A DIVE expert says he knows he'll be "canned" over the Nicola Bulley search, but claims he did his best.
Peter Faulding was speaking after police yesterday confirmed a body had been found less than a mile from where the missing mum vanished.
Nicola, 45, was last seen in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, at around 9.15am on January 27.
Yesterday, police raced to the River Wyre after two dog walkers frantically phoned through saying they had found remains.
The cops said as no formal identification had been carried out, they could not say whether the body belonged to the mum-of-two.
Dive expert Peter had previously declared: "If Nicola was in that river, I would have found her. She’s not there."
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But, speaking yesterday, he claimed he had only ruled out the section of river near the bench Nicola's phone was found.
Peter said the rest of the river beyond the weir remained an "open book".
He told The Times: "I know I'm going to get canned for this but I don't care.
"The police search teams walked that river every day.
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"We were only there for two and a half days using sonar and when we searched that part she was not laying at the bottom of that river."
Peter said the sonar devices he used did not detect objects stuck in the reeds, as the body found yesterday appeared to be.
And, he added, he didn't think the body had been in the reeds long, otherwise sniffer dogs would have found it.
Meanwhile, Peter sent support to Nicola's family.
He wrote on Twitter: "Our thoughts are with Nicola's family and friends at this difficult time."
The expert also insisted he didn't give the family "false hope" following his extensive searches.
It comes as…
- The horrified witness' first words after spotting a women's body in the river were revealed
- Nicola's family could be waiting days to find out if the body pulled from the river is hers
- A former cop claims we'll never know what happened to Nicola
- The missing mum's partner shares how he and their children are coping
- Inside the police's search for the 45-year-old
- A former cop claims there are "two possibilities" as to why a body has only just been found
Yesterday divers were seen entering the water after two police cars were raced to the scene after 11am.
A cop helicopter circled above as a man and woman were seen pointing to the spot where a new search was launched.
The search area spans along Rawcliffe Road as well as nearby footpaths.
Police said yesterday the death was being treated as "unexplained".
Nicola's partner Paul broke his silence after the body was found and said he had: "No words right now, just agony."
Other members of the mum's family were said to be feeling "heartbroken", and bracing for "the worst possible news".
Meanwhile, former cops have weighed in on why they think a body has only just been found in the search for Nicola.
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One former cop revealed there were two possibilities – police "failed in their search or the body was weighed down".
Another claimed nobody will ever know with "absolute certainty" what happened to Nicola.
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