Friends of Nicola Bulley bring in private diving team to 'rule out' theory she ... trends now

A friend of missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley says she hopes specialist underwater teams will uncover nothing – because then it rules out the police's theory she fell into the river.

An expert diving team will use helicopters and specialist sonar equipment as they assist in the search for Ms Bulley today. 

Peter Faulding, a world-renowned forensics expert and founder of private search and rescue organisation Specialist Group International, said he would be bringing 'high-spec' sonar equipment worth around £55,000 that has a 'very high hit rate' and can 'find people within the hour' in search operations. He vowed today: 'If she is there, I will find her.'

Today friends of the missing mother, who vanished while walking her dog near the River Wyre in Lancashire more than a week ago, say they hope the help of the specialist underwater rescue team will give her family answers.

Emma White said they were pleased Mr Faulding's team would be assisting police - but are keeping everything crossed they don't find anything. 

She told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'We hope they uncover nothing, like the police have done for the last ten days, and we hope Nicola is not in that river.'

It comes as reports say Ms Bulley was due to watch one of her children perform in a show this weekend which went ahead without her.

Ms White said she believes Mr Faulding's equipment is more sophisticated the the kit police have. 

'Peter's here, working with Lancashire Police, and we just have to have everything crossed that the search continues and Nicola is not in that river. 

'We don't want to undermine all the work police have done but when you get that glimmer of hope and you look at what the company does, his records and what he has achieved then you think we need to get this expert here - and we can't thank you enough for bringing the team down.'

Ms White said the police theory that Ms Bulley fell into the River Wyre 'is based on a theory, with no actual evidence to support it'.

Emma, who has known Ms Bulley for ten years, told Radio 4's Today programme: 'The hypothesis is based on limited information - I've said before it's a theory, and we sadly can't base life on a theory.'

She thanked the public for their support and kindness shown towards Nicola's family, and said at the core of their rescue campaign are 'two little girls who want their mummy'.

Mr Faulding, speaking from his helicopter en route to the scene, said: 'We are having a briefing at 8.30am, and then going to the location to set up. They are getting a briefing at a farmhouse and then they'll move to the scene.

'We are working closely with the police to provide extra support. We are going to be using a high-frequency side scan sonar. That's going to be used to search down the river, past the weir.

'That will give us a crystal clear image of anything on the river bed. It shows every rock and every stone.

'On a straight river, we can do about ten miles of river a day. But this is a very windy, changeable river, up and down in depth. So we will do the best we can.'

He added: 'I'm confident with my expertise over 20 odd years that if she is there, I will find her with that sonar. I will be operating that sonar.'

Mr Faulding, who will also survey the route of the river by helicopter, earlier told Sky News: 'We're assisting with our dive team. We carry out all the underwater operations in the south east for the police anyway, but we're bringing a particularly high-spec piece of equipment, 1,800-kilohertz specialist side-scan sonar.

'Each year we deal with a lot of drownings and we locate them extremely quickly. The difference with this sonar is that it's very, very high frequency.

 'It's about £55,000 and it scans the river and I can see every stick and stone lying on the river bed. We've got a very high hit rate with this.'

He added: 'Our sonar is probably a bit more superior but I've got a lot of specialist search expertise and I've worked on hundreds of these cases and we always generally find people within the hour in lakes etc.'

It comes as a former detective described Lancashire Police's decision to publicly reveal its belief that Nicola fell into a river as 'extremely unusual and concerning'.

Martyn Underhill, who was a senior officer in the police probe of the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne in West Sussex, told The Times that there are several possibilities as to what may have taken place in the vital ten-minute window identified by police.

He also warned that detectives are risking 'boxing themselves into a theory'.

Mr Underhill added: 'If the public is told that they think it's a terrible accident, it risks people switching off. It can deter someone coming forward with crucial evidence.

'Coming out with such a definitive narrative publicly will make it hard to row back if the circumstances change. And they've offended the family and friends at the same time. It is really bizarre.' 

Yesterday, poignant footage emerged of Ms Bulley's young daughter spotting search teams looking for her missing mother.

The six-second video shared by friends showed daughter Sophia, six, pointing towards a search team and saying: 'Them helicopters, they're looking for mummy.'

Meanwhile, friends say Ms Bulley's two daughters attended a school disco on Friday evening as part of efforts among parents to 'keep things as normal as possible' for the children.

Jill Peck, who attended a vigil to light candles at St Michael's Church on Sunday, told Sky News: 'If something was in the diary, it's been kept in the diary. They are aware that something is happening but we're trying to keep it away from the school.

'They just desperately want her home and that is all they are asking all the time, "where is she and is she coming home?''.'

The girls' school is said to have told pupils of the situation and teachers have put on yoga sessions to help them stay calm and relaxed. 

Police yesterday called in divers to assist in the search, after reportedly initially turning down specialist assistance despite the family's pleas.

Peter initially said Lancashire Police had refused his offer of specialist divers and equipment to aid in the search.

