Sunday, police hunting for the missing British mother Nicola Bulley announced the discovery of a body.
Bulley, a 45-year-old mortgage adviser from Inskip, Lancashire, vanished on Jan. 27 while walking her dog after dropping off her six- and nine-year-old daughters at school.
Lancashire Police reported that a body was retrieved from a river near where Bulley went missing. The body has not yet been officially identified, but Bulley's family has been notified of its finding.
"We were called today at 11:36 a.m. to reports of a body in the River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road," a police statement read.
Thereafter, an underwater search team and specialist officers approached the area, entered the water, and recovered a body.
The revelation occurred three days after the Lancashire force was strongly criticized for making a statement about Bulley's alcoholism and perimenopause.
Along with the multiple sightings prior to her disappearance, these vulnerabilities prompted detectives to conclude that she was more likely to have fallen into the river than to have been hurt by a third party.
Bulley, who worked as a mortgage consultant, vanished on Friday morning. The police report that she walked her dog after dropping off her two children at school.
A short while later, her dog was discovered wandering alone, and her phone was discovered on a bench by the river, still connected to a group business call. The search by Lancashire Police for the 45-year-old mother of two was fruitless for three weeks.
At the time of Bulley's disappearance, she was suffering with alcoholism and menopause, which was an unusual decision made by authorities. The case perplexed the public and received extensive media interest.
This Monday, investigators strongly criticized members of the public for propagating "persistent myths," as they put it.
Wednesday, Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith of the Lancashire Police told journalists that the social media frenzy had "significantly distracted" the inquiry. "In 29 years' police service, I've never seen anything like it.
" Some of it's been quite shocking and really hurtful to the family. Obviously, we can't disregard anything, and we've reviewed everything that's come in but of course it has distracted us significantly."
Even though the identity of the body had not been confirmed as of Sunday night, it was widely believed to be that of Bulley.
Bulley's search was one of the most extensive in England for missing persons in recent years, involving underwater search teams, drones, mounted police, and a police helicopter.
