Found Deceased Spain - Esther Dingley, from UK, missing in the Pyrenees, November 2020 #5

[PeggyHenry]

Firstly - I have no clarity on dogs - there isn't any - well, not that I'm aware of. They loved the dogs - when did they go? Why did they go? Its a massive thing to give dogs away to a new home. I'll try and research this but sounds like there are no definitive answers in the public domain.

If Esther was killed on the mountain, then the likelihood is that she remains on the mountain. No-one could have brought down the body. It suggests Dan believes she died on the mountain and her body is on the mountain.

Her 38-year-old boyfriend Dan Colegate, a former business development manager, had stayed in France with their five dogs and was house-sitting in the tiny village of Arreau in the Haute-Pyrenees.
Hunt for missing British hiker in the Pyrenees could be called off 'until spring' | Daily Mail Online

However, was this correct reporting.. cannot remember why it is felt that the dogs were no longer with them...

 

[stmarysmead]

Just to give some context here the silver lining comment was made when they were discussing the time Dan nearly died.



BBM "In the on-screen box beside Dan, Esther, who is broadcasting live from the pair's parked-up campervan,"

It would seem from that to me that it was not something recorded/pre-recorded as such but an interview done as a 3 way video call - DC in Gascony, ED in campervan and BBC interviewer (presumably) in the UK.

Good point, Grouse.

I’ve been looking at Dan’s dossier and comparing that with Esther’s FB posts.

From the dossier:
“3/11– 7/11 Returns to motorhome on 3rd and relocates to Ainsa. Weather is unsettled so she spends most of her time near the motorhome. The forecast is for the good weather to return in a few days and she has been invited to go hiking with some people she met on the ‘30/10-2/11’ hike, so she waits.

On the evening of the 7th she relocates to Egea.

8/11 - Goes hiking to Pic Turbon with the people she met during the ‘30/10 - 2/11’ hike.”

@@@@@@@@

So, it seems for 4 days, from Nov 3-7 Esther does no hiking. She and the van are in Ainsa. Maybe they record the interview then. But Esther makes no mention 0f what should have been an exciting experience for them.

Her next post is on Nov. 4th. Esther posts a marketing article about the dog books that’s appeared in the Northern Echo. Then she posts nothing at all from the 4th through the 7th though she’s supposedly stuck in that small camper in Ainsa alone due to inclement weather. Strange silence IMO. She’s waiting for people she met on a previous hike. Does she post on Instagram? Maybe I’ve missed that,don’t have Insty account.

And still no mention of any exciting interview with BBC.

There’s no post on FB from her for 3 days.

She resumes posting on the 7th.The next few posts through the Nov 8th seem to be from a previous trip to Mount Perdido. Understandable, if weather has her stuck in the van.

She heads out with new friends on Nov 8...but no pictures of this trip up Pic Turbon. But when she does post on the 8th, FB weirdly says Sundall Sweden.

So unless there are numerous postings on Instagram, this is a period of little communication from Esther accompanied by the decision to wait out bad weather for a hike with ‘new friends” rather than, once again, head home to Dan. What was she doing during those quiet days just sitting supposedly in the camper?

 

[stmarysmead]

Her 38-year-old boyfriend Dan Colegate, a former business development manager, had stayed in France with their five dogs and was house-sitting in the tiny village of Arreau in the Haute-Pyrenees.
Hunt for missing British hiker in the Pyrenees could be called off 'until spring' | Daily Mail Online

However, was this correct reporting.. cannot remember why it is felt that the dogs were no longer with them...

Because Esther posted “for one reason or another I’m separated from these dogs”

NOV 13...her personal FB not the joint one. She was really missing them.

 

[IrisElizabeth]

Firstly - I have no clarity on dogs - there isn't any - well, not that I'm aware of. They loved the dogs - when did they go? Why did they go? Its a massive thing to give dogs away to a new home. I'll try and research this but sounds like there are no definitive answers in the public domain.

If Esther was killed on the mountain, then the likelihood is that she remains on the mountain. No-one could have brought down the body. It suggests Dan believes she died on the mountain and her body is on the mountain.

I'm guessing they got rid of the dogs so they could go on their 80 day Via Alpina trek? I don't doubt they loved the dogs, but they must have massively constrained what they couldn't do on a day-to-day basis. I wonder if giving up the dogs was truly a mutual decision.

