The partner of Nicola Bulley said ‘nothing had been different’ the morning of her disappearance.
Paul Ansell had made a cup of tea and was about to start work when he was told she had vanished.
He sat down with Channel 5’s Dan Walker to give an interview on the couple’s ‘totally normal’ morning routine on Friday, January 27.
He told Dan: ‘I work for a US firm so my hours are like six hours behind UK time.
‘So I usually start a little bit later in the morning. So when Nikki takes the girls to school, I then know that I’ve got like an hour to myself on that morning when she takes them.
‘I just went in the house, put the kettle on, made a cup of tea, went into the living room, and thought I’ve got on an hour now to sort of chill and get myself ready for the day.’
Nicola usually returned home from walking Willow around 9.45am. When she didn’t appear on January 27, Paul started to realise something might be wrong.
He began to log onto his work emails however, as he wasn’t ‘massively concerned’, he told Dan.
Paul explained: ‘Then it got to half past. And that’s when I thought you know, she’s quite, quite late now.
‘More late than usual. So I tried ringing her phone. And there was no answer. I tried ringing again on WhatsApp. And again, there was no answer. I tried the mobile again and no answer..
‘Now I sort of started to get a bit bit panicky I think.
‘So that’s when I thought I’m gonna have to go down there and see if she’s alright. See if I can see the car or you know, see what’s going on.
‘But I still expected that I’d just get there and you know there she is. I go to the gym on a Friday, Friday lunchtime. So I quickly got my gym stuff up on.
‘Because I just thought basically I’m gonna go out, find her, come home do a bit of work.’
But as he was about to leave, Paul’s phone rang.
It was the receptionist at their kids’ school, who explained that Nicola’s phone had been found on a bench – and Willow was alone.
Paul drove down to the water’s edge where he was handed the mobile.
He joined others to search the nearby area, looking behind hedges and over stiles, before they decided to call 999.
Police urged him to return home with the dog.
Paul told Dan: ‘I’d gone home then, taken Willow back, police officer had come to the house and you know, although I was like obviously extremely worried and
concerned.
‘I still expected any second they’d just go, oh, found her, you know, we’ve, we’ve found her here or, whatever.
‘That never happened. The day then just spiralled and end of the day came and, no answers.
‘Here we are, you know, two weeks later.’
Paul had also explained how ‘nothing had been different’ the night before Nicola vanished.
The couple had sat down and watched television before going to bed separately.
Dan asked if she had mentioned any ‘struggle’ or if ‘anything was wrong’, to which Paul responded no.
Family and friends of Nicola have questioned the police theory that she probably fell into the water while walking her dog, after dropping her children off at school on January 27.
And the underwater search expert called in to help look for her said the case is a ‘complete mystery’ after failing to find any sign of her.
Paul’s interview comes as police announced an investigation into reports of a ‘shabby’ red van seen near where she went missing.
It was seen close to Ms Bulley’s walking route on the morning she disappeared, parked in a lane near the school where she dropped her two daughters before walking her dog by the river.
The vehicle was described by a witness as being a faded red-coloured high-sided Renault or Transit.
He told The Sun: ‘Obviously, I don’t know whether this van is related to Nicola’s disappearance. All I know is that something grabbed my attention. I felt compelled to tell police about it.
‘Even though it was down the road, as the crow flies it’s quite close to where Nicola was last seen.’
Vanished: Where is Nicola Bulley? was shown on Channel 5 at 9pm on Friday.
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