The family of Nicola Bulley have issued a direct appeal to the missing mum as they tell her 'we need you home' in a new statement regarding the speculation surrounding her health. Yesterday, police held a press conference where they revealed for the first time that the mum-of-two was categorised as 'high risk' due to a 'number of specific vulnerabilities'.
The press conference was set up to squash any unhelpful rumours of theories circulating about the 45-year-old's disappearance but their vague statement seemed to only cause further speculation, the Mirror reports. Only hours later, the force stated on Facebook that Nicola 'in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with menopause'.
Lancashire Police are under fire for announcing such personal information about the mortgage advisor but in today's statement, Nicola's family said they were aware these details would be made public despite knowing 'Nikki would not have wanted this'. The family have now called for speculation regarding Nicola's life to be put to an end and expanded on her health problems in the hope it would shut down any more 'appalling' rumours.
In the heart breaking statement, Nicola's family directly addressed the mum as they told her to 'not be scared' and that her girls 'want a cuddle' from her. They also described the 'appalling' nature of people 'threatening to sell stories' about the 45-year-old and the conspiracy theories spreading misinformation that 'needs to stop'.
Explaining her health problems in more detail, they said: "Due to the peri menopause, Nikki suffered with significant side effects such as brain fog, restless sleep and was taking HRT to help but this was giving her intense headaches which caused Nikki to stop taking the HRT thinking that may have helped her but only ended up causing this crisis."
They added: "The public focus has to be on finding her and not making up wild theories about her personal life." Yesterday's controversial statement from the police has sparked fury among MPs as Labour's Stella Creasy said: "The decision to disclose this level of detail on a missing person's private life, with no evidence that this is assisting in finding her, is deeply troubling.
"The police need to be much clearer as to why any of this helps find Nicola Bulley or support this investigation." Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said that the police releasing details about Ms Bulley's 'so-called 'vulnerabilities' on menopause and alcohol' had made her feel 'deeply uncomfortable'.
She added: "I struggle to ascertain how this will assist Police in their search & investigations. I do see how it would assist those wishing to victim-blame or diminish."
Family statement in full
In a statement released through police, the family said: "It has now been three weeks since Nikki went missing. We, as a family, believe that the public focus has become distracted from finding Nikki, and more about speculation and rumours into her and Paul’s private life.
"As a family, we were aware beforehand that Lancashire Police, last night, released a statement with some personal details about our Nikki. Although we know that Nikki would not have wanted this, there are people out there speculating and threatening to sell stories about her. This is appalling and needs to stop.
"The police know the truth about Nikki and now the public need to focus on finding her. Due to the peri menopause, Nikki suffered with significant side effects such as brain fog, restless sleep and was taking HRT to help but this was giving her intense headaches which caused Nikki to stop taking the HRT thinking that may have helped her but only ended up causing this crisis.
"The public focus has to be on finding her and not making up wild theories about her personal life." They added: "Despite what some media outlets and individuals are suggesting, we are being updated daily and receive support from our family liaison officers.
"Nikki is such a wonderful daughter, sister, partner and mother and is missed dearly - we all need you back in our lives. Nikki, we hope you are reading this and know that we love you so much and your girls want a cuddle.
"We all need you home. You can reach out to us, or you can contact MissingPeople.org.uk. Don’t be scared, we all love you so very much."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - sign up to our daily newsletter here .
