this has that is our breaking news. this has attracted so much attention. i'm just going to take a moment to remind you of what police have said today. welcome to our bbc world he was with our breaking news on the channel. police investigating the disappearance of nicola bulley in st michael's on wyre in lancashire in the north of england say they have recovered a body from the river wyre are common near the location where the mother of two went missing. no formal identification has been confirmed as yet. our reporter is in the village where nicola bulley went missing and he has been able to update us with events building up to

this news, he described how there was an increase in police activity around the local roads. there were also reports of a helicopter above the area where nicola bulley went missing. that area has now been completely shut off whilst police and the specialist teams carry out their work. and the specialist teams carry out theirwork. in and the specialist teams carry out their work. in the three weeks since her disappearance, there have been a number of key teams that have been involved in the search for nicola bulley, including what you can see there on the screen, those are the underwater teams, some of them were police, directs police teams, some of them were contracted by the police, but they were specialist in the searching those murky waters of river water, very specialised. when you are talking about looking in river water. so it is sunday the

19th of february and we had that confirmation from the lancashire police that they had attended the scene, entered the water and sadly recovered a body. they have put this statement out, because obviously reports were growing that there was an increase in police activity around the area, local people had been reporting helicopters as well around this key area around st michael's on wyre. i am going to cross to our reporter close to the scene in st michael's on wyre. bring us up to date pleased with what has taken place. us up to date pleased with what has taken place-— us up to date pleased with what has taken lace_ . ., ., , ., ”i taken place. what we have seen today is a significant — taken place. what we have seen today is a significant development _ taken place. what we have seen today is a significant development in - taken place. what we have seen today

is a significant development in this - is a significant development in this missing persons investigation, the search for nicola bulley who disappeared more than three weeks ago and now from the village of st michael's on wyre stop earlier today, just after midday, i could see this police helicopter hovering above the village and at one stage it was close to a particular area of the river wyre, approximately a mile from the centre of the village and then there was this intense police activity, a road was closed off and since then we have now had this development, this update from lancashire police who say that people may be aware of police activity around the river, near to st michael's and they wanted to provide more detail about what is happening here. they said they were called at around 1136 am this morning to report a body of a body on this and what such teams and specialist officers have specifically attended the scene come

into the water and have sadly recovered a body. i could see a police diver and now what i can also see is a tent has been erected just close to the river. they say, this is what they like police say, no formal identification has yet been carried out but they are unable to say whether this is nicola bulley at this time. what they are trying to do now is identify the body that has been recovered and those procedures are ongoing. they say they are currently treating the death as unexplained, nicola's family have been informed of developments. nicola disappeared more than three weeks ago, she had dropped at school, was walking her dog, which police found was her phone on a bench close to the river and the

harness of her dog was also there. it was a member of the public that spotted her dog and police and family were alerted. since then, what we have had is a huge police investigation for a missing person. they say road etebo a0 officers have been working on this and —— like a team of a0 officers have been working on this and they have carried out extensive inquiries. here on bbc news we have reported these developments over the past three weeks, we reported how the family called in their own team of divers, the private divers, a team which was used to working with police forces in the south of england who themselves retraced the areas surged by lancashire police

before, they noted areas further down the river, close to backbench where nicola disappeared, because police all of this time were working on the hypothesis that she went into the river, they maintained there was no third party involvement, nicola's family were trying to keep an open mind. police said they were keeping an open mind, but as far as they could see, they did not believe a third party was involved and now we have a significant development, should stress that no identification has been made at this stage and nicola's family have been informed about what the police have discovered today and the activity thatis discovered today and the activity that is taking place here in st michael's on wyre. i that is taking place here in st michael's on wyre.— that is taking place here in st michael's on wyre. i suppose it's fair to say _ michael's on wyre. i suppose it's fair to say that _ michael's on wyre. i suppose it's fair to say that local _ michael's on wyre. i suppose it's fair to say that local police, - fair to say that local police, lancashire police, have been under a lot of pressure recently surrounding this case? , ., .

