BBC The Search for Nicola Bulley: What happened to her and where was she found?

A new BBC documentary will look at a missing person case that gripped the nation.

The Search for Nicola Bulley, which airs on BBC One tonight, explores what happened to the missing Lancashire mum, from Inskip, and why the case drew so much attention from the public.

Nicola, 45, disappeared while she was walking her pet dog along the River Wyre near the village of St Michael's on Wyre on January 27 last year, shortly after dropping her children off at school. When her mobile phone and dog were found by a bench near the river with no sign of Nicola, a huge search was launched to try and find her.

READ MORE: Full timeline of events from day of disappearance to body being found

In the weeks that followed, the small Lancashire village became a hotspot for internet sleuths carrying out their own investigations and coming up with 'wild theories' about the mum that were slammed by the family.

In the new documentary, Nicola's partner, sister and parents all speak out about the impact the search and the coverage of it had on them.

On the morning of January 27 in 2023, Nicola dropped off her two daughters, aged six and nine, at school and took her regular dog walk along the River Wyre in St Michael's.

Around half an hour later, her mobile phone, which was still connected to a work Teams call, was discovered on a bench overlooking the water. Her dog Willow was also found alone near the bench, showing no signs of having been in the river, while the dog's harness was found on the ground between the bench and the river.

In the days that followed, an extensive search of the river, surrounding land, and the nearby sea was initiated, involving divers, drones, sniffer dogs and helicopters.

Despite the initial search failing to