A staggering report into the police hunt for Nicola Bulley has blasted their "misguided" failure to categorise her disappearance as a "critical incident".
The comprehensive 143-page review by the College of Policing also found that releasing personal details about Nicola's health and private life was both "avoidable and unnecessary".
The missing mum had been walking her dog by the River Wyre three miles from her home in Inskip, Lancashire when she vanished in January.
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In the four weeks it took Lancashire Police to find her body, which was finally located a mile downstream, the force experienced unprecedented media attention and criticism.
The latest report published today highlights how Nicola's story turned into a "global social media frenzy" as police failed to provide sufficient updates and created an "information vacuum". Conspiracy ghouls on TikTok had shared unfounded theories and even video of police retrieving the body.
In doing so, the report acknowledged how the force paved the way for widespread speculation from amateur detectives and created a lack of confidence in the investigation.
"The decision by the chief officer team not to declare it a critical incident earlier was, in our view, misguided... Not declaring a critical incident, and not releasing more information about the investigation, hampered Lancashire Constabulary’s ability to control the narrative and undermined public confidence," the report said.
The review also flagged several chances police had to prevent the release of Nicola's private health information, including offering a non-reportable briefing to the press or publicly categorising her as "high risk" from the outset.
Another conclusion in the report read: "The Constabulary missed several opportunities during the investigation to remove or reduce the requirement to disclose further information about Nicola’s vulnerabilities.
"It should have anticipated that this information would be requested or would come to light from another source. In our view, despite it being lawful, the release of this highly sensitive information by the Constabulary was ultimately avoidable and unnecessary."
But the inquiry also revealed how some members of the police were thrust into situations without training, under immense and unprecedented pressure. As the press office faced hundreds of calls about Nicola on top of their day job, they were stretched to the limit, regularly working outside their contracted hours.
But rather than accept "mutual aid" with press officers dispatched to help from nearby police forces, Lancashire Constabulary opted to draft in untrained internal staff to help from other roles.
The force also struggled to control "external voices" including that of underwater search expert, Peter Faulding, who was dubbed "the human mole" for his purported ability to locate missing people and bodies.
The behind the scenes report, which discloses fractious emails between Mr Faulding and police officers, also reveals how the force claims it tried to muzzle him with a non-disclosure agreement.
The report states: "The chief inspector recalls that an explanation was provided to Mr Faulding that it was an NDA and highlighted that he should not share any information with anyone."
But Mr Faulding denied any knowledge of an NDA when his company Specialist Group International (SGI) were invited to take part in the report. A spokesperson for SGI was quoted in the document: "Peter did not sign an NDA, either before or on the day, he was asked to sign a piece of paper which he was not provided a copy of. As we recall, it set out SGI’s responsibilities insofar as Risk assessment, H&S issues etc, this missive was not set out as a ‘NDA’."
The report, commissioned by Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, Andrew Snowdon concluded that it fully supports Lancashire Constabulary but hoped it would provide learnings for police in the force and nationally.
Chief Constable Andy Marsh, CEO of the College of Policing, said: "While we have not shied away from criticism there are also many areas of Lancashire Constabulary’s response that should be commended including an exemplary investigation and a well conducted search.
"At the heart of the investigation was Nicola. I am left in no doubt that she and her family were foremost in the minds of officers and staff throughout the search."
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