Found Deceased Spain - Esther Dingley, from UK, missing in the Pyrenees, November 2020 #3

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ADMIN NOTE:

It has have been posted twice before in Esther's threads that suggesting her disappearance is a hoax is not allowed. It is not victim friendly, and such posts will be removed along with all responses.

ZERO TOLERANCE. Any future posts of this nature will absolutely result in a loss of posting privileges.
 
Zoomy said:
Missing Brit hiker Esther Dingley 'was last seen by woman who gave her food'

As this has now been reported on MSM (even if it is The Sun), I guess it means we are allowed to discuss this sighting of Esther mentioned on Esther & Dan's facebook by French woman MB. I think the Sun have got it wrong by saying it was hours before she was last seen though, as MB had said it was October 31st when she saw Esther.
Click to expand...

Members may discuss the MSM article but are still not allowed to sleuth MB's social media.

Also, a reminder to use initials for individuals who are neither victim or a POI/suspect.
 
Sjm_qc said:
Marking my spot with a link to the LBT Global press release and Dan’s complete dossier on Esther’s disappearance.

I haven’t read it all yet, but there’s a wealth of detail.

https://www.lbt.global/media-releas...PluTrEsGNeO-YUQ2D3R8LZXUGw2lvFyngkWLenB-1gl-s

https://42cc80b7-be3b-41e3-a85b-18b...d/4addd9_d8c55b489c6f445b96d6324dd882f5a1.pdf

I don’t know if it’s already been posted.
Click to expand...

I went through the first one, and once again, started thinking about Esther taking rides from strangers. The time that's unaccounted for, after her summit that day, could have meant that she once again decided to descend to the van - but needed once again to hitch a ride from the trailhead to the carpark.

To me, it's a definite possibility that she ran into a bad actor in that process. I don't think it can be ruled out.
 
10ofRods said:
I went through the first one, and once again, started thinking about Esther taking rides from strangers. The time that's unaccounted for, after her summit that day, could have meant that she once again decided to descend to the van - but needed once again to hitch a ride from the trailhead to the carpark.

To me, it's a definite possibility that she ran into a bad actor in that process. I don't think it can be ruled out.
Click to expand...

If Esther caught a ride, she'd load EVERYTHING into that vehicle. Which would explain why they've found neither her nor any part of her gear.

Any other scenario, short of a fall into a crevice, one might imagine Esther making some effort to leave SOMETHING of a trail.

Frightening to think, if she'd made it thus far, hitched a ride, fully trusting, that someone drove her and her gear away....

After reading DC's dossier, I have a better sense of what POSSIBLY happened. But I have no idea what DID happen.

If she was taken out of the area, there remains at least a chance she's still alive, so for now, i choose that.

JMO
 
Marking my spot with a link to the LBT Global press release and Dan’s complete dossier on Esther’s disappearance.

I haven’t read it all yet, but there’s a wealth of detail.

https://www.lbt.global/media-releas...PluTrEsGNeO-YUQ2D3R8LZXUGw2lvFyngkWLenB-1gl-s

https://42cc80b7-be3b-41e3-a85b-18b...d/4addd9_d8c55b489c6f445b96d6324dd882f5a1.pdf

I don’t know if it’s already been posted.
Click to expand...



From the Information Pack Regarding the diappearance of Esther Dingley from the Pyrenees mountains in November 2020

Another individual has alsorecently been reported as giving Esther food and questioning why she was wearing shorts. According to Spanish police this contact with Esther actually took place on 30th October (at the start of a successful 4 day hike). The individual who made the statement has been contacted by LBT Global but has not yet responded

Adding the LBT phone numer per special request:
LBT Global Hotline: +44 (0) 800 098 8485
WhatsApp: +44 (0) 7545 826 497
Email: delta.ops@lbt.global

A while ago, I sent a message to the reporter who wrote about the last woman to see ED before she disappeared and asked him how he had come to that conclusion. He never answered. Well, we have got the real answer now.
 
Puzzles said:
To read tracking dogs were not available to seek ED's scent is both a surprise and a sorrow.
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Where is that revealed? On page 17 of the pdf they do say they had "some dogs" but not what type. Why would they take dogs at all if not sniffer dogs?

Very confusing.

It is quite clear that she communicated to Dan that she intended to go to the Refuge with the winter room, at least it's clear to me and I believe that's what the pdf said. She could have course have changed her mind.

There was water at the refuge that didn't require a lake...
 
[QUOTE="10ofRods, post: 16557401, member: 247143"]Where is that revealed? On page 17 of the pdf they do say they had "some dogs" but not what type. Why would they take dogs at all if not sniffer dogs?

Very confusing.
[/QUOTE]
Snipped for focus and BBM
Hi, @10ofRods, DC states dogs not available on Page 21 of his dossier:
"Dan did offer to give clothes / samples to the French police so they could do a forensic search or send in sniffer dogs, but they said they didn't have that type of dog and/or it was too long afterwards."
 
Puzzles said:
[QUOTE="10ofRods, post: 16557401, member: 247143"]Where is that revealed? On page 17 of the pdf they do say they had "some dogs" but not what type. Why would they take dogs at all if not sniffer dogs?

Very confusing.
Click to expand...
Snipped for focus and BBM
Hi, @10ofRods, DC states dogs not available on Page 21 of his dossier:
"Dan did offer to give clothes / samples to the French police so they could do a forensic search or send in sniffer dogs, but they said they didn't have that type of dog and/or it was too long afterwards."[/QUOTE]

Hmm. So if not sniffer dogs, what kind of dogs, I wonder? Or is it just the French that didn't have the dogs mentioned on pg. 17?

