lunchtime. So I quickly got my gym stuff on. Because I just thought, basically, I’m going to go out, find her, come home, do a bit of work.
DW: Carry on?
PA: Yeah, lunchtime, go to the gym. So I even expected to pass [her] as I was driving to [St] Michael’s. Anyway, I got to St Michael’s – no, sorry, I was going to leave and then the phone rang. And it was the receptionist at school and she said, “Mr Ansell, it’s a bit of a weird one but we found Willow and Nikki’s phone on the bench, and the harness halfway down the embankment on the floor”.
DW: You’re already worried at this point?
PA: In an instant, it’s like your whole…
DW: Of course.
Nicola Bulley vanished two weeks ago while walking her dog near the River Wyre in Lancashire
PA: Because I knew straight away that it wasn’t normal… I said, “Where is she?” And they were like, they can’t find her. I also know that never in a million years would she leave Willow. Willow is like our third child.
So I know she’d never, so the fact that Willow’s just on her own in the field off the lead [is] obviously extremely concerning so I’m just in a mad panic then. Because I got hit by that – it’s like your world just drops out because you know something weird has happened… I’d rung 999 on the way because I obviously knew something was wrong.
So the police rang me then while I was at the bench and said, “Look, you’ve got to get home. The police are going to be coming to your house. We need somebody at your house. You get home”.
Paul said Nicola would ‘never in a million years would she leave Willow’ their dog
Paul Ansell told Channel 5 he was about to drive down to the river where she had taken their springer spaniel Willow for a walk to look for her
The police were on the way there. So I’d rung the police at, I think, about ten to 11. And they got there at 25 past. So they were there really, really quick.
So I’d gone home then, taken Willow back, [the] police officer had come to the house and, although I was obviously extremely worried and concerned, I still expected any second they’d just go, “Oh, found her”, you know, “We’ve found her here” or whatever. And that never happened. The day then just spiralled and [the] end of the day came, and no answers. Here we are two weeks later.
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