River Soar Leicester: Private divers who searched for Nicola Bulley join operation to find two-year-old Xielo Maruziva

Underwater experts from a private firm, who supported the search for Nicola Bulley, will join the operation to find two-year-old boy, Xielo Maruziva, who fell into a river in Leicester, police have said. The boy fell into the River Soar on 18 February at around 5pm while out with his family in the area of Aylestone Meadows on the outskirts of Leicester.

Xielo is yet to be found as the search has entered its second week. His father went into the water and attempted to rescue him and police later launched a large search operation. Last week Xielo's parents described their son as a "cheeky, funny" boy who is "a bundle of joy".

From today (Tuesday 27 February) experts from private company Specialist Group International (SGI) will join the operation after "further conversations with search specialists and Xielo's family". The same experts were involved in the search for mother-of-two Ms Bulley in the River Wyre in Lancashire last year. Ms Bulley’s body was found more than three weeks after her disappearance on 27 January 2023.

Following the search for Ms Bulley, a report from the College of Policing claimed the behaviour of the chief executive at SGI "caused challenges" to the search. It said Peter Faulding "had a significant impact on the investigation and public confidence through his activities and his engagement with the media". 

After being taken off a list of police experts, Mr Faulding said he had been removed "for no reason" and his reputation had been "damaged". He added that if police had used the right expertise earlier, Ms Bulley could have been found sooner. It is unclear whether Mr Faulding will be directly involved in the search for Xielo but according to LinkedIn he is still the CEO of SGI.

Michaela Kerr, assistant chief constable at Leicestershire Police, said of the continuing search: "We're in regular contact with Xielo's family and are continuing to support them in what remains a very upsetting time. Our search operation to locate Xielo continues to widen as we know he may have travelled further from where he went into the water, and potentially outside our force area." She added: "Our decision to involve SGI in the search (is) in liaison with Xielo's family and having spoken to both the company and independent specialists."