Devastating moment Nicola Bulley’s partner discovered police had found her body

The disappearance of mum-of-two Nicola Bulley last year gripped the world - but sadly it ended in tragedy for her and her devastated family

The father of Nicola Bulley has said he will 'never forget the cries' of her devastated partner when they finally found her body.

Lancashire mum-of-two Nicola went missing on January 27, 2023 shortly after dropping her two daughters off at school. Later that day, her partner of 12 years and the girl’s father Paul Ansell received a phone call saying someone had found their dog Willow and Nicola’s phone near a park bench in the village of St Michael's on Wyre.

The 45-year-old’s disappearance sparked a huge search operation and many theories circulated online – many from amateur sleuths – about what could have happened to her. But three weeks later her body was tragically found in the River Wyre.

READ MORE - Heartbreaking final image of Nicola Bulley as tragic details emerge at inquest

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An inquest last June ruled she had died from accidental drowning. A coroner said there was ‘no evidence’ to suggest she had taken her own life and had fallen into the river and suffered ‘cold water shock’ leading to her death.

In a new BBC documentary about her disappearance, Nicola’s partner Paul speaks about the tragedy for the first time. Detailing the day she went missing, he said he immediately knew ‘something isn’t right here’ and recalled feeling like he was having a panic attack.

Paul said the nights were the hardest as his two girls asked where their mummy was. He said: "The first thing they would do when they came out school was run over and say, ‘Have we found mummy?’"

Nicola’s mum Dorothy told the programme: "One morning I got up. The youngest one says, ‘Cold, isn’t it nanny?’ I hope mummy’s not cold and hungry.’"

Reliving the moment the family was told Nicola’s body had been found, Louise said: "I’ll never forget Nicola’s dad coming into the kitchen. Just like, completely breaking down and Paul being out in the garden. Just in a complete state."

Nicola’s dad Ernest said: "I’ll never forget the cries," as he tried to comfort his son-in-law as they all tried to process the tragic news.

The family also shared how social media had become a ‘monster’ for them around Nicola's disappearance - with Paul forced to abandon his accounts after online trolls accused him of being responsible. He said: "I was getting direct messages from people that I've never met. They don't know me, they don't know us, they don't know Nikki. They know nothing about us."

"Just messages like 'you b******'. 'We know what you did'. 'You know you can't hide Paul', that kind of stuff. On top of the trauma of the nightmare that we’re in, to then think that all these horrendous things are being said about me towards Nikki – everyone has a limit."

And the family said they were not happy police publicly disclosed that Nicola had ‘significant issues’ with alcohol brought on by her struggles with menopause that had caused things to become difficult for her around that time due to her symptoms.

Paul said Nicola would have been 'mortified' that private information about her health had been shared. Lancashire Police have since said: "Because of the commentary that was coming up on social media, Paul was key to a lot of people’s theories and we had to negate that."

*The Search for Nicola Bulley will be broadcast on BBC1 at 9pm on October 3

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