UK: body of woman missing for 3 weeks found near spot where she was last seen, say cops | Nicola Bulley

Three weeks after a woman went missing in northwest England, her body was found on 19 February 2023 in a river near the spot where she was last seen. However, formal identification of the body is pending.

45-year-old Nicola Bulley went missing on 27 January 2023 while walking her dog near River Wyre. Lancashire police department faced heavy criticism over the delay in cracking the case.

Confidence in the police plummeted amid criticism that police had botched the search for Bulley, a mortgage adviser who was last seen shortly after taking her daughters, ages 6 and 9, to school on a Friday morning.

Amid backlash, the police force had deployed 40 detectives in the case, and also declared Nicola a "high-risk" missing person. Cops later revealed she had struggled with alcohol and perimenopause before she vanished. The disclosure prompted a further backlash, with senior members of the government, opposition leaders, and victims rights advocates decrying the release of such personal information.

The police department said Friday that it would conduct an internal review of the investigation. The department has also referred itself to Britain's independent police watchdog over a contact officers had with Bulley before her disappearance

(With agency inputs)

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