UK police identify body in river as that of missing British woman
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The site on the banks of the River Wyre where the body was discovered on Feb 19, 2023.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON - Police in Britain said they had discovered the body of Ms Nicola Bulley
Officials pulled Ms Bulley’s body on Sunday from a river in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, about 72km north-west of Manchester.
The revelation was the latest in a high-profile case that has fuelled a national debate over privacy and the treatment of missing women by the authorities after the local police force revealed personal details about Ms Bulley’s life, saying she had “problems with alcohol” and struggled with menopause.
The details, they said, were disclosed to clarify why Ms Bulley had been considered a “high-risk” missing person and after her disappearance had spurred mass public interest.
But critics of the police called their sharing of such information inappropriate and suggested it was sexist.
In a statement on Monday, the family expressed resentment at the news coverage of Ms Bulley’s death.
Ms Bulley, a mortgage adviser, went missing on Jan 27 after she dropped her two daughters off at school. She was last spotted walking her dog on a path near the River Wyre and had been on a work call, with her phone muted and its video off.
The dog was later found running around, and the phone was discovered on a bench, still logged on to the call.
The police had said they believed Ms Bulley had fallen into the river and that there was no evidence of suspicious activity.
In the week before the discovery of her body, the Lancashire Constabulary described details of Ms Bulley’s private life, issuing a statement in what they called “an unusual step” that aimed “to avoid any further speculation or misinterpretation”.
The statement said Ms Bulley had had “some significant issues with alcohol” prompted by her struggles with menopause and that the problems had resurfaced in recent months.
Her disappearance came after the police and health professionals were called to Ms Bulley’s home in the village of Inskip, Lancashire, on Jan 10 over “a report of concern for welfare”, but it was unclear who made the call. Inskip is near St Michael’s on Wyre.
A poster asking for information on missing Nicola Bulley on a tree close to where her phone and dog’s harness were discovered, by the banks of the River Wyre, on Feb 6, 2023.
PHOTO: AFP
The revelations about her struggles prompted a backlash that drew criticism from members of Parliament and led Britain’s independent data privacy authority to announce it would investigate the Lancashire Police force’s decision to release such information. NYTIMES
