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

[Kitkat28]

Does anyone know exactly where Daniel was supposed to be staying? House sitting somewhere?

"It was the kick up the backside we needed," says Dan, chatting six years later via video-call from an idyllic vineyard in Gascony, France, where he is house-sitting.

In the on-screen box beside Dan - who is broadcasting live from the pair's parked-up campervan - Esther nods. "People say every cloud has a silver lining but when you're in the cloud it does not look like it," she says.

Quote taken from the interview on the BBC website 22/11/20.

 

[EternalHope]

Poking around on facebook - there is a personal page for Esther Dingley, and also in her about info there is a link to an Esther & Dan page, a combined blog about their travels.

Her private page says 'worked at Esther & Dan' - his says 'works at Esther and Dan' - just a little difference, not sure if it is of any significance.

Dan has actually posted about about the authorities on the Esther & Dan facebook blog, a little less vague than the BBC interview.

Esther seems to have made a post on the Esther & Dan facebook blog on the 19th November. In that she talks about being almost caught out on a hike that day, from which she seems to say she would be more prepared and careful in future.
Also, may be of interest - she ran into a male hiker - he gave her a lift somewhere - and it seems to indicate she had told him about her future plans on the trip. Hopefully this is one of the witnesses they have traced, which may have given them more potential info - if not could this be a person that needs to be found.

 

[hitthenick]

"It was the kick up the backside we needed," says Dan, chatting six years later via video-call from an idyllic vineyard in Gascony, France, where he is house-sitting.

In the on-screen box beside Dan - who is broadcasting live from the pair's parked-up campervan - Esther nods. "People say every cloud has a silver lining but when you're in the cloud it does not look like it," she says.

Quote taken from the interview on the BBC website 22/11/20.

Gascony is a huge area, it's a province, like a county in the UK. Is there anywhere which gives a specific location? Like a town nearby? I am trying to work out how far away he is compared to where she was taking selfies on the mountain.

 

[Inverloch]

Esther seems to have made a post on the Esther & Dan facebook blog on the 19th November. In that she talks about being almost caught out on a hike that day, from which she seems to say she would be more prepared and careful in future.
Also, may be of interest - she ran into a male hiker - he gave her a lift somewhere - and it seems to indicate she had told him about her future plans on the trip. Hopefully this is one of the witnesses they have traced, which may have given them more potential info - if not could this be a person that needs to be found.

Yes that jumped out at me as well! Seems potentially very significant

 

[hitthenick]

What I would like to know is where she parked her camper, there's a variety of parking spots south of the border around Benasque which is where she allegedly started from. But it's also noted she was supposed to go and stay at that Refuge De Venasque ( see here - Refuge de Venasque ) - this is located in France - according to this here, > Google Maps - it says it's 10 minutes away from the mountain peak yet I doubt it's that fast due to the terrain. Surrounding this refuge are quite a few small lakes and one large one. I wonder if she made it there or met someone along the way? If she parked in Benasque, why was she heading in the opposite direction to the refuge which is North rather than back South towards her campervan?

Then, Daniel was supposed to be staying at some Vineyard in Gascony - that's like saying he was at a farm in Kent!! It's vast the province of Gascony. Basically it's up to Bordeaux and down to the Spanish border at Irun on the coast and then half way across the Pyrenees.Like a huge triangle covering 100's of sq miles

There does appear to be conflicts between them both. Also she seems to be a serial blogger/facebooker and instagramer but she doesn't seem to attract much interaction on those all platforms. A couple of comments here and there and a few likes etc but nothing involving a lot of interaction.

It's interesting that the 5 dogs also have their own social media accounts, why do dogs really need a social media account???. Here > Login • Instagram

They have written loads of books too, books about the dogs.

They have a website called Esther & Dan - Adventuring Together - Life, Love, Health & Travel which doesn't appear to have been updated since June 2020.

Their whole lives seem to be about posting everything constantly on social media channels, there's literally 1,000's of photographs.

People have mentioned her rucksack. Her rucksack is called an Osprey Exos 58 ( photo is below ) with a grey body with a red top cover and red features on the back, he also has an Osprey Exos 58, but with a black body with green features. Osprey is high quality kit.

She also wears La Sportiva footwear, again those are high end - so it's fair to say she uses very good equipment.

Her walking boots here Login • Instagram - these are La Sportiva Ultra Raptor Goretex trail running shoes and the colourway is Slate Purple that she wears.

The possibilities could be but not limited to-

1: A fall.
2: A fall into water.
3: Abduction but that would be difficult to do on a mountain, much easier off the mountain.
4: Self imposed disappearance.
5: She is incapacitated somewhere and has no signal yet emergency services will/should work anyway.
6: She could also have veered off track quite drastically.
7: She could have been killed and hidden.

 

[Auntie_Seagull]

In this photo, the pack has red on top and against her back but there is also grey that may be a pack cover.

Search Is on for Esther Dingley, Woman Missing After Hiking in Pyrenees

It seems to be very dull shade of red. Won't be very visible from the distance.

 

[Vaccine]

Yes that jumped out at me as well! Seems potentially very significant

Good catch. I hope the police are investigating who the male hiker was who gave her a lift. Also I note that she did have the camper van - so it would be interesting to know where the camper van was located when she went missing. If someone wanted to follow her the van would be quite a big clue as to her whereabouts. Especially if there was snow and her footprints could be tracked as in the photos from 17th November.

I have to say the photos of the area she posted on the joint Facebook page are very beautiful. I am not for one minute suggesting this is a likely scenario but in her post on 17th November on there she is asking whether some prints she saw in the snow were those of a bear!

