Tragic Nicola's partner 'said she's struggling'

INQUEST STARTS INTO DEATH OF RIVER MUM

- AMY FENTON AND PAUL BRITTON

TRAGIC mum-of-two Nicola Bulley’s partner said ‘she’s struggling’ after he was told her mobile phone had been found on a bench beside a river together with her dog roaming free, an inquest into her death was told.

Ms Bulley, 45, was reported missing from St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, after last being seen dropping off her daughters at school before taking the family dog for a walk by the River Wyre.

Ms Bulley’s parents, Ernest and Dot, her sister, Louise Cunningham, and her partner, Paul Ansell, were present as the two-day inquest at County Hall in Preston got under way yesterday.

Witness Susan Jones, a retired careworker, told the court that at around 10am on January 27 she received a call from Penny Fletcher, who runs a campsite in the village and had discovered Willow, the dog, and Ms Bulley’s mobile phone, which was still logged in to a Microsoft Teams call, on the bench.