TWO people were arrested tonight for sending malicious messages to parish councillors over the disappearance of Nicola Bulley.
Lancashire Police said they received reports of the messages to Wyre Council members over the weekend leading to the arrest of a man, aged 49, from Manchester on suspicion of malicious communications offences.
He has been released on bail, pending further enquiries, until May 12.
A woman, 20, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, has also been held on suspicion of the same offence and remains in police custody.
Wyre Council removed the contact details of Inskip with Sowerby Parish councillors after several received “vile” telephone calls over the weekend in relation to the case.
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Leader of the council Michael Vincent described the messages as “vile” and said it would “not tolerate” abuse of elected members.
He said: “It is a shame we have had to take this step at such a difficult time and appropriate steps are being taken to ensure that residents are still able to contact their elected representatives.”
The news comes after it emerged cops have now contacted local fishing clubs wanting information.
They are understood to have been asked about anglers who may have had tickets to fish the river and who may have been on its banks when she vanished.
Details being probed by police include a report of two men trying to hide their faces near Nicola's dog-walking route the day before she went missing.
Cops are also trawling through security camera footage from the area and trying to trace the owner of a shabby-looking red van spotted outside a barn on the morning Nicola vanished.
Nicola, 45, disappeared while walking her dog Willow on January 27 in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
The nation has been gripped by Nicola's disappearance after her mobile was found on a bench still connected to a work conference call.
Nicola’s pet springer spaniel Willow was also found – but there was no trace of the mum-of-two.
Lancashire Police said previously their “main working hypothesis” is that Nicola had “sadly fallen in the river”.
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But officers were yesterday seen searching a caravan site just yards from where the mum was last seen.
They previously released a timeline of the missing mum’s final movements before she disappeared.
Nicola began her walk along the towpath to the River Wyre at 8.43am after dropping her two children off at school.
Police say around seven minutes later, a dog walker who knows Nicola saw her walking around the lower field with her springer spaniel Willow.
The witness said their two dogs interacted briefly before she left Nicola via the river path.
At 8.53am, the mum sent an email to her boss at Exclusively Mortgages.
She then logged into a Teams call at 9.01am and was seen around nine minutes later on the upper field walking Willow.
Police say at 9.30am, the work call ended but Nicola stayed logged on.
At around 9.35am, the mobile and Willow were found at a bench by the river but there was no sign of Nicola.
Police are probing a two hour gap between Nicola's last sighting and when she was reported missing at 11am.
Anybody with information about where she might be is asked to call 101, quoting log 473 of January 27, or ring 999 for immediate sightings.