JMO

 

[Jamie737]

There are at least two times, judging by her Facebook posts, that she felt pretty despondent. Once she credited her dogs for restoring her focus and enthusiasm, the other time a singer that appears to sing mostly spiritual ethnic stuff.

But yes, her partner definitely referred to her in the past tense and his affect was pretty flat in the BBC interview.

 

[dormouse]

I’m intrigued by this case, especially given their unusual lifestyle and some of the recent posts on their joint pages (referred to in previous posts).

Is it possible that intended itineraries and photos posted on social media could have attracted a predator, perhaps someone obsessed with Esther? I hope this doesn’t come across as victim blaming but it’s easy to give away more info online than we intend. The current lockdown situation would make it even easier for a predator to go unnoticed.

 

[Grouse]

This photograph she took and that was posted.

I have precisely geolocated it to the spot it was taken at on 21/11. On the link, click it and you will have the direct view behind her, the photo was taken in front of the solar panel and the radio mast, this is visible through her sunglasses on the photo.

The link: Google Maps

I read that the picture was sent on 22/11 at around 17:00. Looking at the reflection of the mast, specifically the shadow cast by the mast, in conjunction with the google map you posted it looks to me like the sun was in the south or maybe SSE, which would put the time much earlier than 17:00. Maybe she didn't send the picture until later after she descended?

I'd like to know where her campervan was parked up prior to the walk, that was found but it would help to work out her route from the van, to the peak and back -then somewhere within that area is where she'll be found.

I read it was in Benasque.

I only read their story on the BBC the week before this and really enjoyed it, so this came as a real shock. I do hope it ends well!

 

[Grouse]

If she parked in Benasque, why was she heading in the opposite direction to the refuge which is North rather than back South towards her campervan?

Probably planning circular route back to the van

 

[Detectivediva]

Accident seems most likely here IMO but from years of reading here...you can almost never rule out self harm. Reading through her fb posts...she seemed kinda sad. I'm getting Leeanne Bearden vibes.

 

[azure]

Accident seems most likely here IMO but from years of reading here...you can almost never rule out self harm. Reading through her fb posts...she seemed kinda sad. I'm getting Leeanne Bearden vibes.

Leanne crossed my mind as well, since both were at the end of their travels. To that end, I find it somewhat interesting that she was still adventuring while her husband had chosen a domestic lifestyle. Though I agree that an accident is most likely, Esther certainly could have been facing some mixed emotions about her scheduled life change.

 

[Kitkat28]

@hitthenick you mentioned about “where she parked her campervan” but as far as I know, she hasn’t got the camper, Daniel has. From the BBC interview I quoted earlier:
In the on-screen box beside Dan - who is broadcasting live from the pair's parked-up campervan - Esther nods. "People say every cloud has a silver lining but when you're in the cloud it does not look like it," she says.

Dan was sitting in the camper, parked up at the farmhouse in Gascony where he was house sitting, and Esther was allegedly off on the hike and calling in to do the BBC interview in conjunction with Dan via (I assume) Zoom or similar.

link to the interview Van life: Durham couple's six years on the road (and counting)

 

[Amonet]

For anyone in the UK, Esther's partner has just given an interview on BBC Breakfast. It should be available on Catch Up/iPlayer at some point today. The interview began at approx 0850am.
Unfortunately I was unable to give it my full attention as I was busy with work but I will try to listen to it again this evening.

Hopefully another WSer saw it?

I don't have access to the Iplayer. If anyone could do a transcription, that would be great! Thanks!

 

[Amonet]

"It was the kick up the backside we needed," says Dan, chatting six years later via video-call from an idyllic vineyard in Gascony, France, where he is house-sitting.

In the on-screen box beside Dan - who is broadcasting live from the pair's parked-up campervan - Esther nods. "People say every cloud has a silver lining but when you're in the cloud it does not look like it," she says.

Quote taken from the interview on the BBC website 22/11/20.

Could they have messed up the paragraph, and it was Esther who was using the van to broadcast, while Dan was in the house in Gascony?

The other reports have said that Esther took the van to Spain where she parked it and set out on the hike from there? Or would she have parked the van on the French side and then hiked into Spain right before the French lockdown and intended to return to the van to drive back to Gascony?

It's so annoying to have these apparent inconsistencies that could easily be cleared up with better reporting.

 

[kelsie]

Why were they living apart the month of November? She seemed to be really sad about not having her dogs with her.

 

[Kitkat28]

Could they have messed up the paragraph, and it was Esther who was using the van to broadcast, while Dan was in the house in Gascony?

The other reports have said that Esther took the van to Spain where she parked it and set out on the hike from there? Or would she have parked the van on the French side and then hiked into Spain right before the French lockdown and intended to return to the van to drive back to Gascony?

It's so annoying to have these apparent inconsistencies that could easily be cleared up with better reporting.

I don’t know, but to me it makes a big difference. If Esther had the campervan then it would have been found somewhere surely, versus it being parked at the house where Daniel was staying.

 

[Vaccine]

I don’t know, but to me it makes a big difference. If Esther had the campervan then it would have been found somewhere surely, versus it being parked at the house where Daniel was staying.

Esther's post on the Esther and Dan Facebook page on the 17th December suggested she had a camper van - wether theirs or hired. Unless camper means something else:

<modsnip: Direct quotes not allowed as per The Rules: Social Media - Facebook, Twitter, etc>

 

[Vaccine]

Esther's post on the Esther and Dan Facebook page on November 15th also mentions the camper van.