'Lady in red' who police sought over Nicola Bulley's disappearance did not see ... trends now

The family of missing mother Nicola Bulley have been dealt a devastating blow after the 'lady in red' who police spoke with revealed she knew nothing of significance.

Police issued a public appeal for a woman seen in CCTV wearing a red coat on River Wyre around the time Ms Bulley vanished last Friday morning.

They later revealed she'd been identified.

Now, MailOnline can reveal the 67-year-old woman told police she did not see Ms Bulley during her walk.

A friend of the woman's said: 'She didn't see anything unfortunately and she's told the police that. They spent about 40-minutes with her this evening.'

The woman - who police hoped could provide key pieces of information in the search for Ms Bulley - does not travel as far as the bench where the missing mother's phone and dog were found.

'The security camera footage that she was caught on was taken from the caravan park next to the towpath.

'That's as far as she goes, she doesn't walk her dog further along the footpath than that point.'

It's a devastating blow for Ms Bulley's family, who have been waiting with bated breath for updates in the investigation.

In the appeal to track down the woman yesterday, a spokesman for Lancashire Police said: 'She is described as wearing a red and white coat with a fur hood, light-coloured trousers and a light bobble hat.

'She was walking a small, white dog. The woman was seen on CCTV at around 8.48am on Allotment Lane, close to where Nicola was last seen and was also seen near to the gate at the end of Allotment Lane.'

However the friend said: 'Their paths did not cross, she has no information on where Nicola could be sadly.'

Ms Bulley's sister Louise Cunningham made a heartfelt plea yesterday, saying she needed to 'get my sister back'.

Joining her family for a round of television interviews, she said: 'Something has got to have been missed. Somebody must know something. People don't just vanish into thin air. 

'There has got to be somebody who knows something and all we are asking is, no matter how small or big, if there is anything you remember that doesn't seem right, then please reach out to the police. Get in touch and get my sister back.'

Miss Cunningham said her family felt they were 'stuck in a nightmare'. 

'We're going round in circles to piece together what happened. We've got to keep an open mind,' she told ITV News. 

'We have no idea where she is. There's no evidence to point us in any direction.

'My hope is that she's still out there. We just want her home. Her children need her home. It's heartbreaking. We're such a close knit family, we'd do anything for any one of us.

'Somebody must know something, people don't just vanish. If there's anything you might have seen, please get in touch with the police.'

Police released a detailed timeline of the 45 minutes leading up to Ms Bulley's disappearance on Friday morning.

The mother-of-two first started walking along the path lining the River Wyre, in Lancashire, at 8.43am, having already dropped her daughters, aged six and nine, off at school.

Her Strava account reveals it's a route she took often and knew well, sharing pictures of her Spaniel Willow frolicking in the field and in the river. On average, it'd take her about 30 minutes to complete the loop and return to her car, which her family say she parked in the same spot about '1000 times over' through the years.

By 8.50am on Friday morning, she'd bumped into another dog walker on the path.

The pair were known to one another and had a brief interaction as their dogs played. The witness left the field a short time later via the river path.

At 8.53am, Ms Bulley emailed her boss and by 9.01am she was logged into her Teams call. Her camera was off and audio muted as she listened in.

By approximately 9.10am, a second witness recognised Ms Bulley in the distance. Police are working to try to narrow down this timeframe. 

Then, at 9.30am, the Teams meeting ended. Ms Bulley stayed logged onto the chat room. By 9.35am, her phone and Willow were found deserted on a nearby bench by another dog-walker. 

Lancashire Constabulary released a CCTV image of a woman in a red coat walking a white dog, who is believed to have been in St Michael's on Wyre when Ms Bulley disappeared on January 27. In an update, the force said she has been identified.

The dog walker who found the phone earlier said she recognised Willow but couldn't remember where from, and called her daughter who raised the alarm with Ms Bulley's long term partner, Paul Ansell. 

Ms Bulley would often track her walking route on Strava, sharing her times and pictures of the walks with her friends on the app.

She last recorded a 4.1km run along the river, completed over 42-minutes, last November.

Photos show her dog, Willow, scampering through the muddy river now at the centre of the police investigation. 

Police continued to scour the riverbank today, with divers searching the water. 

Ms Bulley's heartbroken family broke down in tears today as they pleaded for help to trace her, saying: 'People don't just vanish into thin air'. 

Miss Bulley's father, Ernest, 73, said: 'This has emptied our lives. We appreciate everything everyone is doing to find her. It's given us hope that someone might find something.

'There's two young children that want their mummy back. If Nicola is out there, just come home - contact the police or ourselves.

'The kids know their mum is coming home, they're thinking everyone's looking for her - so it's only a matter of time.' 

Beginning to cry, he continued: 'Don't, it's hard... we're such a close knit family.

'We're a close knit family, we'd do anything for any one of us and the children would do the same for us.

'We're getting on in life, and the grandchildren, and our own children, are more and more important to us as we're getting older. So, yeah, I just hope she comes home.'