Police searching for toddler in river call in Nicola Bulley diving expert Peter Faulding to join search

Search to find Xielo Maruziva is ongoing after little boy fell into the River Soar on 18 February

The diving expert who joined the hunt for missing mother Nicola Bulley has been called in to help find a missing toddler in Leicestershire.

A search was launched to find Xielo Maruziva after reports that the two year-old, who was with family at the time, fell into the water on February 18 in Aylestone Meadows, close to Marsden Lane, Leicester.

From Tuesday, experts from private company Specialist Group International (SGI), who were involved in the search for Ms Bulley in the River Wyre in Lancashire last year, will join the operation after “further conversations with search specialists and Xielo’s family”.

Xielo Maruziva fell into the River Soar on 18 February (PA Media)

Mr Faulding, who founded SGI, previously helped with the search for Ms Bulley, 45, after she vanished on January 27 last year.

He claimed to have found the missing mother within a matter of minutes using advanced sonar, despite the search eventually taking 23 days until her body was recovered.

However, a police review into the handling of her disappearance found that he had created “challenges” during the operation, and he was critical of Lancashire Police’s search efforts.

Peter Faulding, who runs an expert diving company, has joined the search (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Archive)

Mr Faulding claimed to have found missing mother Nicola Bulley within minutes (Family handout/PA) (PA Media)

The 61-year-old expert diver said that Xielo’s family had contacted him to request his help, but that his offer of support was “ignored” by Leicestershire police.

He said: “The request came in from the family on February 21 - they pleaded with me to help them search.

“I said I’d do it free of charge - my team is ready to roll straight away. We’ve got the best equipment in the world, and I’ve got an untarnished reputation for finding 10 drowning victims per year. We’re not some amateur team. But we’ve been ignored by the police.

“We’ve put constant requests in to help find Xielo since Wednesday - but we’ve heard nothing back. Or, they’ve said they’ve got enough resources. This isn’t about police hatred - it’s about finding a two-year-old boy, the same age as my own grandson.”

Mr Faulding, left, with Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell on a visit to the riverside (PA)

As of Tuesday however, his team will be involved in the search, with Assistant Chief Constable Michaela Kerr confirming: “We continue to be grateful to the support we’ve been shown by the public and colleagues from other forces and agencies.

“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.

“I would like to reassure you that our operation is continuing and our teams will be carrying out co-ordinated searches at various points along the river.”

“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.

“I’d also like to remind the public that the river is dangerous and that they should not go into the water themselves.”

Search efforts for Xielo have been hampered by poor weather conditions (PA)

The search for the boy is in its second week, with the focus on the stretch of river around Watermead Park and Birstall over the weekend, police said.

After the little boy fell into the water, his father jumped in to rescue him and was later hospitalised as a precautionary measure. In a statement, his parents described their son as a “cheeky, funny” boy who is “a bundle of joy”, while sharing an image of him wearing a Spiderman outfit.

Search efforts have been hampered by the bad weather and local flooding, with members of the public urged not to attempt their own search efforts.