Found Deceased UK - Nicola Bulley Last Seen Walking Dog Near River - St Michaels on Wyre (Lancashire) #7

[martinwatts5]

IMO the phone could have been found anywhere on the trail of NB's walk with someone picking the phone up and continuing their walk to see if they come across the owner of the phone. They end up not seeing anyone so placing it on the bench before leaving the area would make sense. I found a camera on a dog walk once which I kept with me to see if I could see anyone nearby and I ended up finding the person, if not I may have placed it down somewhere noticeable. Again JMO and a possible scenario.

This is why I am confused by the ‘10 minute window.’ In my opinion anything could have been happening after the last sighting which was approximately 9.10. Even after the phone was found at approximately 9.33 things could have been happening.

 

[PeggyHenry]

… the police do not state it was found on the bench. “Sorry not found on the bench…” which implies it was found elsewhere.

Fingerprints on the phone may be able to confirm if someone held it / picked it up and put it on the bench, unless they had gloves on of course. Fingerprints also will confirm if the business owner picked it up (the screen was locked according to one report) unless there were gloves and of course also if police have treated the phone as evidence and recovered them all from the device to see who exactly has handled that phone and to corroborate what they know from whatever witnesses they have as to the device …

The police were able to report NB sent an email to boss before 9. I am not clear on whether they got this info from her phone or the boss.
However, anything sent by phone cannot necessarily be taken to have been done by her. If the phone was planted on or near bench then then the phone was a tool used by the perpetrator. It would not be difficult to get into emails and send one. Although perhaps unlikely. Thinking out loud here, it is likely Nicola sent the email. There must’ve been something going on work-wise for her to be meeting boss on the Thursday evening ( do we know a time?) and then emailing him prior to the Teams meeting. Sounds like they were getting a new mortgage through and it is always possible signatures were required. A busy time?

 

[pineapple23]

A witness says two people saw it on the ground. This has been discussed repeatedly on here, including in this thread.

It's beginning to feel like groundhog day

 

[philthesaddler]

I'd have thought it would make a lot more sense to lob it in the river.

Why?

The police would’ve found the phone within hours and would immediately know they were dealing with an abduction from the phone data.

It’s far more cunning to leave it on the bench, which leaves the police bamboozled and all possibilities open.

If this is an abduction, then it’s a very well planned one.

 

[Blamhappy]

I don't get what you're referring to. I know she was in a teams meeting but the facts are Nicola and her phone was separated as her phone has been found and she hasn't. I'm saying that just because it was on the bench, doesn't mean she left it there. It possibly could have been found elsewhere on the trail. Meaning she could of fell into the river at a different point or the other alternative of third-party involvement. Just the issue of Willow...

I thought you meant she'd dropped it and carried on walking unawares. What you said is possible, but to me makes no sense. The phone, dog, and harness were in the same location.

 

[Just-a-random-girl]

Reasons the phone could be on the bench are endless:

- Regularly sat on the bench as part of routine
- Important part of conference call
- Stopped for rest/snack
- Stone in shoe/welly
- Putting harness/lead on dog
- Playing with dog
- Issue with dog (e.g. chasing animal)
- Issue with another dog walker
- Met someone for a chat (pre-arranged)
- Someone approached or asked directions
- Felt unwell

If a stranger was involved and approached her (e.g. from the caravan park or gate to ask directions or talk about her dog) it would make sense to put the phone on bench and then walk away from it. She would not want to the stranger to hear the details of the call if it was on loudspeaker, for example. Rather than spend time messing around with the sound settings (e.g. and risk disconnecting), walking away from it would probably be most feasible in an isolated/rural area.

 

[heatherc]

TA has updated her post to clarify that the camera that isn't working is NOT the caravan park, it is the park on the top field.

 

[PeggyHenry]

How do you think GPS works? It's not exact, but it's pretty close.

Yes, if I’m running it knows what road I’m on but it doesn’t pinpoint whether or not I’m on pavement. So it’s not exact in terms of metres / cm but it can define the road!

 

[PeggyHenry]

Reasons the phone could be on the bench are endless:

- Regularly sat on the bench as part of routine
- Important part of conference call
- Stopped for rest/snack
- Stone in shoe/welly
- Putting harness/lead on dog
- Playing with dog
- Issue with dog (e.g. chasing animal)
- Issue with another dog walker
- Met someone for a chat (pre-arranged)
- Someone approached or asked directions
- Felt unwell

If a stranger was involved and approached her (e.g. from the caravan park or gate to ask directions or talk about her dog) it would make sense to put the phone on bench and then walk away from it. She would not want to the stranger to hear the details of the call if it was on loudspeaker, for example. Rather than spend time messing around with the sound settings (e.g. and risk disconnecting), walking away from it would probably be most feasible in an isolated/rural area.

Yes … if a stranger. But what if a person known to her.. or at least familiar?

