‘Inhale scream’ heard on morning Nicola Bulley vanished by river – as inquest told exact time her Fitbit stopped working
A SCREAM was heard near a riverside on the morning tragic Nicola Bulley vanished, an inquest was told today.
The mum-of-two was last seen in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, on January 27.
Tragically, her body was found in the river on February 19 – three weeks after she vanished.
A tragic timeline of her final moments was today revealed at an inquest into her death.
Two women told the hearing they both heard a scream near the riverside on the morning Nicola, 45, vanished.
Veronica Claesen said the sound was an “inhale scream” that sounded like a sharp intake of breath.
She added: “I was just about to get into the car and I heard a scream. A very short scream and my immediate thought was, ‘Somebody is having a bit of fun at the back of the graveyard’.”
A second woman, Helen O’Neill, told the hearing she was in the garden with her dogs not far from the bench where Nicola disappeared.
She said: “I heard a scream, it’s not an alarming noise, it was just over in a couple of seconds. I’m quite used to hearing the children in the school out back, but it was not that noise.
“I vividly remember thinking it’s unusual at this time. In my head, I had two females, walking along by the river and one jumped out on the other. I didn’t think anything of it until later on.
“There were no other sounds for me to be concerned about.”
It comes after the inquest was told it is likely Nicola fell into the River Wyre from a “cliff-edge drop”.
Once in the water, she travelled at a “metre a second” downstream in the “steady flow” of the river.
Her Fitbit watch and Mercedes car keys were discovered three weeks later when her Nicola’s body was recovered.
The watch had stopped recording Nicola’s steps at 9.30am on the day she disappeared.
DC Keith Greenhalgh said that due to analysis of her iPhone and Fitbit watch data, she “very possibly” entered the water at 9.22am.
The court was told the water was just 4C when she vanished, which is cold enough to lead to cold water shock and cause a person’s muscles to seize up.
Diving expert Professor Mike Tipton said she would have lost consciousness almost instantly.
He also suggested she would have drowned in “one or two breaths” due to her size and the temperature of the water.
Tragically, Professor Tipton said she would have died “in less than minutes”.
He added: “The lethal dose of water into the lungs, with freshwater, is two litres.
“In that first breath [for a person of similar weight to Nicola] you would have taken in 1-2 litres. So it would only take maybe one or two breaths to cross the lethal dose.”
The grim hypothesis was shared by cold water expert Dr Patrick Morgan, who explained how a person falling into cold water will suffer an “excessively high” heart rate as their blood pressure surges.
He added: “The heart pumps no blood and the brain switches off. The potential conscious time here quoted are optimistic… it is potentially shorter.
“On the occasion that the individual has taken that initial gasp on the surface of the water and then gone below, the duration would be 10 seconds that you could hold your breath and very likely one or two seconds at best.”
The inquest also heard from PC Matthew Thackray from the North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit, who described the drop into the water where Nicola vanished as a “cliff edge”.
The officer told the inquest: “It’s my belief that if she did fall in she was probably floating and being pushed along the flow.”
When asked if it would be possible to climb out of the river once in, he added: “No not at all… it’s very difficult to get out of the water here.
“There is nothing to grab hold of to help yourself back out.”
It would have taken two to three minutes to reach a point where Nicola could climb out the river, which PC Thackray said was an “awfully long time in very cold water”.
A full, two-day inquest into Nicola’s death opened today at Preston’s County Hall in front of partner Paul Ansell, sister Louise Cunningham and parents Ernest and Dot Bulley.
Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour, who carried out a post mortem on Nicola, gave her cause of death as drowning.
The expert said she believed Nicola was alive when she entered the water and confirmed there was no sign she had been assaulted before her death and no indication of third party involvement.
Dr Armour said the internal examination found “classic signs” of asphyxia, which happens when the body is deprived of oxygen, but there was no sign of trauma to Nicola’s neck.
The court was also told “flecks and fragments of dirt” were found inside Nicola’s throat and there was water in and around her lungs, which are “typical features” seen in drowning.
Nicola also had several bruises on her body – including on her right arm – and “therapeutic levels” of a beta blocker in her system.
Dr Armour confirmed Nicola had not been drinking before her death.
Mortgage adviser Nicola vanished without a trace after dropping her two daughters, aged six and nine, off at school in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
Tragically, her body was found in the river on February 19 – three weeks after she vanished.
Her disappearance gripped the nation after it was revealed her mobile was found on a bench by the river still connected to a work conference call.
Nicola’s pet springer spaniel Willow was also discovered – but there was no trace still of the mum of two.
Richard Fife, who was walking his dogs close to the field where Nicola was last seen, told the hearing about a mysterious “man in black”.
The witness said he saw the 6ft 1ins figure walking towards the fields and assumed he was waiting for a lift.
Mr Fife saw him again on his way back from the walk and thought it was strange he was still there.
He said he reported the sighting to police after learning Nicola had gone missing.
Another witness, Penny Fletcher, told how she found dog Willow running from the bench where Nicola’s phone was found towards the “really steep” drop to the river.
She said: “It wasn’t doing anything chaotically it was a bit giddy. I saw a mobile phone on the bench and between the bench and the river I saw a bundle in the grass. I walked down and it was one of those dog harnesses.”
Penny explained she called the number of a veterinary surgery on Willow’s tag before calling her daughter-in-law to ask about the dog.
Her daughter-in-law, Anne-Marie Fletcher, replied: “Oh no, it’s Nikki’s dog and Nikki has gone missing.”
Anne-Marie later recognised Nicola from a picture on the lockscreen of her mobile phone, which had been found by a woman called Susan Jones.
She then called Nicola’s partner Paul, who told her the mum was “struggling”, the inquest was told.
While friend Lucy said she heard from Nicola moments before her disappearance about a playdate she was organising for their daughters.
Lucy had messaged Nicola back to confirm and received a message back at 8.59am confirming a time, followed by a smiley face emoji.
During the search, Lancashire Police refused to waver from their “main working hypothesis” that she fell in the river.
But Nicola’s family including partner Paul said they did not believe the theory and urged people to continue searching.
They also hired dive expert Peter Faulding, who used £50,000 sonar equipment to scour the water.
He later pulled out of the hunt, saying he did not believe Nicola was in the river as she could have “stood up” if she fell in.
Pressure is now mounting on Lancashire Police over Nicola’s disappearance after a series of blunders during the probe.
The mum’s body was found by two dog walkers less than a mile from where she was last seen despite a “hugely complex and highly emotional” search.
The force also came under fire for disclosing painfully personal details of Nicola’s struggle with alcohol and the perimenopause.
They confirmed she had “vulnerabilities” at the time she went missing and was a high-risk missing person.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were among officials questioning why the information was revealed.
The police watchdog also launched a probe into a “welfare check” carried out at Nicola’s home just 17 days before she vanished.
An independent review is also being carried out over the force’s handling of the case after being ordered by Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden.
The inquest continues.