lot of pressure recently surrounding this case? , . . ., , this case? they faced heavy criticism — this case? they faced heavy criticism for _ this case? they faced heavy criticism for revealing - this case? they faced heavyl criticism for revealing details this case? they faced heavy - criticism for revealing details of nicola bulley was my private life, in particular struggles with alcohol and the menopause, but many questioning whether that kind of information at this stage of the investigation for a missing person was relevant, we heard from the home secretary, suella braverman, once a 999 secretary, suella braverman, once a egg and exhalation from lancashire police and she got that extra nation but wasn't said to be fully satisfied with that, although she was being kept regularly informed of what was taking place here. the reason lancashire police did that was because of this huge amount of speculation that has been taking place around the activity here and that police search, that speculation, most of it on social media. including the regulation of a number of people who were visiting

st michael's on wyre, travelling huge distances, recording their own theories about what may have happened to nicola, clearly very distressing for nicola bulley�*s family who wanted all of that speculation, which they said was appalling to stop. we also had lancashire police saying that most of the speculation was just conjecture, it was damaging what they were doing, damaging their own investigation and they wanted all of that to stop as well. the family, friends of nicola's have been trying to keep what has been happening here in the public eye, by repeated appeals to anyone who may have seen anything. there are yellow ribbons, huge amount of support here for paul ansell, nicola bulley�*s partner. we heard from him, who maintained throughout this investigation that he didn't believe that nicola would be in the water, we still don't know

that, we only know at this moment in time that sadly a body has been recovered, but no formal identification has yet been made and so police are treating this debt as an exchange. you so police are treating this debt as an exchange-— so police are treating this debt as an exchanae. ., ,. , ., an exchange. you describe some of that criticism, _ an exchange. you describe some of that criticism, there, _ an exchange. you describe some of that criticism, there, and _ an exchange. you describe some of that criticism, there, and certainlyl that criticism, there, and certainly a number of mps had to step in and add their criticism. i could just remind our viewers watch the shadow home secretary, yvette cooper, said, following the backlash and some of the intimation that the government made, following comments made by lancashire police. the criticism that this should not have been in the public and, of the back of that, a police spokesman has said that a review of the investigation itself has been dialysed and will be

conducted by our head of crime detective superintendent. i understand there is a white forensic tent that has been put up close to the site's are you able to see that yourself? in 7 ?we 7 we can make out there is a tent there, that was put up shortly after. you mentioned the criticism of the police and with the blues had to say, the detective superintendent could also be seen here, so that tent arrived shortly after we could see her here. that police diver who went into the water to recover the body. somebody who is we still don't know who that is, there is no formal identification that has been made, there is also a police drone which was put up to get some imaging and also to assist them with their own

investigations over what has happened here, we also had the police helicopter and of course those roads have still been closed. that tote is if you hundred yards away, so we cannot get close to that. —— make that tent. lancashire police... members of the public... to the bench close to where she has despaired and taken as videos, putting that footage out on social media which has been incredibly distressing for the families in the family have repeatedly, as well as nicola's friends has cultivated up. clearly what the family don't want on the police don't want is a more family down people turning up here and turning this area into some kind of tourist hotspot, really they don't want that, they placed on what that and they just want to focus on what they are doing here, investigation they are carrying out. stop when we go back to the geography of what is taking place,

nicola went missing near rawcliffe road, beside the river wyre. i wonder if you could try to describe to us that location compared to where this tent has been established. because the search itself was quite extensive, it went as far down as morecambe bay, we do have worldview was, we have viewers who don't know the geography of lancashire and north england, i wonder if you could break that down for us? st wonder if you could break that down forus? ,, m . h wonder if you could break that down forus? ,, a ., �*, ., a for us? st michael's on wyre, the villaue for us? st michael's on wyre, the village itself _ for us? st michael's on wyre, the village itself is _ for us? st michael's on wyre, the village itself is approximately - village itself is approximately about a mile from where this tent has been erected and where a police diver was surging that stretch in the river. nicola disappeared after she had dropped off her children

from school, that school is probably a few hundred yards from the centre of the village, the bench where her phone was found, still connected to that team school at work, the bench is about half a mile or so from the centre of the village and the tent is on the opposite side. i would say about a mile, roughly a mile from the bench and from where close to where she was last seen, where job was found shortly after a. it's a small village, we have seen a lot of appeals made by people, a lot of appeals made by people, a lot of appeals by families, not appeals by friends and appeals by the police. it's an area which isn't used to seeing so many people here, descend under this village, as the leader of the council has told the bbc, it's an area which acquired area —— like

