partner of nicola bully The mother of two has spoken publicly for the first time since Went missing.
Ms Bulley, 45, a mortgage advisor at Inskip, LancashireLast Friday morning she disappeared while walking her dog after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, off at school.
Paul Ansell said: “We’re never going to lose hope, but right now it feels like it’s vanished into thin air, it’s just madness.
Paul Ansell talks to Sky News about his missing partner Nicola Bulley
(sky News )
“I can’t believe we are a week in and yet it seems we are no further, it seems absolutely impossible. It’s like a dream, I can’t get my head around it.
Speaking near the scene where the mother of two was last seen, Mr Ansell told broadcasters: “My whole focus is on my two girls, just being as strong as I can be for them.
“I’m afraid that if I focus on something else it will take my attention away from him.
“Just goodness hoping something comes out of tomorrow’s interview no matter how small.”
On Friday morning, members of the local community lined the side of the road holding placards carrying Ms Bulley’s picture, urging people to contact police with information.
Mr Ansell said the support of the community had brought the family a “huge amount of comfort”.
A timeline of Nicola Bulley’s movements since she went missing on Friday
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A possible witness, a dog walker who was traced following a police appeal on Thursday, said she had spoken to officers and “knows nothing”.
Christine Bowman, 67, told daily Mirror: “It has horrified the local women. If they have husbands or partners, they are taking the dogs out instead.”
Lancashire Police, which has launched a major search operation, said that despite “unanswered questions”, people “should not speculate or spread false rumours” about the disappearance.
Ms Bulley’s mobile phone and the lead and harness for her dog, springer spaniel Willow, were found on a bench close to the River Wyre at St Michael’s on Wyre in the Lancashire countryside.
Ms Bulle’s family has appealed for information.
His sister Louise Cunningham told sky News: “Something is missing.
“Someone must know something.
“People don’t just vanish into thin air.”
The search for Nicola Bulle enters the seventh day
(Nicola Bulli / Facebook)
Her crying father, Ernie Bulley, said Bulley’s young daughters still think it is “only a matter of time” before their mother comes home.
They told Sky: “There are two little kids out there waiting for their mum to come back and we want her to come back obviously, but if Nicola is out there, if she’s seeing it, we just want to say: ‘ Come home, contact the police, contact yourself and we just want you back.’
Nicola and her partner of 12 years, Paul Ansell
(Nicola Bulli / Facebook)
“And they know mom is missing but they know she’s going to come home and everyone’s looking for her, so it’s only a matter of time, they’re thinking in their heads that she’s going to walk through that door.” Has been.”
Police divers using specialist equipment have been seen searching the bottom of the River Wyre where Ms Bulli’s belongings were found on the bench.
Specialist search teams from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and police on the River Wyre, in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire (Peter Byrne/PA)
(PA Wire)
Ms Bulle and her family are originally from Essex but moved to Lancashire about 25 years ago.
Lancashire Police have said they do not believe a crime has been committed and are treating the incident as a missing persons investigation.