Accidents happen..it doesn't have to be sinister

I just wish it hadn't happened to us...

- MARK JEFFERIES

NICOLA Bulley's family and partner have told of their heartache over the search for the missing mum before her body was found in a river.

They also accept there was nothing sinister about her death and hit back at vile trolls who swamped the internet with wild speculation.

Parents Ernest and Dorothy, sister Louise Cunningham and Nicola's partner Paul Ansell pay an emotional tribute to the mum-of-two in a BBC documentary about the 23-day search for her early last year.

Louise says: "She just liked the simple life, really. And being a mum, made her. She was so good at it. She was an amazing mum.

"As far as Nikki going missing and the mystery to it I guess, it was just an accident. It doesn't always have to be something sinister, linked to something that happened.

"Sometimes bad things just happen. I just wish it hadn't happened to us. We're just a normal family that's had a really tough time."

Paul tells of his daily struggles when his two young daughters would ask: "Is Mummy coming home?"