The partner of Nicola Bulley has shared the moment his “world just dropped” after receiving a phone call that the mum-of-two was missing. Paul Ansell spoke about the phone call during an interview for Channel 5. He sat down with Dan Walker for the interview during a 75-minute documentary last week. “The phone rang and it was the school,” he told the BBC Strictly Come Dancing star. Nicola, 45, of Inskip, Lancashire, went missing on January 27 in nearby St Michael’s on Wyre.
Paul added: “The receptionist said, ‘Mr Ansell, it’s a bit of a weird one but we found Willow and Nikki’s phone on a bench and the harness halfway down the embankment on the floor’. It’s like your world just drops out because you know something weird has happened.”
“I still expected obviously to just have a look around and there she is or, or there she is.” He continued: “The police rang me while I was at the bench and said, ‘look, you’ve got to get home’.
“I was obviously extremely worried and concerned but I still expected any second they’d just go, ‘oh, found her’. That never happened. The day just then spiralled and the end of the day came and, no answers.”
It comes as the search continues for the missing mum who has not been seen since January 27.
Messages have been left along a footbridge that crosses the River Wyre which has been searched extensively.
“We need you home, Nicola,” “praying for your safe return,” and “I love you” are among the ribbons that have been tied to a footbridge that crosses the River Wyre.
Nicola’s image was also shown prominently on a poster fastened to the railings.
Her partner, Paul Ansell, was also spotted putting a yellow ribbon on the bridge. On Friday, he said he and his family have been going through “unprecedented hell” since she disappeared on a Friday morning.
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“When many would be sat at home waiting for news he is using the media exactly as it should be used, to share the facts, highlight the lack of evidence and spread the word far and wide, so that he can hopefully reach someone that knows something.”
She added: “Backing Paul Ansell all the way to bring Nicola Jane Bulley back to him and their beautiful girls. We are all behind you, from our little street.”
Lancashire Police, who has been spearheading the search effort, said they were “fully open” to new information about Ms Bulley’s disappearance, with detectives treating the case as a missing person inquiry.
