THERE is no sign of Nicola Bulley in the section of the river where police think she fell in, according to a forensic expert who has searched the river with sonar equipment.
Peter Faulding of specialist search firm SGI, which has been called in by Nicola’s friends and family, said the lack of a body could also indicate involvement of a third party.
Speaking exclusively to GB News he said: “The day Nicola went missing, supposedly here, where the mobile phone was found, that part of the river was thoroughly searched by police divers, it was very professionally done. Normally a body would go straight to the bottom, but nothing was found.
“So, we’ve been re-tasked to do this area again. It will give us total confidence that she’s not here.
“We just need to rule everything out – somebody could have put the phone on the bench, somebody could have found it and put it on the bench or just on the nearest bench. We don’t know – nobody knows, and this is a complete mystery, this whole thing is.
“Normally if somebody falls in the water, their body would have gone straight to the bottom. It would remain there so police divers would have found her that day, without doubt.
“She could be in this part of the river. But if Nicola is not here, then I don’t know where she’s gone. If she is not here, she’s disappeared off the face of the earth. I’m pretty confident in saying that.”
Speaking to GB News reporter Sophie Reaper, he said: “If you went missing near an estuary you could go out of the sea, but things tend to move up and down with the tides.
“It’s an awfully long stretch of river with a lot of shallows and she would have been found by now in the shallows.”
Asked if there would be signs that she fell in, Mr Faulding said: “There may have been signs, unless you tripped and went headfirst into the river.
“But again, I’ve stressed that if Nicola had gone in that morning that day at this point, I believe the police divers would have found her that day.
“That’s what this mystery is all about. It’s very strange.”
He added: “There could be a third party involved, she could have run away somewhere. I had a long chat with Nicola’s partner Paul, who has been ruled out of this investigation.
“He’s distraught. There’s a lot of horrible stuff going around on social media, but we just need to get on with the job.”
