‘Spiritualist Medium’ tells Nicola Bulley documentary how he ‘communicated’ with missing mother-of-two before he found her body in river

A spiritual medium has told a BBC documentary on the search for Nicola Bulley how he ‘communicated’ with the missing mother of two before finding her body in a river. 

Jason Rothwell, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, found the 45-year-old’s remains in the River Wyre in Lancashire on February 19 following an unsuccessful three week search by police. 

The discovery followed a period of intense speculation about Ms Bulley’s whereabouts, with TikTok sleuths descending on the small town of St Michael’s on Wyre – much to the frustration of locals and the police. 

Last night, Mr Rothwell told BBC documentary The Search for Nicola Bulley how he ‘communicated’ with the missing mother before making his discovery. 

‘When I first communicated with her, the one thing she said that stood out to me was ”find me where you find your dog”,’ he said.

Jason Rothwell, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, found the 45-year-old’s remains in the River Wyre in Lancashire on February 19 

Mr Rothwell and his friend are seen in a still taken from the scene yesterday in Lancashire

Nicola Bulley disappeared on January 27, 2023 while walking her dog in St Michael’s on Wyre

‘My dog Hudson had died a few weeks earlier so I just typed in ”St Michael-on-the-Wyre, Hudson” and there is a place called Hudson’s Fishery just along that piece of the water.

‘And so we walked along the river to the place where she said she would be and this object came floating in the water.’

Mr Rothwell describes himself on Facebook as a spiritual medium and Tarot card reader. 

Last night’s documentary also featured criticism of Peter Faulding, a specialist diver who played a controversial role in the search.  

The forensic search specialist vowed in interviews that he would find the missing mother if she was in the river, but after three days of searching with no results suggested she could not be in the water and a ‘third party’ must be involved. 

Mr Faulding was slammed by police for providing ‘contradictory opinions’, as Ms Bulley’s partner described how the expert’s stance led him into conflict with officers. 

But in response, he called the documentary ‘unfair’ and repeated claims to have located her within ‘minutes’ on February 7. He released sonar images he claimed show her body on the bottom of the river, near the bench where she was last seen.

Mr Faulding declined to be interviewed for BBC documentary The Search for Nicola Bulley, but said he ‘wanted to set the record straight’. 

‘The Specialist Group International (SGI) was called upon to assist with the search for Nicola by her partner Paul,’ Mr Faulding wrote. ‘We did so free of charge as we had the relevant equipment and expertise and simply wanted to help a family in distress, after many days of Nicola not being found. 

‘My statement that ”if Nicola was there, I would have found her” comes from nearly 3 decades of experience. Since 1999, I have pioneered the use of side scan sonar for forensic and underwater search in the UK. I make no apologies for being confident in my and my team’s skills. 

Mr Rothwell describes himself on Facebook as a spiritual medium and Tarot card reader 

‘I stand by my previous statement outlining our version of events that I located the body of Nicola Bulley at 10.34 on 7th February within 6 minutes. Unfortunately, it is now time to defend myself and my team’s unblemished reputation and stand up for the truth. 

‘We have always carried out our role with honesty and integrity and it was never our intention to cause any conflict with the police or the family. However, we feel that it is in the public’s interest to know that my findings have not been thoroughly investigated and at no point has any live side scan sonar data been requested by the police, the Coroner or the College of Policing despite my many attempts to provide it. 

‘Without this very important data, no information to support the images would be available and no conclusions would be possible to make.’

Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith, who led the investigation into the 45-year-old’s disappearance, told the BBC that Mr Faulding had been providing ‘contradictory opinions’ that caused conflict between the police and her family.

The documentary also heard from members of her family who told how they were initially pleased about Mr Faulding’s offer to aid the search. 

Ms Bulley’s sister, Louise Cunningham, said: ‘Peter was so confident, I was on tenterhooks the whole time. Peter was there because he was adamant that if she was there, he would have found her.’ 

Her partner, Paul Ansell, said: ‘I was focusing more on how he was saying he could prove that she wasn’t in the water.

‘The first day ended and he hadn’t find anything, which was exactly what we had hoped for. The next day, the same again.’

Mr Ansell said he became angry at the police after they continued searching the river after Mr Faulding had concluded his partner’s body could not be in the water.  

A November 2023 review into the handling of the search for Ms Bulley concluded Mr Faulding had ’caused unwarranted distress and false alarm’ to her family, but he rejected the findings. 

Police at the bench where Ms Bulley’s phone and dog lead were found shortly after she disappeared

The BBC documentary explores the online frenzy that was sparked by Ms Bulley’s disappearance in January 2023. 

Unthinking TikTokers filmed themselves rampaging through police search areas and shared unproven and hurtful theories about Ms Bulley and her loved ones to thousands of viewers that at times threatened to disrupt the official investigation. 

Ms Bulley’s family said they agreed to take part – despite knowing it would be difficult – in order to give her ‘the legacy she deserves’, untainted by the stains of social media speculation.

‘Collectively, we thought long and hard about taking part in a documentary about Nikki. It wasn’t an easy decision,’ her loved ones said earlier this year.

‘Nikki’s face and name quickly became very recognisable, but there is so much to share about Nikki the person.

‘Our sole aim is to provide the definitive record on Nikki to ensure she has the legacy that she deserves.

‘Many people have aired their views about her disappearance and her untimely and tragic death, only we can speak about her as a mummy, partner, daughter and sister.

‘In addition, if our experience of being in the eye of a media storm makes people think twice about how they act and what they say online, then we will have achieved some further good.’

The stretch of the River Wyre where a body was found in reeds a mile from where she was last seen 

Ms Bulley disappeared on the morning of January 27 after dropping her two daughters, aged six and nine, at school.

She then took the family dog for a walk in St Michael’s on Wyre by the River Wyre in Lancashire and was on a work Microsoft Teams call when she vanished, having just texted a friend to arrange a playdate.

Her phone, still connected to the Teams call, and the dog lead were both found at a bench beside the river, as was the dog.

It would be more than three weeks before her body was found a mile downstream from St Michael’s on Wyre – the tragedy compounded by the hurtful rumours spread online.