Nicola Bulley's family reveal shocking abuse they faced amid social media 'monster' during search

Her partner says he felt 'silenced' as he shared the true scale of accusations fired his way

Nicola Bulley's family has spoken out about how social media became an unmanageable "monster" during her disappearance. Nicola went missing on January 27, 2023, while walking her dog in St Michael's on Wyre, after dropping off her daughters at school, and her body was later found in the River Wyre on February 19, about a mile from where she vanished.

In the 23 days between, the search for Nicola sparked a frenzy of amateur sleuths, speculation, and abuse, particularly aimed at her partner Paul Ansell. He recounts feeling "silenced" and eventually stopped using social media due to the abuse, reports the Mirror.

In a clip from an upcoming BBC documentary, Paul says: "It wasn't a huge part of our lives. But yeah, when you experience something like this, you realise what a huge monster it can be, I guess."

He continues, "I was getting direct messages from people that I've never met. They don't know me, they don't know us, they don't know Nikki. They know nothing about us."

The messages were vile, with people accusing him of wrongdoing, leaving him feeling helpless and unable to respond without fear of being screenshot and shared on social media. In the documentary, Nicola's sister Louise insists that despite social media speculation, Nicola's death was a tragic accident, reports the Mirror.

"It doesn't always have to be something sinister linked to something that happens," she says. "Sometimes bad things just happen. I just wish it didn't happen to us. We're just a normal family. We've had a really tough time."

Paul, who shared two daughters with Nicola, had to maintain positivity during the 23-day search for her, which he admits was challenging at times. "The nights were the hardest. In the morning the hope would be strong. It used to go dark at like 4pm. It used to get to about 3pm and then I'd start panicking that I knew it would start going dark in an hour. So we had an hour to find her.

"And then obviously I'd have the girls. The first they'd do when they came out of school was run over and say 'have we found mummy?"

Last year, a coroner ruled Ms Bulley's death as accidental, stating she had fallen into the river and suffered "cold water shock", and there was "no evidence" to suggest suicide. Police criticised some TikTok users for acting as "private detectives" in the local area, claiming they had been "inundated with false information, accusations and rumours" relating to Nicola's case.

The upcoming BBC1 documentary, 'The Search For Nicola Bulley', will delve into the extensive media attention and the effects of "amateur internet sleuths" who took it upon themselves to conduct investigations. It will feature insights from Lancashire Police and personal accounts from Nicola's family.

Nicola Bulley disappeared on January 27, 2023, while walking her dog in St Michael's on Wyre, just after she had dropped her daughters off at school. Her body was discovered in the River Wyre on February 19, roughly a mile from where she was last seen.

The search for Nicola, which lasted 23 days, attracted international news coverage and sparked rampant speculation on social media about her fate. Nicola's sister, Louise Cunningham, her parents Ernest and Dorothy Bulley, and her partner Paul Ansell have all contributed to the documentary, sharing how the intense public scrutiny has affected them.

After Nicola's death at the age of 45, her family condemned the "wildly inaccurate speculation". They issued a statement through Rogan Productions in June regarding their participation in the documentary, acknowledging that agreeing to take part "wasn't an easy decision".

The family of Nicola Bulley released a statement at the time, saying: "Collectively we thought long and hard about taking part in a documentary about Nikki. It wasn't an easy decision. Nikki's face and name quickly became very recognisable, but there is so much to share about Nikki the person.

"Our sole aim is to provide the definitive record on Nikki to ensure she has the legacy that she deserves. Many people have aired their views about her disappearance and her untimely and tragic death, only we can speak about her as a mummy, partner, daughter, and sister."

They added: "In addition, if our experience of being in the eye of a media storm makes people think twice about how they act and what they say online, then we will have achieved some further good. We'd also like to express our sincere thanks to everyone at Rogan Productions who have treated us with great care, respect and compassion throughout the process of making this documentary. It was emotionally draining reliving some of our experiences, but we wanted to do this for Nikki."

The family also expressed their ongoing grief: "Nikki's loss is felt by us all, every day, we have drawn a huge amount of comfort from the kindness of so many people, and we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has taken the time to contact us. We have so appreciated the many kind words and gestures during the worst times of our lives."

An independent review by the College of Policing into the investigation surrounding Nicola's disappearance highlighted a 'fractured' relationship between the police and media, offering recommendations for its repair. The review also condemned the unnecessary and avoidable disclosure of personal details about Nicola's health challenges.