How could they have given two answers (don't have that type of dog but if we could find some, it's too late?) Very dissatisfying answer (although I guess not really surprising).

To me it sounds like they had dogs during the first 2-3 days of the search. But without something to sniff from, as Dan is indicating, what would they sniff for? I don't think they'd gotten to her van at this point...
 
10ofRods said:
I went through the first one, and once again, started thinking about Esther taking rides from strangers. The time that's unaccounted for, after her summit that day, could have meant that she once again decided to descend to the van - but needed once again to hitch a ride from the trailhead to the carpark.

To me, it's a definite possibility that she ran into a bad actor in that process. I don't think it can be ruled out.
Click to expand...

RBBM: it’s possible but, JMO, unlikely. If she changed her mind & decided to do that, wouldn’t she have let someone know, at least briefly by text (it appears that there was a lot more communication going on than we previously knew)? And it appears that the phone signal was reasonable on that side.
 
10ofRods said:
Hmm. So if not sniffer dogs, what kind of dogs, I wonder? Or is it just the French that didn't have the dogs mentioned on pg. 17?

How could they have given two answers (don't have that type of dog but if we could find some, it's too late?).
Click to expand...

Snipped by me: I’m not going to get too hung up on the nitty-gritty of this tidbit, because I think it’s important to remember that Dan, the French and the Spanish authorities were all communicating in two/three different languages and we don’t know the fluency of any of them in each. It *may* be that some nuances got lost or misinterpreted along the way. Or not.

I do think that Spanish authorities did find the van late 25th/early morning 26th - it was where it was expected to be & where D would have told them to look for it.
 
Sjm_qc said:
Marking my spot with a link to the LBT Global press release and Dan’s complete dossier on Esther’s disappearance.

I haven’t read it all yet, but there’s a wealth of detail.

https://www.lbt.global/media-releas...PluTrEsGNeO-YUQ2D3R8LZXUGw2lvFyngkWLenB-1gl-s

https://42cc80b7-be3b-41e3-a85b-18b...d/4addd9_d8c55b489c6f445b96d6324dd882f5a1.pdf

I don’t know if it’s already been posted.
Click to expand...

Brilliant. Pretty much answers everything. Main points I took from it:

  • The house sitting is in Larroque sur l’Osse
  • On 20th Esther spent the day in/around the campervan because the weather wasn’t great
  • On 21st she stayed overnight at Cabane La Besurta
  • On 22nd she reached the top of Sauvegarde at 3:30, spent half an hour Whatsapping people, sent selfies, and was last heard from in a video call to Dan at 4:07 which lasted 1min 36secs
  • She walks faster than average speeds. A 3 hour walk would take her 2 hours
  • She has two head torches
  • She was due back to her van in Benasque by 25th at latest.
 
From the document. The route she planned to take. Just as we thought, but to confirm:

03C0CF05-6794-4614-B5A0-E1CD3BD0020F.jpeg

Answered a question about the route from La Glere - she would descend to a different place than the starting point. An anti clockwise inverted U.
 
Sjm_qc said:
Marking my spot with a link to the LBT Global press release and Dan’s complete dossier on Esther’s disappearance.

I haven’t read it all yet, but there’s a wealth of detail.

https://www.lbt.global/media-releas...PluTrEsGNeO-YUQ2D3R8LZXUGw2lvFyngkWLenB-1gl-s

https://42cc80b7-be3b-41e3-a85b-18b...d/4addd9_d8c55b489c6f445b96d6324dd882f5a1.pdf

I don’t know if it’s already been posted.
Click to expand...

This is really interesting, lots of questions seem to be answered.

In terms of ED's preparedness, the equipment list looks quite impressive and "Equipment base weight before food and water: approximately 8 kilograms" (BBM) especially so, that rucsac looks heavier than that and bigger than 46L on her, no doubt causing the comment from the skier. Plus she had a battery pack capable of charging her phone 5 times. A Sawyer water filter. And there was water at the refuge via a spring.

The location of the farmhouse being confirmed near Toulouse puts a better perspective on the AB conversation that they had in French where it was reported he said she was going there as part of the current trek (and also on the speculation about DC or ANother being in Luchon/Arreau where "maybe I can see you")

Regardless of any language issues it seems clear that LE did not take up the offer of clothes/samples from DC. I'm not confident that her arrival at the refuge can be ruled out and as the report says "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."
 
"Not only had Esther relayed this plan to her partner, she had also communicated this same intention to multiple witnesses who reported meeting Esther during her ascent to Pic de Sauvegarde. The Guardia Civil search team told Dan that they could track Esther’s ascent at various stages thanks to the people who came forward to say they had interacted with her."

So clearly many people who met ED spoke to police confirming the routes she used, and those she planned to use. This info gave me a comfortable sense of ED and her hikes where she saw a lot of people, chatted with them and was not wandering alone. It does sound as though the mountains were busy with people at least up to the point when she disappeared.

"Probably the most demanding part of the trail, about ten metres like this – Obviously such locations were the focus of intense searching.
This was the steep incline with a rope handrail that had particular attention during the searches. (sorry couldn't copy the pic. on DCs information pack). So confirming that any places with a higher chance of an accident were looked at thoroughly.
https://42cc80b7-be3b-41e3-a85b-18b...d/4addd9_d8c55b489c6f445b96d6324dd882f5a1.pdf

The SAR even spotted some lost items but they were not EDs. Looking at the many pictures of the routes, reading DCs thoughts about EDs ability, the thorough searches and instincts he seems to convey about the situation, it's hard to disagree with him and not lean towards a 3rd party being criminally involved as a higher than is usual possibility.
 
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