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An amatuer TikTok detective has sparked outrage after a video posted on social media shows the sleuth “digging” near the site where missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley disappeared. Following the release of the video, police have doubled down on their urge for amateur sleuths not to interfere in the investigation.

Since Ms Bulley disappeared in January, conspiracy theories have exploded on social media, as amateur sleuths travel to St Michael’s on Wyre, resulting in pushback from locals and police.

Lancashire Police have pressed people to stay away from the area, and senior investigators have warned that social media sleuths have “distracted” the investigation into her disappearance.

Two men appeared to be searching for a corpse near the river Wyre, where Ms Bulley disappeared.

One of the men can be seen digging up a small patch of ground while the other films him.

Speaking to MailOnline, a local dog walker who gave his name said: “This TikTok stuff is ridiculous. It’s a lot of people playing armchair detectives and speculating about things they don’t know anything about.

“It’s not helping the police at all.

“These videos just attract more people who haven’t got anything to contribute but just want to be part of it.

“It’s really disrespectful to Nicola’s family to have people who don’t know anything about it making comments and sticking their noses in.

“There’s even people filming themselves digging in some of the woods nearby. It’s shocking.”

A spokesperson for the police told The Independent: “We’re aware of this incident, we’re looking into it and any criminal acts will be investigated.

Local council chief Michael Vincent told the Sunday Mirror: “We have made it very clear that online amateur sleuths should not be coming to St Michael’s interfering with the investigation and causing concern to the local community.

“They are a continuing distraction to the case and our efforts to trace Nicola.”

Local council leader Michael Vincent told the Sunday Mirror: “It’s almost as though social media idiocy and reality have become blurred.

“We’ve had these weirdos, these ghouls, trying people’s door handles, peering through their windows.

“There has to be an element of decency. We can’t allow social media to be a place where there is no morality.”

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