 

[Beginnersleuth]

TA has updated her post to clarify that the camera that isn't working is NOT the caravan park, it is the park on the top field.

And that’s nearer to where NB was last seen by witnesses

 

[todders]

If the police have reported the phone to be within the area of the bench at 09.20 I think we need to accept that is the case. They have access to the phone, its health date,steps,elevation,stride length etc depending the phone or any other additional apps that have might have been on there. Iam sure they would have software to work out stride length and number of steps along with the electronic location that they have previously mentioned. This based on whether we think NB took the phone to the bench. The only variable would be if someone placed it there themselves but I would have expected there to be at least a break in the step count then whilst some sort of altercation had taken place.

 

[Mycroft42]

TA has updated her post to clarify that the camera that isn't working is NOT the caravan park, it is the park on the top field.

And yet yesterday the police said this in their update.

"We can say with confidence that by reviewing CCTV, Nicola has not left the field during the key times via Rowanwater, either through the site itself or via the piece of land at the side."

So it seems the CCTV was working, or there was another camera that had a view of the exit.

 

[russeverton]

And that’s nearer to where NB was last seen by witnesses

Be interesting to see just how long the cctv has been out of action

 

[Deleted member 320164]

They say it was ON the bench, believed to be ON the bench.

The language around this has changed since the presser. The latest update from Lancashire Police:

9.20am Her phone was back in the area of the bench

9.33am (approximately): Nicola’s mobile phone and Willow were found at a bench by the river by another dog-walker.

There is no on the bench.

Is it possible that LE wanted to keep the information of the phone being on the ground quiet for operational purposes and a friend let this information out by accident? Or it could be just Chinese whispers! JMOO (BBM)

Lancashire Constabulary - Missing Nicola Bulley - latest update

Thanks to everyone for picking up this strand I wittered on about in the last thread. And thanks to the person for finding the quote about the different people involved in finding NB’s belongings.

On/at bench needs clarification. And who was involved in finding her stuff.

Two main options: Either 1. Where her stuff was found is a red herring as she was not actually there. Or 2. She was there. If so precisely where those objects were found is key forensic evidence.

If her phone was found on the ground “2 feet from the bench” and the harness and lead elsewhere one has to explain the scatter of belongings.

Three key possibiltiies: a. Shes dropped them as she’s trying to catch/attend to her dog. b. Medical episode makes her drop everything as she uses her hands (puts them to her head, unzips her coat) and staggers around. c. She’s dropped them because she’s fighting someone off.

Even if you disagree with a. and b.and c. If you beliEve 2. The fact is her last concrete whereabouts is evidenced by the bench and not at the water’s edge.

 

[PeggyHenry]

Agreed

One of the issues with making hypothesis is sometimes unusual things happen - and if we don't have all the info we can make the wrong inferences.

Yes, on our regular dog walks you will often see leads/ gloves/ lost items placed or draped on gates or fences or benches. People are just trying to be helpful so that the owner can retrieve them more easily.

It is possible someone found them somewhere on ground and placed them there, trying to be helpful. It is also possible ( maybe not probable) that they wouldn’t wish to admit to this so as not to get involved.

If there was a scuffle between Nicola and an assailant somewhere fairly near the bench then the next passer by may have seen the harness etc and kindly picked them up. But in the timeframe involved they would’ve been near enough to hear the scuffle….

 

[mrjitty]

How do you think GPS works? It's not exact, but it's pretty close.

The point is also GPS can be combined with other data, like gyroscope as @CoverMeCagney mentions up thread.

So we have the reference point of where the phone was found as a relatively precise end point - then they know approximately when and how the phone moved to that end point.

 

[in2thegate]

I am still praying for a good outcome from this. My heart continues to ache day in day out when no positive news is heard.
Lets keep our sleuthing positive and leave family members out of it and keep any opinions polite and lets be responsible. Majority of the comments i have read are polite i have to say but there are a couple that are extremely triggering which have been reported.

 

[WestLondoner]

Good point but what about the dog ?

You'd ignore the dog. Nothing connects the phone to any nearby dog. You wouldn't start getting busy with someone else's strange dog.

 

[sriraaacha]

The phone being on the ground does change the perception for me. But then maybe the dog knocked it off in the panic, sniffing around. Possible.

I don't think someone would place it on the ground as a decoy. More likely to be placed on the bench to be a decoy, which seems more normal to me.

To be dropped by NB would suggest she saw something so important to her that she dropped her phone, or was running from something.

Willow could have knocked it off of the bench (if it was there to begin with) and Willow could have also picked it up off of the ground and placed it on the bench. I don't think any of this is much to work with imo.

 

[Batearedfreak]

View attachment 400863

This statement is very clear. Two people saw it on the ground. Two witnesses.

I am not sure it is clear. It could equally be read that he was two feet from the bench when he saw the phone (on the bench). I think people are getting themselves tied in knots by overthinking some inaccurate or poorly worded earlier, third hand accounts.