Heartbreaking final picture of Nicola Bulley shows morning school run

Heartbreaking final picture of Nicola Bulley: Mother is seen taking her children on the school run before tragic death – as inquest rules out possibility of suicide or third party involvement

• Photo shows Nicola, her partner and two daughters getting into her Mercedes
• READ MORE: Bulley family slams ‘wildly inaccurate speculation’ about her death 

The heartbreaking final photo of Nicola Bulley shows the mother-of-school taking her children on the school run before she accidentally slipped into a river and died.

Ms Bulley was pictured on the family’s Ring doorbell camera the morning of her tragic death in St Michaels on Wyre, Lancashire, it has been revealed. 

The photo, which has been shown in evidence at the inquest into her death, shows the 45-year-old with her partner Paul Ansell as they usher their two daughters into her Mercedes on the morning of her disappearance.

Ms Bulley – sporting a ponytail, long black coat, joggers and ankle boots – then leaves her home. Shortly afterwards the mortgage adviser disappeared while walking her dog along the River Wyre.

Returning a conclusion of accidental death, senior coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley yesterday said Ms Bulley fell into the icy river at around 9.22am on January 27 and ‘died almost immediately’. 

After hearing that an exhaustive police inquiry had ruled out the possibility of suicide or third-party involvement in the mother-of-two’s death, her family hit out at internet trolls who continue to send them ‘negative targeted messages’. 

The heartbreaking final photo of Nicola Bulley shows the mother-of-school taking her children on the school run before she accidentally slipped into a river and died

Mother-of-two Nicola Bulley, 45, vanished while walking her dog in Lancashire on January 27 

Ms Bulley alongside her partner Paul Ansell

Ms Bulley’s family yesterday slammed ‘wildly inaccurate speculation’ on social media over the dog walker’s disappearance as a coroner concluded she drowned after accidentally slipping into an icy river.

They appealed to the public to ‘look at the facts’, to ‘ignore any amateur views and opinions’ and to be ‘mindful of the impact words bring’.

In a statement read out by Terry Wilcox of Hudgell Solicitors, the family said: ‘It’s upsetting that we’ve continued to receive negative targeted messages and still witness wildly inaccurate speculation being shared over numerous platforms.

‘We encourage people to look at the facts, the evidence which has been heard during the inquest, and the conclusion reached by the coroner, to ignore any amateur views and opinions, and be mindful of the impact words bring.’ The family also said the ‘emotional impact will stay long in our hearts’ and that they will ‘never get over the loss of our Nikki’.

READ MORE – How mother’s dog walk turned into mystery disappearance 

They thanked family, friends and ‘complete strangers’ for their cards, gifts and support in the months since.

Their plea was reiterated by the top detective at the force which probed the 45-year-old’s death.

Detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables, head of crime at Lancashire Police, said she hoped the coroner’s ‘clear and definitive findings will put an end ill-informed speculation and conspiracy theories which have been so damaging to Nikki’s family’.

Ms Bulley vanished after dropping off her two daughters – aged six and nine – at school in the Lancashire village of St Michael’s-on-Wyre, sparking a massive search. 

Her partner, Mr Ansell, tearfully told the hearing he believed she fell after she put her mobile phone down on a bench to put their spaniel, Willow, on its harness after a walk.

When she didn’t return home, he sent her a text, which read: ‘Have you got lost?’ before frantically calling six times in seven minutes. Twenty minutes later, he got a phone call from the school saying Nicola’s phone and Willow had been found by the river.

Dr Adeley said there was ‘no evidence’ enabling him to say why Ms Bulley fell into the water, which was so cold that she would have lost consciousness in seconds.

His conclusions came after it was revealed for the first time that Ms Bulley’s sister had called an ambulance 17 days before her disappearance over worries about her alcohol consumption and comments about ‘not wanting to be here’.

Ms Bulley’s sister, Louise Cunningham, broke down as she told how her sibling had been struggling with the menopause and her ‘increased alcohol use’

Nicola Bulley fell into the icy river at around 9.22am on January 27 and ‘died almost immediately’, the coroner ruled. She had been walking her dog Willow (pictured) at the time of her tragic accident

The inquest was also told that Ms Bulley had struggled with side-effects from taking hormone replacement therapy after being diagnosed as menopausal the year before, including headaches and difficulty sleeping.

But her family insisted she had been ‘full of beans’ the night before her disappearance after securing a business deal, and was making plans for the coming days and weeks.

With no sign of her body despite the huge search efforts, amateur sleuths took to social media and even began harassing villagers as they spread outlandish theories.

Horrors of social media

A rash of outlandish conspiracy theories spiralled on social media following Nicola Bulley’s disappearance – alongside other shocking posts.

