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A friend of Nicola Bulley has criticised the visitors to the search area as “tourists” using the mum-of-two’s disappearance as an opportunity to “do personal social media things”. Heather Gibbons said that while she understands “human nature”, the large numbers of arrivals has made the area feel like a “tourist spot”, she said.

Her comments come after police warned against rampant speculation that may prove harmful to the family, as well as “online abuse” against anyone connected with the search.

The search for Ms Bulley has entered its 13th day after she disappeared during a riverside dog walk in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.

Ms Gibbons said: “The truth is if we look at it factually, no-one knows until we have some evidence. I think it’s incredibly hard, but up to a certain level, we understand it’s human nature. It’s natural for everyone to have speculation, because the truth is, nothing is making sense.”

While the turnout for the search was “amazing”, Ms Gibbons said, she added: “We have noticed it does feel like some people have come to maybe use it as more like a tourist spot, to do their own personal social media things which in some ways we see and understand but it is hard, there’s a lot of people around as it is.”

Today analysis by Express.co.uk revealed multiple private planes had taken to circling the area, including the length of the river, possibly in order to help the search.

Speaking in a press conference on Tuesday, Supt Sally Riley said: “We would ask that people in the wider community, particularly on social media and online, do not speculate as to what may have happened to Nicola. We will not tolerate online abuse of anyone, including innocent witnesses, members of the family and friends, of local businesses, or of criminal damage or burglary.”

She added that police will take a “strong line” on this issue. While police said they currently believe Ms Bulley fell in the river, they are still “fully open-minded to any information that may indicate where Nicola is or what happened to her”.

Multiple Facebook groups dedicated to discussing Ms Bulley, some with as many as 20,000 followers, have appeared since she disappeared.

Meanwhile a community group on blogging site Reddit dedicated to the same topic has reached nearly 3,000 members.

Some commenters have remarked on how many of those following the case appear to be treating it like a true crime documentary or podcast, rather than a real-life tragedy.

@ScottyMiddz said: “People watch “The Staircase” and “Making a Murderer” and suddenly they become crime experts. The absolute grim side of social media.

“Nicola Bulley is a mother, wife, daughter. The lack of decency without any evidence is shocking to say the least.”

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@marthamylove_ added: “Nicola Bulley’s case has really reframed all true crime for me. Seeing people show up to the search site and her family home, posting their weird amateur theories and acting like this isn’t happening right this second to real people is gross. Go listen to a podcast ffs.

Ms Bulley had dropped her two daughters, aged six and nine, off at school and then gone on her usual dog walk alongside the river.

Her phone, still connected to a Teams call in which she had just met a new client for her job as a mortgage advisor, was found on a bench on a steep riverbank overlooking the water, along with the dog lead and harness on the ground.

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