 

[stmarysmead]

I'm guessing they got rid of the dogs so they could go on their 80 day Via Alpina trek? I don't doubt they loved the dogs, but they must have massively constrained what they couldn't do on a day-to-day basis. I wonder if giving up the dogs was truly a mutual decision.

All ED posts after they return from the 80 day trek on her personal page are about the dogs. They were home close to three weeks and had not arranged for the return of the dogs. Full disclosure...I’m a dog lover, this would be very hard on me...as from her posts, I believe it was for ED.

 

[Grouse]

So unless there are numerous postings on Instagram, this is a period of little communication from Esther accompanied by the decision to wait out bad weather for a hike with ‘new friends” rather than, once again, head home to Dan. What was she doing during those quiet days just sitting supposedly in the camper?

No posts on the joint Instagram between 28 Oct and Nov 7th.

 

[Grouse]

I'm guessing they got rid of the dogs so they could go on their 80 day Via Alpina trek? I don't doubt they loved the dogs, but they must have massively constrained what they couldn't do on a day-to-day basis. I wonder if giving up the dogs was truly a mutual decision.

I'd initially thought the Alpine trek may have been part of the reason, but given they'd had these dogs since 2017 I then thought it seemed a pretty drastic thing to do just for one trekking trip. They were able to come back to the UK during the summer, while travel was less restricted, so my guess is that they saw that as an opportunity to leave/rehome the dogs with people they trusted before the uncertainty of the second pandemic wave and post Brexit residency kicked in. That way if they did have to return to the UK they'd get to see the dogs again. MOO.

 

[RedHaus]

Because Esther posted “for one reason or another I’m separated from these dogs”
NOV 13...her personal FB not the joint one. She was really missing them.

BBM

Yes, SMM, it is that Nov 13 post on her personal FB page in which ED shares her deep feelings about what the dogs meant to her well-being. Without them, I suspect she was having some difficulty based on her words alone. That was just 9 days before she disappeared. And you're right, all the posts on her personal FB page, 7/11-18/11 (last post) are about their dogs. And I have to wonder, like I think you have, whether ED agreed to dispersing all the dogs. Esther Dingley.

 

[RedHaus]

Hi PeggyHenry... just reposting with another live link as the one you posted was past it's prime.
'Every day has been hell since my beloved daughter vanished on a solo trek'

FWIW, it appears this article was based on Dan's FB update today on their joint FB page, where there is a bit more information than the article.
Esther & Dan

 

[Puzzles]

Because Esther posted “for one reason or another the dogs are no longer with me.”

Yes, @stmarysmead, Esther posted the dogs were no longer with her on her Facebook page on Nov. 13. 2020 when she was on her solo hiking trip, without the dogs.

In that same post, she wrote "Last year, for a slightly complicated reason... two dogs gave me the reason to try my first hike on my own and it was just what I needed. They also have me the encouragement and motivation to continue. I was giving them the time of their lives and they are giving me mine... And they made me look after myself because they needed me to be on top form should there be an emergency they were depending on me..."
( Esther's ellipsis, not mine.) Esther Dingley

Somewhere on an earlier WS thread explanations were given about how some dogs had gone to new homes, and another post told of at least one dog being sent to the UK. IIRC.
Perhaps the sleuths who provided those details can remind us where they found them.

Other posts by Esther about the dogs follow the one above, with the last on Nov. 18th with a photo of four of the dogs with the caption "morning! time to smile!" – as if the dogs were with her. But they weren't.

I find it curious and also sad that Esther wrote the dogs "made me look after myself because they needed me to be on top form should there be an emergency they were depending on me..."

 

[RedHaus]

one thought I keep having is that it is possible that Esther was angry / distraught/ unhappy that the BBC article was published on 22nd. IMO she knew relationship was not in good state and to have this article go out to everyone portraying an idyllic lifestyle would not have sat comfortably with her. I think it may have been done against her will. Just a theory though. As a sensitive soul who always does ‘the right thing’ this would have been huge. Is the right thing to go back and live out the article or is that not bearable.. either way it could push her into something reckless perhaps.

@PeggyHenry, I agree with the thought you keep having --- I keep having it too.