it's a quite area, where people would take dogs for a walk, it's quite a picturesque walk, the river itself is tidal because it goes further upstream into fleetwood and into morecambe bay and that is why, but from today, that is where police were searching, because they had carried out this huge extensive search here on the river wyre, close to the village and they were working on this hypothesis, that nicola went into the water and that is why they extended their search into morecambe bay and we have seen those images on bbc news a number of times, giving our viewers informed about what is happening in this investigation, which lancashire police say was unprecedented. a team of a0

detectives have searched a number of premises, visited a number of premises, visited a number of premises, 380 it was, around 300 people have also been spoken to, they appealed for any drivers who may have been going through this village and they have traced 700 drivers, they have had 1500 pieces of information and that kind of investigation, it really is unprecedented for a missing person, they wanted to make sure they had covered every avenue, they have spoken to as many people they possibly could. they were trying to keep an open mind when they believe her death was suspicious —— like they didn't believe her death was suspicious. they said it was a missing persons investigation. they revealed last week i thought she was high—risk, they deemed her to be high—risk, they deemed her to be high—risk from the start of that investigation and that was because of the problems she had with alcohol and the menopause. herfamily said

they knew that kind of information was being made public, nicola may not have wanted that, but they said that they wanted that regulation to stop and they wanted everyone to focus on the investigation. let me just remind you of what they have said today this afternoon once again. they say they have an update and they say they have been searching this stretch of the river wyre, approximately half a mile from the centre of the village, they say they were called today at around 11:36am to report a body in the river close to rawcliffe road, a small road just a short distance from the centre of st michael's on wyre. some people may be away of the church, they say the underwater search search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, to the water and have had sadly recovered a body. no, edification has yet been carried out, they say we are unable to say

whether this is nicola bulley at this time, they are trying to identify the body, treating the death as an expand and nicola's family have been informed of developments and report with them at this difficult point in time. returning to the river, because this is a key search site, i understand it's a short river, is it a fast flowing river7 is it a deep river7 there is a barrage on it as well. watch conditions were those teams working under 7 ? conditions can 7 conditions can change from day to da , 7 conditions can change from day to day. because _ 7 conditions can change from day to day. because it _ 7 conditions can change from day to day, because it is _ 7 conditions can change from day to day, because it is tidal, _ 7 conditions can change from day to day, because it is tidal, and - 7 conditions can change from day to day, because it is tidal, and some i day, because it is tidal, and some days when we had the private search team here, the team that was here at the request of may's family, who led that search operation said the river

looked quite the line and he couldn't explain why he couldn't find anything in there, he had specialist sonar equipment, the latest sonar equipment but there was no trace of nicola. in recent days, because of the tidal nature of the river and how it extends into morecambe bay, conditions have been very difficult, there is a way not very difficult, there is a way not very far from the bench where nicola's found was found. the condition can change from day to day and i could expend why we are seeing would be seen today, because we had this river, police have searched this river, police have searched this river, police have searched this river a number of times, we have had divers on all stretches, down to morecambe bay and further upstream as well and they haven't been able to find anything. but now

we have this discovery, as i say, of a body that has been recovered just a body that has been recovered just a few hundred yards from the centre of the village and therefore we have that intense activity here on this site. , , ., that intense activity here on this site. , ., , , site. just to remind people why there was _ site. just to remind people why there was so — site. just to remind people why there was so much _ site. just to remind people why there was so much criticism - site. just to remind people why i there was so much criticism about there was so much criticism about the handling or the comments that were made around this case. the bbc itself interviewed penny mordaunt, and she reacted to some of those comments that were made by the investigating team, described the ordeal that the family were going through as horrific, saying it was quite shocking and that the prime minister a right to raise concerns about this and concerns about some of the private information put to

