The 45-year-old fell into the River Wyre close to the community of St Michael’s on Wyre, according to detectives’ “primary working theory.”
However, her family and close friends have asserted that there is “absolutely no evidence” to support this.
Meanwhile, police have extended the search cordon to the sea from Knott End to Morecambe
A family friend of missing woman Nicola Bulley said “nothing is making sense” as specialist underwater divers searched a stretch of river where police believe she may have fallen in.
Heather Gibbons spoke on the banks of the River Wyre while, below her, Peter Faulding and his team from Specialist Group International, used a sonar to scan the depths on day 12 of the search.
Family and friends of mother-of-two Ms Bulley, 45, have questioned the police “theory” that she probably fell into the water while walking her dog, after dropping her children off at school in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancs on January 27.
Mr Faulding, a private search expert sometimes used by police, has said if his team cannot locate Ms Bulley in the river then she is not there and he would not rule out “third party involvement” in her disappearance.
Ms Gibbons said speculation, rife on social media, about the disappearance, was “hard” for the family to take and a stream of visitors, members of the public arriving from far and wide, some bringing children and taking selfies, had made the area feel like a “tourist spot”.
She said: “I think it’s incredibly hard, but up to a certain level, we understand it’s human nature, it’s natural for everyone to have speculation, because the truth is in this, nothing is making sense.
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