• TikTok user Curtis Arnold, 34, was arrested for sharing footage of Ms Bulley’s body being recovered from the river, and was held again last weekend for allegedly stalking residents of St Michael’s-on-Wyre – which he denies.
• Bodybuilder Dan Duffy, 36, was held for a public order offence in February and fined £90 after filming himself searching buildings near the river and confronting locals for his TikTok channel, racking up 1.2million views.
• Self-styled psychics posted theories on social media, with one sharing a sketch of an imagined person who had ‘abducted’ Ms Bulley.
• Facebook users spread unfounded false rumours about Ms Bulley’s friends and a bogus claim that she had been found in a loft in Swansea. One page attracted 25,000 members.
• As amateur sleuths piled into St Michael’s, police imposed a dispersal order, later saying video-makers had ‘distracted significantly’ from their efforts.

Police faced a storm of criticism after revealing Ms Bulley had been experiencing ‘significant issues with alcohol’ brought on by her struggle with the menopause.

Her body was finally found just over a mile downstream more than three weeks after she fell in. The inquest at County Hall in Preston heard the riverbank adjacent to where Ms Bulley’s phone was found was ‘almost vertical’.

As a result, anyone who fell would end up in the water, which was 15ft (4.6m) deep.

Dr Adeley said he had accepted evidence from experts on drowning that cold water shock would have set in immediately on plunging into the 3.6C (38.5F) river.

The coroner said that ‘whether or not Nikki’s first breath was above or below the water, she would have lost consciousness and have died before reaching the first point in the River Wyre where she could have touched the bottom’. 

Giving evidence, Mr Ansell, 44, broke down in tears and had to compose herself after agreeing Ms Bulley was ‘an incredible mum’. 

He said she had seemed ‘normal’ as she got their daughters ready for school on the morning she vanished. 

Asked if she had ever expressed suicidal thoughts, Mr Ansell said she had made ‘a couple of throwaway comments’ in the run-up to her disappearance, ‘but nothing that gave me concern’. 

Earlier the hearing was told an ambulance was sent to her home in Inskip on January 10 after her sister, Louise Cunningham, raised concerns about her escalating alcohol consumption and not wanting to ‘engage’ with her two daughters.

She had also made comments about ‘not wanting to be here’, her inquest heard.

It came after what she described as a ‘blip’ over Christmas last year when she stopped taking HRT medication she had been given for menopause symptoms because of the side-effects.

Giving evidence yesterday, Mrs Cunningham said she had been ‘concerned’ and wanted ‘peace of mind’.

But the 42-year-old insisted: ‘She’s never, ever confided in me about any suicidal thoughts or anything like that at all.’

Saying it had been ‘a bit of a wake-up call’ for her sister, she said Ms Bulley reduced her alcohol consumption afterwards and seemed more herself.

Asked what she thought happened on the morning of her disappearance, Mrs Cunningham said: ‘There’s no way Nikki would leave Willow unattended by choice.’ 

Terry Wilcox delivering the family’s statement outside County Hall in Preston today 

Ms Bulley was in bed when mental health nurse Theresa Lewis Leevy went upstairs to see her on January 10 and was clearly ‘intoxicated’, she told the hearing.

‘She didn’t want to engage in conversation,’ she said. ‘The interaction it’s fair to say was quite brief.’ The following day Ms Bulley was seen at A&E at Blackpool Victoria Hospital after injuring the back of her head in a fall the previous evening, the inquest was told. 

A CT scan was carried out on her head but there was no sign of injury.

The Information Commissioner’s Office said last month it would be taking no action over the disclosure about Ms Bulley’s health.

It said it had heard about the ‘challenging’ task of deciding what information to release during a ‘fast-paced’ investigation.

The College of Policing is currently carrying out an independent review into Lancashire Police’s handling of the case. 

‘It’s upsetting that we’ve continued to receive targeted messages’: Bulley family statement in full

‘The last few months have been extremely tough to process for the family. The emotional impact will stay long in our hearts and whilst we’ll never get over the loss of our Nikki, we will forever remember her as the brilliant mum, partner, daughter and sister that we all knew and loved so very much. 

‘The help and support we have received over these few months has meant more than words can say. From family and friends, to complete strangers across the country and world, thank you. 

‘Nikki and Paul’s girls have already taken great comfort in the deeply thoughtful gifts sent to them in goodwill, and in time they will read the many cards which are filled with such kindness and love. Sadly, we feel the need to again raise and address the issue of social media.

‘It’s upsetting that we’ve continued to receive negative targeted messages and still witness wildly inaccurate speculation being shared over numerous platforms.

‘We encourage people to look at the facts, the evidence which has been heard during the inquest, and the conclusion reached by the Coroner, to ignore any amateur views and opinions, and be mindful of the impact words bring. 

‘We want to formally say thank you for the support and compassion showed by Lancashire Constabulary, HM Coroner Dr Adeley, his team, Sophie Cartwright KC of Dean Court Chambers, and Terry Wilcox of Hudgell Solicitors.

‘Now we need to be allowed time to comprehend all of the events leading up to this day. We ask that you all respect our privacy at this time, let us rebuild and take time to heal.’

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