But in a subsequent statement, he confirmed his expert team has left Surrey on Sunday night to join police in the search for the missing mother from this morning.

He said yesterday: 'I have just had a long call with the Lancashire Police search adviser to discuss the search for Nicola. We will work closely with the police search teams who are working long hours to find Nicola.

'The team are leaving shortly from our base in Dorking on route to Lancashire to start tomorrow morning.'

It came after an earlier statement in which he said police had turned down his offer of assistance, saying: 'Following my public message to Lancashire Police offering the services of the SGI underwater search team and our vast range of specialist equipment free of charge to assist in the search for Nicola Bulley, I was subsequently contacted directly by the grieving family pleading for a way to make this happen.

'Unfortunately, Lancashire police have responded via the family declining my offer saying they will continue with their own river searches using their current resources let us know if we are required.'

Confirming their attendance, a spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: 'We can confirm we have been approached by SGI who have offered to assist with the search for Nicola Bulley and that offer has been taken up after speaking with Nicola's family.

'We continue to lead an extensive and far reaching multi-agency search using a wide range of specialist equipment and resources.

'Our sole focus is to find Nicola and provide the answers her family so desperately need. We would like to thank our partner agencies and the local community for their continued efforts and support.

'We are also liaising with experts across national policing to ensure we continue to do everything we can and use every available tactic to find Nicola.'

Meanwhile, still pictures from cameras at her home, showing Ms Bulley on her driveway just hours before she vanished, have been released by a friend as part of the desperate search to find her.

The mother, 45, can be seen in a long jacket, leggings and walking boots with her hair tied in a pony tail prior to taking her two daughters on the 3.8-mile journey to drop them off at school in St Michael's on Wyre on January 27.

Friends of the couple have also urged members of the public to halt levelling 'disgusting accusations' at her partner Paul Ansell and say the images show why he has never been a suspect.

They also said he is suffering 'hurt and pain', but is 'completely focusing' on their two daughters. 

Mr Faulding also said yesterday that he believes it is unlikely that the river bank is the correct answer regarding the disappearance. 

The forensics expert told GBNews: 'The amount of searching that's gone on in this river, I would have thought she would have been found by now. Normally when a person drowns, if they are left a number of days they don't move very far.

'This is not a fast tidal river. So I would have expected her to be found by the police divers by now... It's as clear as that. And you know, none of this rings right to me. My belief is she's not in not in the river at all.'

Mr Faulding said that not enough factors added up in his opinion, suggesting that Ms Bulley's phone could have been left on the bench as a 'decoy'. 

He continued: 'I personally think this phone could be a decoy.

'We dealt with a drowning a couple of years ago where a gentleman went into a river and Ripley, his dog, was screaming by the riverbank when we got there.

'When we arrived it was howling, and literally pointing exactly where he was. He stayed with his owner.

'The phone on the bench, I mean, you have to ask, normally someone would have a phone in their hand especially if they were walking around.'

The forensics worker said it 'feels odd' that no one spoke of the fact that Ms Bulley was not wearing clothes that would have absorbed water quickly, there were no marks at the scene and that not one person heard screams.

Additionally, he criticised the fact that the location has not remained cordoned off.

He said: 'People have been walking past the bench. There's no police tape up. This would normally be sealed off as a crime scene so potentially crime scene investigators can go in and see if there are any microfibres, evidence, slip marks down the bank etc and I don't believe that has actually happened here.'

Meanwhile, a friend of missing mother Nicola Bulley shared 11 key details about her disappearance - as police scour river after admitting they found 'no evidence' she slipped or fell into it.

Tilly Ann, a close friend of Nicola Bulley who has been missing since January 27, shared key details in a Facebook post following the 45-year-old's disappearance. 

Essential information from the post read that unfortunately the only CCTV camera at a residential caravan park 'that would have seen Nikki' is not working.

She added that her friend and her partner Paul take the walk along the river regularly and would be well-recognised by the local community.

Tilly Anne noted that Ms Bulley is 'an incredibly strong swimmer', and that her dog Willow who she was walking was completely dry when found. 

She wrote that the dog would never have a harness on during the familiar walk and is removed at a gate at the top of the field. When the dog was found, it was very close to the bench along with the harness on the floor. 

She added that her friend would often put her phone on loud-speaker when talking - her phone was discovered close to the river bank and she had previously been on a conference call before she vanished.

The family friend thanked those who had shared their support and contributed to the search for Nicola - saying it had 'created such a comfort to Nikki's family'.

Detailing the impact on Paul she wrote that he is struggling to hold back his pain, but is focusing on his children and does not want to worry them 'more than they already are'.

On Saturday, police released an image of a potential witness who was spotted in the area at the time of Ms Bulley's disappearance.

Later that evening, they released a statement that said the force 'pleased to say that the woman came forward very quickly' and were treating her as a 'key witness' in the investigation.

The Facebook post by Lancashire Police added: 'Our

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