Nicola Bulley's final text before tragic death revealed during inquest

Nicola Bulley's final text before disappearing after walking her dog has been revealed.

The Brit was last seen with her dog Willow along the River Wyre in Lancashire on 27 January 2023, and the media attention on her case put her in the eye of public interest.

Emergency authorities and police searched relentlessly for the missing mother-of-two until her body was tragically discovered weeks down the line.

It was deduced that she had accidentally fallen into the water and died.

It was a traumatising case for her family and loved ones in particular, who have recently shared how they really feel about her case in a new BBC documentary, which was released last night (3 October).

Nicola Bulley's disappearance made national headlines last year (Family Handout/PA Wire)

A number of conspiracy theories were thrown at the Bulley family as social media users made several baseless claims about her disappearance, which her partner Paul Ansell said was 'emotionally draining' to speak about.

Dr. James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire, revealed that Nicola was 'alive when entering the water' during the inquest last year too, with the new documentary covering every last detail of the case - including a timeline of what happened before she went missing, as well as what her final words were.

The court heard from Home Office pathologist Alison Armour on the first day of the inquest, as Armour pieced together Nicola's last day and focused on a text message exchange between her and her friend Lucy, as they were planning a playdate for their daughters.

The last text Nicola received and sent were recorded, as it was found that the night before her disappearance, she texted Lucy, who replied the next morning after seeing the text.

Responding at 8:13am, Lucy later said to the court: "I said my daughter would love to come and play."

A documentary on Bulley's disappearance was released on BBC last night, which saw her family finally have their say on the tragic case (Rogan Productions)

Then, at 8:59am, Nicola responded, confirming a time with a smiley face. The mums also had plans to meet the next day, as Lucy revealed: "We were going to be meeting up, a group of mums, on the Saturday night for a few drinks."

Armour, who also conducted Nicola's post-mortem, confirmed during the inquest last year that water was found in her lungs and the cause of death was drowning.

The coroner prompted Armour to summarise what she found, stating: "I conclude the cause of death as drowning. The lungs themselves showed classical features we see in drownings. In my opinion Nicola Bulley was alive when she entered the water."

She also revealed that water in the lungs indicated an 'active process' called swallowing, which was a sign that Bulley was alive when entering the river, while noting that there were no diseases or brain bleeds detecte. There was also no traces of harmful medication detected, as well as a low level of alcohol.

The Search for Nicola Bulley is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.