Nicola Bulley vanished while walking her dog on a footpath by the nearby River Wyre (Picture: PA)

Friends of missing mum Nicola Bulley have hit out at online sleuths sharing ‘vile theories’ about what might have happened to her, saying it is ‘incredibly hurtful’ to her family.

Ms Bulley, 45, vanished more than a week ago while walking her dog in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, in Lancashire, after dropping off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school.

Police say their ‘working hypothesis’ is that the mother-of-two fell into the water and that ‘this is not suspicious but a tragic case of a missing person’.

Neighbours have described seeing amateur detectives quizzing locals and using handheld cameras to record ‘documentary evidence’ about the case.

One, who asked not to be named, said he came across a man claiming to have attended crime scenes and missing persons cases up and down the country ‘spouting crackpot theories’.

The neighbour added: ‘It’s upsetting to hear this sort of stuff from someone who has just turned up for their own interest.’

Lancashire Police Superintendent Sally Riley, who is leading the investigation, said ‘clairvoyants’ had even called claiming to have psychic knowledge of Ms Bulley’s whereabouts, The Times reports.

Ms Bulley was last seen on the morning of Friday, January 27, when she was spotted walking her dog on a footpath by the nearby River Wyre (Picture: PA)

Ms Bulley has been missing for more than a week (Picture: Paul Greenwood/Shutterstock)

Specialist water teams joining the search (Picture: PA)

The unexplained disappearance and huge police search has also sparked huge interest in online true crime forums.

Ms Bulley’s friend Heather Gibbons said some of the ‘vile theories’ circulating there are ‘incredibly hurtful to her family.

She told BBC North West Tonight: ‘The speculation is massive. I mean it’s human nature – everyone’s going to have their thoughts, their theories – everyone will be speculating.

‘I don’t think people are realising that the family are sitting at home and are able to access and see all of that.’

Ms Gibbons added that she was worried her friend’s two daughters will one day ‘look back and be able to see everything that was said’.

Detectives have also moved to quell the online rumours and abuse of people aiding the investigation.

Lancashire Police said: ‘The speculation and abuse on social media aimed at some people who are merely assisting our inquiry is totally unacceptable.

‘We would urge people to remember that we are investigating the disappearance of Nicola, and the priority is Nicola and her family. We want to find her and provide answers to her family.’

Police search teams on the River Wyre (Picture: PA)

The search operation is ongoing (Picture: PA)

They have called in a specialist dive team equipped with a high-spec sonar ‘which can see every stick and stone lying on the riverbed’.

Specialist Group International (SGI), led by forensic expert Peter Faulding, will begin aiding the search in the waterways of St Michael’s on Wyre village from Monday morning.

Mr Faulding told Sky News: ‘Let’s get this water searched so it can be either confirmed or denied if Nicola is actually in this river.’

He told the broadcaster his company’s £55,000 side-scan sonar has a high frequency of 1,800 kilohertz, adding that ‘we’ve got a very high hit rate’ with it.

Meanwhile, new images have been released of Ms Bulley from the day she disappeared.

The images, taken from her home’s doorbell camera and released by her family, show the mother-of-two loading her car before driving her two children to school.

She is wearing a long black coat, and her blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail.

New images have been released of Ms Bulley from the day she disappeared (Picture: Family/Emma White)

The force believes the mortgage adviser went missing in ‘a 10-minute window’ on January 27.

Ms Bulley had logged in to a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am, which ended at 9.30am with her phone still connected to the call.

She was seen by another dog walker at 9.10am – the last known sighting – and police traced telephony records of her mobile phone as it remained on a bench overlooking the river at 9.20am.

The device was found by a dog walker at around 9.35am, with Willow nearby.

Meanwhile, a woman described as a ‘key witness’ by police has come forward. On Saturday, officers said they wanted to trace a person seen pushing a pram in the area near where the dog walker went missing.

In an update on its Facebook page, Lancashire Constabulary said the woman had come forward ‘very quickly’.

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‘I don’t think people are realising that the family are sitting at home and are able to access and see all of that.’