Bulley, 45, was last seen on the morning of Jan. 27 as she walked her cocker spaniel, Willow, beside the River Wyre in Lancashire.
She had just dropped her two young daughters off at a primary school in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre.
Lancashire Police always said they suspected that Bulley had “gone in the river,” but police divers and a specialist team led by Peter Faulding—a forensic search specialist—scoured the riverbed and failed to find her body.
On Sunday, however, her body was spotted by a couple walking their dog about a mile from where she went missing.
On Monday, Lancashire Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson confirmed the body had been identified as Bulley, and said the investigation into her disappearance had been “hugely complex and highly emotional.”
The case has drawn enormous media coverage and has also been the subject of widespread speculation and comment on social media.
‘This Cannot Happen to Another Family’
On Monday, Bulley’s family issued a statement through the police website in which they said: “It saddens us to think that one day we will have to explain to them (Bulley’s children) that the press and members of the public accused their dad of wrongdoing, misquoted and vilified friends and family. This is absolutely appalling, they have to be held accountable. This cannot happen to another family.”The family also criticised broadcasters Sky News and ITV for “making contact with us directly when we expressly asked for privacy.”
“They again, have taken it upon themselves to run stories about us to sell papers and increase their own profiles. It is shameful they have acted in this way. Leave us alone now,” the statement read.
A spokesman for the broadcasting watchdog, Ofcom, said: “We are extremely concerned to hear the comments made by the family of Nicola Bulley about two broadcast licensees. We have written to ITV and Sky to ask them to explain their actions. We will then assess whether any further action is required.”
The Bulley family’s statement went on to say: “Our family liaison officers have had to confirm our worst fears today. We will never be able to comprehend what Nikki had gone through in her last moments and that will never leave us. We will never forget Nikki, how could we, she was the centre of our world, she was the one who made our lives so special and nothing will cast a shadow over that.”
The family promised to give Bulley’s two daughters “the support they need from the people who love them the most.”
The statement concluded: “Finally, Nikki, you are no longer a missing person, you have been found, we can let you rest now. We love you, always have and always will, we’ll take it from here.”
Lancashire Police were criticised last week after they released a statement that gave details of Bulley’s struggles with alcohol and with the menopause.
In a press conference, Smith had said that Bulley was immediately classed as a “high risk” missing person on the day she went missing “based on a number of specific vulnerabilities.”
When asked to clarify this statement by the press, Lancashire Police put out a statement that included the passage: “Sadly, it is clear from speaking to Paul and the family that Nicola had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause and that these struggles had resurfaced over recent months. This caused some real challenges for Paul and the family.”
Political Backlash After Police Divulged Facts
There was an immediate backlash, with the former Victims’ Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird, claiming the statement had undermined public trust in the police by revealing such intimate details about Bulley.Baird said: “If it was relevant, it needed to be in a public domain at the start, and it wasn’t. I mean, that is a really worrying error. It is frankly dreadful.”
The Information Commissioner, John Edwards, said: “Given the high-profile nature of this case, we will be asking Lancashire Police to set out how they reached the decision to disclose this information in due course.”
The police were criticised by Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper and by the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman contacted Lancashire Police with her own concerns while on Saturday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “I agree with the Home Secretary and like her I was concerned that private information was put into the public domain and I believe that the police are looking at how that happened in the investigation.”
Lancashire Police say a date has been set for an internal review of the investigation.