the public. saying that it really grates with some women and we have to put up with all kinds of sexist behaviour and all kind of settings and i think, to have it play out in this kind of environment is why people are so upset and, again, the shadow home secretary, yvette cooper, also contacted the force about the level of detail it released about yvette cooper's... about nicola about naming's private life, saying she had received further information about the force lancashire police about the force lancashire police about this criticism confirmed that there was a new team of detectives put on the investigation, but they confirmed that a date had been set for an internal review into the

investigation, a spokesperson chief superintendent had said that a review of the investigation is dialysed and will be conducted by our head of crime. we will let you go for now and continue to monitor events around where you are there in grand prix and we —— like in st michael's on wyre. we are going to speak now to a gentleman who is a former senior detective. hello, peter, can you hear me?- peter, can you hear me? good afternoon. _ peter, can you hear me? good afternoon, loud _ peter, can you hear me? good afternoon, loud and _ peter, can you hear me? good afternoon, loud and clear. - peter, can you hear me? good. afternoon, loud and clear. good afternoon- _ afternoon, loud and clear. good afternoon. following _ afternoon, loud and clear. good afternoon. following two - afternoon, loud and clear. good afternoon. following two elements that are taking place in st michael's on wyre, what is going through your mind? {lit michael's on wyre, what is going through your mind?— michael's on wyre, what is going through your mind? of course my thou~hts through your mind? of course my thoughts go _ through your mind? of course my thoughts go out _ through your mind? of course my thoughts go out to _ through your mind? of course my thoughts go out to the _ through your mind? of course my thoughts go out to the person - through your mind? of course my i thoughts go out to the person who's body has been found and anybody love that person but of course, as a

former detective, the current detectives in this case will be thinking they have to secure the scene, the area around where the body was found, as best they can and search to see if there is any evidence that may have been of any use whatsoever, because of course, in a very short space of time, there will be a postmortem and then, thereafter, there will be a coroner's inquest. so all of the evidence has to be gathered, as best as professionally and as painstakingly as is required, in order that the truth, hopefully, at some point in the future, can be laid in front of the coroner's court and an verdict can be delivered. i wonder if you could take us through the timeline7 like we said, it's important we confirm there is no formal confirmation that the body that has been found is nicola

bulley, but the police have been searching for three weeks now is that significant? is that something that significant? is that something that would concern you? is that normal any missing persons investigation?— normal any missing persons investiration7 ., , normal any missing persons investiration7 ., investigation? rivers and oceans can sometimes be _ investigation? rivers and oceans can sometimes be very _ investigation? rivers and oceans can sometimes be very slow _ investigation? rivers and oceans can sometimes be very slow to _ investigation? rivers and oceans can sometimes be very slow to give - investigation? rivers and oceans can sometimes be very slow to give up i sometimes be very slow to give up their secrets. 0nly last week the body of a man was found in a canal in london and that man had been missing for a month. sometimes, as i say, it takes a while for a body to surface. my concerns about the whole nicola bulley missing case is really surrounding the messaging that we have heard from lancashire police. i think it has been a very clumsy, at best, and pretty awful at worst. of course, the debate has raged and i have heard your previous guest alluding to the fact that so many people express their concerns when

the alcohol and menopause issues were made public. that could have been dealt with in a far more professional way, at a very early stage in that missing person inquiry, quite simply by alluding to nicola having vulnerabilities mother packaging them up much more broadly and saying that they are mental health issues which is of course true. and that, perhaps, would have shut down all of the speculation and would have dealt with... they would have been no need for them to be much more specific, much more personal and much later on during the search for her. haifa personal and much later on during the search for her. how important, then, is messaging _ the search for her. how important, then, is messaging within - then, is messaging within investigations like this, within searches for missing people, can it have significant impacts further down the line? in have significant impacts further

down the line?— down the line? in ma'or investigations �* down the line? in ma'or investigations of i down the line? in ma'or investigations of any h down the line? in major l investigations of any sort, down the line? in major _ investigations of any sort, whether it be a missing person, whether it be a homicide, whether it be the work of a serial killer, the messaging is absolutely vital. it's got to be accurate, it's got to be precise, and it's got to engage the public. unfortunately here, we'd like to police, way back at one of their earlier press conferences, when the uniform superintendent said our working hypothesis is that nicola has gone into the water, that is what the evidence tells us, everybody wanted to know what that evidence was. but none of it was forthcoming. so what i did was that it created a void and of course, when there is a void of information it will always be filled by gossip, rumour and speculation. 0nly, it will always be filled by gossip, rumour and speculation. only, this time, it was on an unprecedented scale, because of the advent of

