"I found Nicola Bulley after 6 minutes of searching and have the images to prove it" says Peter Faulding
“I found Nicola after six minutes of searching”, says forensic underwater search expert Peter Faulding, who claims to have discovered the missing mum’s body in the River Wyre using sonar – 13 days before a medium claiming psychic abilities spotted her floating in the water.
Mr Faulding’s bold claims are the latest twist in the tragic saga of Nicola Bulley, the 45-year-old mum who was missing for 24 days before her body was recovered from the river in St Michael’s on Wyre in February 2023.
The 61-year-old search specialist said he was compelled to share his sonar images following a BBC documentary on the Nicola Bulley case which aired Thursday night, which he said portrayed him and his team ‘unfairly’.
He previously said he would not be releasing the images to the public “for ethical reasons and out of respect for the family”.
“It is with regret that I feel the need to release this information to the public,” said Mr Faulding, “evidence that my search for Nicola Bulley was sadly successful, but was not fully investigated [by Lancashire Police] or disclosed to the public.
“I stand by my previous statement outlining our version of events - that I located the body of Nicola Bulley at 10.34am on February 7, after just 6 minutes of searching.
"The enhanced sonar file clearly shows Nicola’s body lying in a foetal position on her right side, legs bent.
“Unfortunately, it is now time to defend myself and my team’s unblemished reputation and stand up for the truth.”
‘The images are the evidence’
“The target which I had located was without a doubt Nicola,” claims Mr Faulding, CEO of Specialist Group International.
He says he was ‘sadly successful’ in finding Nicola’s body in the river ‘within six minutes’ of beginning his search close to the bench where the missing 45-year-old’s phone was found.
He said he made the discovery on the morning of February 7, 13 days before Nicola’s body was spotted around half-a-mile down river by a psychic from Greater Manchester.
“The length of the ‘body parts’ accurately measured to a person of approximately 1.61 metres, the same height as Nicola,” added Mr Faulding, who located the ‘human form’ around 75 metres downstream from the bench.
He says he reported his ‘discovery’ to Lancashire Police but his claims about a ‘body in the water’ were not fully investigated by officers leading the search.
The police diver who went to check the stretch of water said it was tree branches and told a policing review into the case: “I am actually 100% sure that there was no body in that part of the water at that time.
“It is not very often I dive in such an unobstructed body of water with such a flat bottom and with visibility.”
Mr Faulding’s claims contradict previous statements he made that same afternoon (February 7) when he told the media “there was no sign of Nicola” and he did not think she was in the river.
“I categorically confirm that Nicola was not on the river bed, we would have seen her body,” said Mr Faulding following his search.
"For three days, using high frequency side scan sonar, we thoroughly searched the riverbed and can categorically confirm that Nicola was not laying on the riverbed on the days that we searched.”
But he has now shared sonar images to support his latest claim that he found Nicola’s body in a foetus position at the bottom of the river two weeks before she was recovered from the water by police.
“I found Nicola in just 6 minutes”
He says he made the images public to “defend his professional reputation” following the BBC documentary ‘Finding Nicola’ which aired last night.
In the documentary, Mr Faulding was criticised for giving Nicola’s family “false hope” and for his statements to the press where he vowed to find Nicola if she was in the river.
The working relationship between Lancashire Police and Mr Faulding broke down after he gave a number of interviews to the media which the force said fuelled conspiracy theorists on social media.
He said he was ‘baffled’ by her disappearance and suggested that her phone could be a ‘decoy’ and a ‘third party’ could be involved.
Mr Faulding and his SGI team have since been removed from the NCA (National Crime Agency) list of approved experts.
Today, he said: “It is with deep regret that I have had to release these documents and images to defend myself and my team’s professional reputation.”
Peter Faulding’s full statement
He said: “The BBC Documentary ‘Finding Nicola’ which aired on Thursday 3rd October has once again portrayed myself and my team unfairly and I want to set the record straight.
“It is with regret that I feel the need to release this information to the public, evidence that my search for Nicola Bulley was sadly successful, but was not fully investigated or disclosed to the public.
“SGI was called upon to assist with the search for Nicola by her partner Paul. We did so free of charge as we had the relevant equipment and expertise and simply wanted to help a family in distress, after many days of Nicola not being found.
“My statement that ‘if Nicola was there, I would have found her’ comes from nearly three decades of experience. Since 1999, I have pioneered the use of side scan sonar for forensic and underwater search in the UK. I make no apologies for being confident in my and my team’s skills.
“I stand by my previous statement outlining our version of events that I located the body of Nicola Bulley at 10.34 on 7th February within 6 minutes.
“Unfortunately, it is now time to defend myself and my team’s unblemished reputation and stand up for the truth.
“We have always carried out our role with honesty and integrity and it was never our intention to cause any conflict with the police or the family.
“However, we feel that it is in the public’s interest to know that my findings have not been thoroughly investigated and at no point has any live side scan sonar data been requested by the police, the Coroner or the College of Policing despite my many attempts to provide it.
“I welcome any opportunity to have an open and transparent meeting with members of Lancashire Police, their dive team, the College of Policing and the experts that they called upon in the report, to review all the available evidence with media present.
“It is important that the truth be fully investigated for the sake of Nicola and her family, for public confidence, for the future of underwater search and for lessons to be learned to prevent this from ever happening again.”
Why did Lancashire Police dismiss Mr Faulding’s findings?
Lancashire Police have declined to comment on Mr Faulding’s claims.
However, an independent review into the force’s handling of the Nicola Bulley case published in November 2023 confirmed that police divers investigated the underwater object after being alerted by Mr Faulding.
But the report states they found only ‘tree branches underwater’ and no further action was taken.
Head of the College of Policing Andy Marsh added: “The area around the bench was searched three times and the third time was in direct response to the report of his suspicions.
“We have shown as part of the review Peter Faulding’s images from that area at that time, and two independent experts have said that it’s unlikely that that was a body.