Nicola Bulley's friend urges police to search abandoned house and outbuilding ... trends now

A friend of Nicola Bulley has called on police to launch a new search of an abandoned house and outbuilding close to the river where she is believe to have disappeared.

Peter Faulding, founder of specialist search team Specialist Group International (SGI), today dramatically called a halt to the search of the river following a third day of meticulously combing the water.

He confirmed SGI will not be helping Lancashire Police search the 'lower estuary' of the River Wyre, adding that had been 'determined' to find Nicola but that both he and her partner Paul Ansell, 44, were 'relieved' that he hadn't.

It comes as a close family friend of the missing mother-of-two, Tilly Ann, today urged police to search an abandoned house and surrounding outbuildings a short distance from the river.

In an updated Facebook post, she wrote: 'The abandoned house and outbuildings etc have not yet been searched as it is not currently a crime investigation!!!!!! (This should have been done straight away!).'

It comes after police last night admitted that Nicola could have left the area with a third party when she vanished during a walk with her springer spaniel Willow at around 9.20am on January 27.  

While police still maintain that she most likely fell into the river, superintendent Sally Riley, of Lancashire Police, said it remained a 'possibility' that the 45-year-old left the area by one path not covered by CCTV cameras - but added that 'every single' suspicion or criminal suggestion had so far been discounted. 

The path in question is crossed by the main road through the village, and officers are scrambling to trace dashcam footage from 700 drivers who passed along the route at the time she disappeared.

After reviewing other CCTV footage, police are confident that Nicola did not leave the field near the river via Rowanwater.

However, a police statement on Monday said officers had searched a 'derelict house' nearby. 

It said: 'Our enquiries so far have included searches of the river and riverbank which have extended all the way to the sea using specialist search teams, sonar, search dogs, drone and helicopter, house to house and CCTV. 

'We have also spoken to numerous witnesses, analysed Nicola’s mobile phone and fitbit and searched the derelict house on the other side of the river as well as any empty caravans in the vicinity.'

It comes as Mr Faulding and Mr Ansell met at the site of the search this morning in St. Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, where Mr Faulding confirmed to Paul that Nicola 'is not here'.  

Mr Faulding had said that if his team did not find Nicola in the water using his sonar equipment, then it was his belief that she had not been in the river, raising the prospect of a 'third party' involvement in the disappearance.

Announcing he had called off the search on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Faulding said: 'We are happy that the area where Nicola's phone was found and the harness, we've thoroughly searched it from all the way down to the weir and up to the bridge, about a mile upstream, and we've confirmed to Paul [her partner] that there's nothing in that area. 

'That's been dived by police dive teams three times as well... and on the day that Nicola went missing it was dived in the afternoon, with no sign of Nicola.' 

He added: 'I've worked on some weird cases, but this is a baffling case. For someone whose mobile phone was found there... I would've expected Nicola to be found that afternoon by the police dive team, normally down in the water, but there was no sign of her.'

He said he simply 'didn't know' where Nicola was, adding: 'I was determined to find Nicola, but one good thing is that I didn't want to find a body, so I'm happy we haven't found Nicola's body, which can lead to other areas, so we don't know if Nicola is alive, this is just a baffling case.

'After the end of today, we've done what we've come here to do, we've cleared the area for the police and the family, we can say that in the top section of river and some of the section going down towards the sea, that she's not in that part.' 

He said he could not comment on 'further down the estuary' because his team was not searching that area. 

'We just want to bring some form of closure,' he added, 'And I say again that I'm happy we never found a body and Paul is relieved we found nothing up there.' 

Mr Faulding later tweeted: 'The SGI underwater search team and I have completed an extensive and thorough search of sections of the River Wyre and I confirm that Nicola has not been found. Although all tangible leads suggest the river, her whereabouts still remain unknown.'

Paul and Mr Faulding were this morning joined by a senior detective and a friend of Nicola, who listened attentively as Mr Faulding explained how the water where police believe she drowned was particularly shallow. 

It comes as a video obtained by MailOnline shows Mr Faulding's sonar device scanning either side of the riverbank near St. Michael's on Wyre, where Nicola is feared to have fallen in.

The only sound that can be heard on the short clip is the outboard motor on the rear of the inflatable dinghy as the search team slowly meanders along the twisting river. The side scan sonar is able to 'see' to the bottom of the river and any major obstacle in its way would be detected on the film.

Mr Faulding was convinced that if he was to find a body it would have been in the area close to where police say Nicola fell into the water.

The expert took MailOnline to the scene and pointed out that the water was fairly shallow - no deeper than 3ft - and covered with jagged rocks.

He said: 'If this is where Nicola fell in you can see that the water is not particularly deep. There are lots of rocks and if she was in the water she would be able to grab hold of them.

'No one heard any shouts for help and I just can't see how she could drown here. 

'The only possibility is that she fell head first and was knocked out on the rocks, but I don't see how that could happen.'

Lancashire Police are working on the hypothesis that Nicola slipped into the water and drowned.

But last night police said it was still a 'possibility' she left the area by one path not covered by cameras which is crossed by the main road through the village, and officers were trying to trace dashcam footage from 700 drivers who passed along the road at the time she disappeared, around 9.20am. 

They have extended their search 10 miles away towards Fleetwood and the Irish Sea in the belief her body has been swept away from the point of entry in the village of St Michael's on the Wyre.

Mr Faulding disputes the police theory that the body could have ended up so far away and in the Irish Sea.

Based on his 20 years of experience in finding drowning victims he insisted her body would have remained at the bottom of the river for several days and police would have found her.

His suggestion that a 'third party' could be involved and abducted the mother-of-two has put him at loggerheads with the police investigation.

The SGI team packed up their equipment and left the scene on Wednesday after they failed to find any evidence of her body in the water. 

They had used their sonar to look around a weir about 200 metres from the main search area.

He said earlier on Wednesday: 'We want to sonar the first stretch of the river and if nothing is there then I am happy there is nothing there.

'My opinion is had Nicola gone in by that bench she would have gone to the bottom and drifted a couple of meters. The police divers who are very professional thoroughly searched that stretch of river and she wasn't there. There is hardly any current and in my experience, bodies do not move very far.

'It is not feasible that she could have drifted 15km, not in my experience and this type of tidal river. Things get washed in and washed out. It is very shallow. There is nowhere to go.'

The SGI team have been using a side scan sonar and Mr Faulding said the images it produces are crystal clear.