IMO, there is more than coincidence that the BBC article comes out 22/11 and the last anyone hears from ED is 22/11. The fact that neither DC or ED spoke about the BBC interview and subsequent article could be because they were under an agreement with the BBC not to pre-announce the piece.

But what I find odd is that in the dossier, there is no mention of the article during the brief time ED and DC communicated on 22/11. Although I think we can presume the authors of the dossier may have opted to omit anything along that line as irrelevant to the case, especially if ED was expressing any negative reaction to the publication.

And... until your post today, I had not thought about whether the BBC article was published against ED's will. Perhaps she initially engaged in the process earlier in the month. However if she was distancing herself from DC (as many of us have opined here) - or had in fact left him before she started her trek - she may have changed her mind about the article. And if she was very agitated by the article, that could have exacerbated anything else going on for ED, IMO.

 

[RedHaus]

... I find it curious and also sad that Esther wrote the dogs "made me look after myself because they needed me to be on top form should there be an emergency they were depending on me..."

BBM
@Puzzles, I agree with how this comment from ED stands out in the context of her disappearance and our collective concern about her solo nutrition, among other things. And it just seems like that 13/11 post by ED, IMO, revealed just how sad she was without her dogs. Her dogs were all she posted about on her FB page from 7/11 to 18/11.

If in the span of days, weeks or months I had had to give away all my pets, I would be devastated and likely deeply despondent as I managed my overwhelming grief. I say that as someone who, perhaps like ED, thrives on the unconditional love I receive and give my pets. Without that love, it would be hard for me to navigate this world.

 

[stmarysmead]

I’m thinking about...no...imagining...Esther sitting in that little camper for those 4 days of “inclement weather.” She’s not posting on social media. She’s not driving back to join Dan at the farmhouse. She has no dogs to care for. She’s alone. Was she considering her future options?

Actually from Nov.3 to Nov. 8...Esther posts nothing about what she’s doing in those days. She posts about previous trips. Dan says she hiked with new friends but she doesn’t post anything about them or the hike.

Now for the tin foil hat imaginings? What would cause FB locations to place her in Sundsvall Sweden during that hike? (Nov 8. Does that happen if you post from someone else’s phone? Were the friends she waited for...for days in that little camper while the weather cleared...were they Swedish? She had spent Oct 30-Nov 2 with them as well.

The next few FB posts are all about the past, not what she’s doing in those days.

On Nov 12...the Sundsvall location pops up on her post again. This may just be a crazy FB aberration but with all the other oddities in this case, it catches my interest until it’s explained to me. Hopefully one of you can provide an easy explanation showing that it’s meaningless. This is the post where she explains she’s gone 5 times up,the same peak.

These are of course, my opinions and imaginings...but the closer I look the odder this case gets.

 

[ZaZara]

BBM
@Puzzles, I agree with how this comment from ED stands out in the context of her disappearance and our collective concern about her solo nutrition, among other things. And it just seems like that 13/11 post by ED, IMO, revealed just how sad she was without her dogs. Her dogs were all she posted about on her FB page from 7/11 to 18/11.

If in the span of days, weeks or months I had had to give away all my pets, I would be devastated and likely deeply despondent as I managed my overwhelming grief. I say that as someone who, perhaps like ED, thrives on the unconditional love I receive and give my pets. Without that love, it would be hard for me to navigate this world.

AFAIK their remaining dogs are staying with family members in the UK to keep them company during lockdown.

They always planned to rehome the puppies, from the birth on, but it took Esther and Dan quite a while to do so. All info is on the blog. If I knew how to navigate that blog, I'd be rich. I'll have to find another way to hit the jackpot, but from memory: two puppies stayed with a family next door in Spain from 8 weeks on, two found a home with friends in France much later, and three are with family in the UK.

Reading through the blog, I am greatly impressed how Esther and Dan navigated their lifestyle combined with a pack of young dogs and managed to train them at the same time. According to Dan, Esther was the one who trained the pack, one has to be very grounded and patient to pull that off.

Bot Dan and Esther did a tremendous job.

 

[RickshawFan]

I’m thinking about...no...imagining...Esther sitting in that little camper for those 4 days of “inclement weather.” She’s not posting on social media. She’s not driving back to join Dan at the farmhouse. She has no dogs to care for. She’s alone. Was she considering her future options?

Actually from Nov.3 to Nov. 8...Esther posts nothing about what she’s doing in those days. She posts about previous trips. Dan says she hiked with new friends but she doesn’t post anything about them or the hike.

