Preston: Police announced on Monday that Nicola Bulley, whose disappearance had sparked intense media speculation and concerns about the investigation, was indeed the body discovered in a river.

Bulley, 45, was last spotted on January 27 in northwest England walking alongside the River Wyre shortly after dropping her two daughters off at school.

Her dog was running loose on a riverbank close to her home village of Saint Michaels on Wyre, and her phone was discovered on a bench still connected to a work conference call.

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In a statement read to the media in the neighbouring town of Preston, Lancashire Police stated: "Sadly, we are now able to confirm that yesterday we recovered Nicola Bulley from the River Wyre." They also added that the case was now being handled by the coroner.

After police announced Sunday that they had discovered a body and notified her family, the announcement of the identification was not a surprise. Bulley's family said in a statement read to journalists by Detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables, "You have been found, we can now let you rest."

The Bulley children, who are nine and six years old, would have to learn that "the press and members of the public accused their dad of wrongdoing, misquoted and vilified friends and family," they berated the media, saying they would have to tell them that.

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They pleaded with journalists to respect their privacy, saying "This is absolutely abhorrent, they have to be held accountable, and this cannot happen to another family."

Lancashire Police's handling of the case has drawn harsh criticism and charges of victim-blaming, despite the fact that they were right to say from the start that Bulley was most likely to have fallen into the river.
With her family's knowledge, police disclosed private information about Bulley's drinking and mental state in an effort to explain her "vulnerabilities."

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Suella Braverman, the interior minister, had enquired as to the reason behind the information's release from the police.