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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Alahna Kindred

Friends of Nicola Bulley line streets and hold posters in vigil for missing mum-of-two

Friends of Nicola Bulley have lined the streets of the village where she was last seen in a poignant vigil for the mortgage adviser.

The mum-of-two has not been seen since January 27 while walking her dog Willow near the River Wyre in the village of St Michaels on Wyre, Lancashire.

Her friends and family are desperate for answers as they refuse to give up hope of bringing Nicola home to her daughters and partner Paul Ansell.

This morning, friends lined the main road running through the village, holding posters bearing Nicola's image.

They're hoping to jog someone's memory to provide a clue that could ultimately establish what happened to the 45-year-old on January 27.

Friends of missing mum Nicola Bulley hold placards and make an appeal two weeks after her disappearance (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

The vigil comes as Nicola's pal Emma White gave TV and radio interviews describing the ongoing search as "torture" while appealing to anyone who may have seen something that might help to come forward.

She said a campaign highlighting her disappearance a fortnight ago will be looking to “jog” people’s memory about the day Nicola went missing.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “It is two weeks today.

Emma White speaking on Good Morning Britain this morning (Good Morning Britain)

“The local community are coming out to raise that profile, we’re trying to jog anybody’s memory. Dashcam footage of Garstang Road, which is just outside of the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, just by the bridge that you go over.

“It is quite a key part of the village so people would remember going over it.

“Did they see anything? We’re out with banners, we’ve got placards of Nikki’s face, we’ve got a moving eight-foot LED board with her face on it with the message ‘Bring Nikki home’.

“We just need Nikki home for her two beautiful little girls who need their mummy.”

Nicola hasn't been seen in two weeks (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

She added: "It is just a rollercoaster, it is almost like torture - the despair, the unimaginable frustration in the sense that everyone has come together, working so hard: the police, the community, people on the ground.

"You expect to be rewarded for when you put hard work in, so we just need something, anything, a piece of information that can lead us down a different inquiry."

Nicola Bulley's friends line the street in the village where she was last seen (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Police have launched an extensive search of the area and said their "main working hypothesis" was that she fell in a river but a body has not yet been found.

Yesterday, a concerned resident had come forward saying they spotted a suspicious-looking vehicle, believed to be a Renault, outside a barn in St on the day Nicola went missing.

A second witness has also come forward with a similar description of a red van.

Two boats with specialist police teams have been searching in the sea at Morecambe Bay (Sky News)

It comes as detectives are looking into a mystery two-hour gap between the mum's disappearance and the first call to the police to report her missing.

Nicola was last seen at around 9.10a, and police were called until about 11am.

Lancashire Police have said they are working on the hypothesis that Nicola fell into the river, but no trace of the mum has been found after specialists have searched a mile-long stretch of the River Wyre.

Friends of missing woman Nicola Bulley hold missing person appeal posters (PA)

Specialist Group International chief Peter Faulding said he is "100 per cent" sure Nicola is not in the stretch of river initially suspected, and his job is done.

Police have been forced to warn members of the public from taking law into their own hands when getting involved in the search, with a group last night understood to have been given a dispersal order.

Yesterday, the search moved to Morecambe Bay as two boats with specialist teams were seen in the sea.

There are at least three CCTV blind spots in the area where Nicola was last seen, raising the possibility that she could have left the area.

Nicola Bulley hasn't been seen since January 27 (Lancashire Constabulary / SWNS.C)

One spot is a path that is not covered by security cameras. It leads to Garstang Road which runs through the village.

It comes police are trying to get dashcam footage from about 700 vehicles that they have identified as passing along the main road through the village at the time Nicola vanished.

Another possible blindspot is a riverside path leading from the Wyreside Farm Caravan Park through to the A586.

Nicola's friends are desperate for answers (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

A camera at a house is understood to have not been working at the time, but it still doesn't cover the exit.

Friends of Nicola have also claimed the CCTV covering one of the two exits from the river near the mobile home site Rowanwater, is not working.

Anyone with information which could assist our investigation should call Lancashire Police on 101 quoting log 0565 of January 30th. For immediate sightings please call 999.

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