social media. then we suddenly found social media. then we suddenly found social media. then we suddenly found social media personalities descending upon st michael's on wyre, literally digging holes, people trying to break into derelict property and causing the police a considerable number of challenges which they might not previously have anticipated. the evidence that you mentioned, three weeks and obviously continuing because there is no confirmation of the body that has been taken and retrieved from the river, what level of deterioration would there have been? there is decomposition on anybody, whether it is... , , ., decomposition on anybody, whether it is... sorry, i 'ust made in terms of collecting — is... sorry, ijust made in terms of collecting evidence _ is... sorry, ijust made in terms of collecting evidence around - is... sorry, ijust made in terms of collecting evidence around asides, j collecting evidence around asides, you have made,, how difficult is it to collect evidence in outdoors

locations?— to collect evidence in outdoors locations? , , ., , locations? yes, because of course it is sub'ect locations? yes, because of course it is subject to — locations? yes, because of course it is subject to the _ locations? yes, because of course it is subject to the weather. _ locations? yes, because of course it is subject to the weather. in - locations? yes, because of course it is subject to the weather. in this - is subject to the weather. in this case, for example, i know it is a missing person inquiry, i will be very generic, we have seen dozens upon dozens of people walking along riverside parts, including journalists, broadcasters and many members of the public, if there were a crime scene, that would be catastrophic for the collection of evidence and, with crime scenes, i'm not talking necessarily about a missing person inquiry per se, but in a crime scene preservation of that scene is vitally important, because you so often only get one chance to get the collection of evidence right. i chance to get the collection of evidence right.— chance to get the collection of evidence right. chance to get the collection of evidence riuht. ., , ., .., evidence right. i wonder if you can describe to — evidence right. i wonder if you can describe to us, _ evidence right. i wonder if you can describe to us, what _ evidence right. i wonder if you can describe to us, what will— evidence right. i wonder if you can describe to us, what will likely - describe to us, what will likely take place next?— take place next? there will be formal identification _

take place next? there will be formal identification and - take place next? there will be formal identification and there are a number of ways that can be done, either through dna, dental records or in some cases where it is appropriate, a face—to—face identification by a loved one. any family liaison officer that has stood beside a loved one when they have done that will be able to tell you quite clearly what, of course, a traumatic thing that is. they will then have a postmortem, a vitally important part of any unexplained death or somebody who has been a victim of the crime, for example, and then, of course, evidence will be prepared for a coroner's inquest. all of which, i'm afraid to say, very traumatic events for those who lose a loved one, no matter what the circumstances, be it as a victim of crime, and unexplained missing

person inquiry, road traffic collision and the like, they are really tired of experiences for people to go through. just going back to what _ people to go through. just going back to what you _ people to go through. just going back to what you mentioned - people to go through. just going back to what you mentioned in l people to go through. just going - back to what you mentioned in about social media and the public participating in searches and also walking around the site where a missing person goes down disappears. how commonplace is that in terms of frustrating an investigation? i think this nicola bulley missing person case has been unique, in terms of the speculation, conspiracy theories, how it has just run rampant on various social media platforms and also by virtue of how many people decided to take it upon themselves to descend upon st michael's on wyre. 0f themselves to descend upon st michael's on wyre. of course, lancashire police at an early stage in the inquiry had to obtain a dispersal order so that they could

forcibly get people away from the area. this may happen again in the future, so that the police will have to be developing their strategies if we have this mass explosion in people who earn a living out of posting stuff on social media platforms, deciding to descend on a crime scene, for example, and that will take up resources. if the police suddenly find themselves in a situation, at some point in the future, not only having to deal with perhaps a complicated crime scene, or a complicated series of complicated crime scenes, imagine how that would be multiplied in terms of challenges if they find they have considerable numbers of people attending these scenes or the area of the scenes, who simply shouldn't be there. it will take up a lot of resources, i think lancashire police... i don't

criticise on this point,