Nicola Bulley: Chilling reality of TikTok sleuthing laid bare as family reveal true extent of torment

Ahead of a new BBC documentary about Nicola Bulley, the Mirror takes a look at the chilling reality of the amateur TikTok sleuths whose investigations added to her family’s already unbearable torment

The case of Nicola Bulley was a devastating one – and there were those who took their fascination with her sad story to disturbing extremes.

Now the shocking series of events will be explored in tonight’s BBC documentary, The Search For Nicola Bulley, with her partner Paul Ansell opening up about their turmoil with social media trolls. Mum-of-two Nicola vanished while walking her dog along the River Wyre on January 27, 2023, in St Michael’s on Wyre.

A widescale manhunt ensued, and it wasn’t long before rumours and speculation began spreading like wildfire on platforms such as TikTok. The amateur sleuths’ shared obsession became so intense that Lancashire police were forced to ban them from the search area, while Nicola’s friend Heather Gibbon told reporters it felt as though it had turned into a ghoulish ‘tourist spot’.

Sadly, when the 45-year-old’s body was recovered from the river, the tragedy did not give the sleuths pause for thought. Indeed, in a grotesque twist, one TikToker went as far as to film Nicola’s lifeless body being pulled from the river.

Hairdresser Curtis Arnold, from Kidderminster, West Midlands, later admitted to earning nearly £900 in royalties off the back of the vile clip, which was shared across his multiple platforms. And he was far from the only one with a morbid interest in Nicola’s death.

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‘Armchair detectives’ became obsessed with the disappearance of Nicola Bulley(Image: Lancashire Police / SWNS)

In the 24 hours that followed the announcement, The Mirror reported a staggering 387 million views on TikTok videos hashtagged #NicolaBulley. And in the days that followed, things continued to spiral, so much so that Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden even announced an independent review to understand how officers had lost control of the narrative.

He said at the time: “TikTok, in particular, [saw] online amateur detectives pushing conspiracy theories out, which resulted in vile abuse towards Nicola’s family and friends. How did that get so out of hand?” An inquest into Nicola’s death, which concluded on June 27, 2023, determined that she’d had fallen into the cold water and drowned almost immediately.

But even this didn’t quell the alarming conversations happening in conspiratorial corners of the web. In November last year, the account @armchairdetective posted a clip claiming Nicola’s remains had been planted in the reeds, in what they suggested was a ‘faked’ crime scene. The video clocked up a quarter of a million views.

Then, in January of this year, the same account speculated that Nicola was pushed, while another, @cometcrime, even made unsubstantiated connections between Nicola’s partner Paul and Blackpool drug gangs. As well as dealing with his heartbreaking loss, Paul has had to protect their two young daughters in the face of vile online abuse.

Speaking in the new doc, Paul shared: “I was getting direct messages from people that I’ve never met. They don’t know me, they don’t know us, they don’t know Nikki. They know nothing about us. Just messages like ‘you b******’. ‘We know what you did’. ‘You know you can’t hide Paul’, that kind of stuff.

“There was some that I felt like replying to, but then if you reply to that, they’ll just screenshot your reply, if that’ll end up on social media. And so you’re literally silenced, and you can’t do anything about it.”

Speaking previously with the Mirror, criminologist Dr Honor Doro Townshend explained that there were several factors at play when it came to the viral spotlight on Nicola’s case. Dr Townshend said: “Firstly, it’s important to remember that Nicola’s disappearance occurred less than two years after the murder of Sarah Everard, which sent shockwaves through communities across the country. The impact of such a horrific case on amplifying societal fear cannot be underestimated, and when Nicola was reported missing, many feared a repeat of those tragic circumstances.”

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TikTok videos with Nicola’s name have amassed over 505.2M views in the year since her disappearance(Image: TikTok)

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Conspiracy theories by amateur sleuths remained prominent and popular on the viral social media app(Image: TikTok)

As well as drawing links between both high-profile cases, Dr Townshend believes the lack of public information and Nicola’s characteristics had parts to play in the online attention. “There were instances where the police shared seemingly irrelevant information, such as a press release mentioning Nicola drinking alcohol, which many viewed as victim-blaming at the time,” she explained. “This leaves room for, at best, questions – or at worst, misinformation.”

Dr Townshend explained the ‘ideal victim hypothesis’, which suggests that “certain groups, namely white, middle-class, ‘attractive’ women, receive disproportionate media attention when reported missing or are victims of crime, compared to other demographics”. She added: “Coupling all these factors with a society consuming more true crime content than ever before, including documentaries where ‘armchair detectives’ have made a positive impact, such as Don’t F*** With Cats, it’s clear that it was a combination of all these elements that led to the massive social media response to Nicola’s disappearance.”

Looking ahead at what harm amateur sleuths do to criminal investigations, Dr Townshend said: “The most significant issue social media poses to criminal investigations is the potential spread of misinformation. As consumers of social media, it’s crucial to remember that the information gathered on these platforms often isn’t fact-checked, can be opinionated, or might lack crucial details. While they often may have the best intentions, armchair detectives can unintentionally hinder active investigations.”

This of course isn’t the only time online trolls have gotten frighteningly carried away with a high-profile case. After 19-year-old Jay Slater went missing during a holiday in Tenerife, amateur sleuths came out in force, with dozens of visitors even travelling to the Rural de Teno National Park to try and solve the case for themselves.

Before the apprentice bricklayer was eventually found dead in a remote ravine, criminologist and crime scene investigator Alex Iszatt warned that even those with the best of intentions ran the risk of hampering the case, as well as causing considerable stress to Jay’s loved ones.

Remarking that online sleuths are ‘offering very little evidence and not giving objective answers’, she added: “Whether these ‘detectives’ are looking to find Jay, to prove he is a victim or a villain, they are really only doing it for themselves – so they can be part of the story, and be seen as heroes in their own way.”