Lancashire Police have revealed that missing mum-of-two Nicola Bulley had “significant issues with alcohol” in the past.
The service revealed the personal detail after saying in a press conference today that Ms Bulley had “specific vulnerabilities” that made her a “high-risk” missing person.
A statement later added: “Nicola had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause and that these struggles had resurfaced over recent months.”
Referring to Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell, police said these issues “caused some real challenges for Paul and the family.”
Police acknowledged that it was unusual for them to reveal such personal information about a missing person.
However, they said they wanted to explain what they meant by referring to specific “vulnerabilities”.
The statement said: “It is an unusual step for us to take to go into this level of detail about someone’s private life, but we felt it was important to clarify what we meant when we talked about vulnerabilities to avoid any further speculation or misinterpretation.
“We have explained to Nicola’s family why we have released this further information and we would ask that their privacy is respected at this difficult time.”
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