Nicola Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell reveals hope of finding missing mum alive is ‘stronger than ever’ as hunt continues

THE BROKEN boyfriend of missing mum Nicola Bulley has revealed his hope of finding her alive is “stronger than ever”.

The dog walker, 45, vanished after dropping her children off at school in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, on Friday January 27.

Since then there has been no trace of the mum-of-two, leaving her family in agony.

The search has today reached its eighth painstaking day.

In an emotional Facebook post, Nicola’s partner Paul Ansell wrote: “Eight days without you and it feels no more real now than it did on day one.

“The agony continues but the hope is stronger than ever of finding you.

“There is no evidence yet to suggest any scenario over another and all options must be kept wide open.

“Please if anyone still has dash cam footage from the area, particularly along Garstang Road on Friday January 27 and hasn’t yet checked or handed to the police, Lancashire Police.

“We need her home. We will not entertain any other outcome. 

“We need a happy ending to this nightmare.

“Please keep hope and positive vibes high and let’s find Nikki – My beautiful partner and our girls’ amazing mummy.”

Cops yesterday revealed their “main working hypothesis” was that Nicola had “sadly fallen” into the icy River Wyre.

Police explained they thought she may have plunged in while trying to retrieve her dog Willow’s tennis ball.

They said that if the mum did fall into the water, she may have been weighed down by the “heavy” clothing she was wearing.

What Nicola was wearing was listed – including her pale blue Fitbit.

Her pal Emma White has today said police were working to get the data off the fitness watch.

Emma told The Sun: “The Fitbit had not been synced since Tuesday.

“The police are trying other ways to try to get information from it.”

The Insider reported there were ways to track where a Fitbit is using its app, or third-party tracking apps.

It explained there are ways to use any smartphone’s Bluetooth to try link up with fitness watches up to 100ft away.

In the cops’ update yesterday, they confirmed detectives were working behind the scenes analysing CCTV, dashcam “and carrying out other digital enquiries”.

When asked about Nicola’s watch today, police said they had “no info to give out on the Fitbit”. 

Speaking this morning, pal Emma also rejected the police’s theory that the missing mum could have fallen into an icy river trying to retrieve her dog’s ball.

Emma said Nicola no longer took a tennis ball on her walks with Willow because the pooch would “pester” her for the toy.