Now for the tin foil hat imaginings? What would cause FB locations to place her in Sundsvall Sweden during that hike? (Nov 8. Does that happen if you post from someone else’s phone? Were the friends she waited for...for days in that little camper while the weather cleared...were they Swedish? She had spent Oct 30-Nov 2 with them as well.

The next few FB posts are all about the past, not what she’s doing in those days.

On Nov 12...the Sundsvall location pops up on her post again. This may just be a crazy FB aberration but with all the other oddities in this case, it catches my interest until it’s explained to me. Hopefully one of you can provide an easy explanation showing that it’s meaningless. This is the post where she explains she’s gone 5 times up,the same peak.

These are of course, my opinions and imaginings...but the closer I look the odder this case gets.

IIRC we discussed the Sweden thing in the first thread.

 

[stmarysmead]

AFAIK their remaining dogs are staying with family members in the UK to keep them company during lockdown.

They always planned to rehome the puppies, from the birth on, but it took Esther and Dan quite a while to do so. All info is on the blog. If I knew how to navigate that blog, I'd be rich. I'll have to find another way to hit the jackpot, but from memory: two puppies stayed with a family next door in Spain from 8 weeks on, two found a home with friends in France much later, and three are with family in the UK.

Reading through the blog, I am greatly impressed how Esther and Dan navigated their lifestyle combined with a pack of young dogs and managed to train them at the same time. According to Dan, Esther was the one who trained the pack, one has to be very grounded and patient to pull that off.

Bot Dan and Esther did a tremendous job.

IIRC They gave two puppies away soon after birth. During the pandemic they gave two to he parents...she blogs about this. But in May they still had 4. Their marketing alludes to them traveling going forward with 5 dogs. They did not correct BBC that instead they had given all dogs away.

 

[stmarysmead]

IIRC we discussed the Sweden thing in the first thread.

Do you remember the explanation or was there just a discussion? I will read thru Thread One and see if I can satisfy my curiosity.

 

[stmarysmead]

AFAIK their remaining dogs are staying with family members in the UK to keep them company during lockdown.

They always planned to rehome the puppies, from the birth on, but it took Esther and Dan quite a while to do so. All info is on the blog. If I knew how to navigate that blog, I'd be rich. I'll have to find another way to hit the jackpot, but from memory: two puppies stayed with a family next door in Spain from 8 weeks on, two found a home with friends in France much later, and three are with family in the UK.

Reading through the blog, I am greatly impressed how Esther and Dan navigated their lifestyle combined with a pack of young dogs and managed to train them at the same time. According to Dan, Esther was the one who trained the pack, one has to be very grounded and patient to pull that off.

Bot Dan and Esther did a tremendous job.

Here’s the quote from their blog:

Estherand Dan.com



We moved into a rented house and two weeks later 6 pups arrived in the form of 6 bundles of noisy, gooey, messy cuteness. We tried not to get attached. We failed. Within a couple of weeks the 6 bundles had become George, Bella, Teddy, Jess, Rose and Pati. They were beautiful in every sense of the word. Leela wasn't too keen on motherhood, so we had to get quite involved.
Time passed. Jess and Teddy went to amazing new homes. For various reasons the other four pups didn't. Fast forward 2 years and here we are, 5 dogs and 2 humans living in a motorhome. We've been to mountains, beaches, forests and cities. We've laughed. We've cried. We've eaten each others' fur. And we've learned life lessons that we never even dreamed existed.

As the gang teach us every day, life really is awesome. We love you guys.
Happy Woofing”

 

[PeggyHenry]

Such interesting posts and lots of info on the dogs - thank you. Much to think about and intrigued about Sweden.

 

[RedHaus]

Her next post is on Nov. 4th. Esther posts a marketing article about the dog books that’s appeared in the Northern Echo. Then she posts nothing at all from the 4th through the 7th though she’s supposedly stuck in that small camper in Ainsa alone due to inclement weather.

snipped and BBM

SMM, great summary and interesting point about the Sweden location for two of ED's FB posts. Anyhow, I thought you might be interested in a 6/11/2020 FB post by ED - not on the ED/DC or her own page. It was on the Jalon Valley Connect FB page, which I am unsure if I can link here. Anyhow, ED was marketing their books.