Found Deceased Spain - Esther Dingley, from UK, missing in the Pyrenees, November 2020 #4

[BoraBora]

1. I believe that LE had a reason to lie about the witness sighting. Therefore I believe the witness sighting. I have no idea what that reason might be./QUOTE]

Yes I believe this too. The LE would have denied it if nobody was in the van. Why lie about someone being there if nobody was there? That makes no sense. Someone was definitely there as they admitted it. So I'm wondering if the LE deliberately positioned a plain-clothes officer in ED's van for a few days in case she had been abudcted and the person returned to the van with Esther in tow - or indeed if she had voluntarily disappeared and came back to the van herself after sitting it out for a few days. So maybe that officer was "living" in the van for those few days, until their plans got scuppered and this covert operation was blown open & therefore forced to stop? The LE wouldn't have wanted to reveal this to the public for obvious reasons, so they fobbed it off with the "forensics" explanation. It would also explain why DC hasn't mentioned it since, as they would have told him (after it got blown open) what they were really doing, as he also wouldn't have been privvy to this information. JMO

 

[BoraBora]

1. I believe that LE had a reason to lie about the witness sighting. Therefore I believe the witness sighting. I have no idea what that reason might be./QUOTE]

SNIPPED FOR FOCUS

Yes I believe this too. The LE would have denied it if nobody was in the van. Why lie about someone being there if nobody was there? That makes no sense. Someone was definitely there as they admitted it. So I'm wondering if the LE deliberately positioned a plain-clothes officer in ED's van for a few days in case she had been abudcted and the person returned to the van with Esther in tow - or indeed if she had voluntarily disappeared and came back to the van herself after sitting it out for a few days. So maybe that officer was "living" in the van for those few days, until their plans got scuppered and this covert operation was blown open & therefore forced to stop? The LE wouldn't have wanted to reveal this to the public for obvious reasons, so they fobbed it off with the "forensics" explanation. It would also explain why DC hasn't mentioned it since, as they would have told him (after it got blown open) what they were really doing, as he also wouldn't have been privvy to this information. JMO

 

[BoraBora]

Here are my current theories. Are they right or wrong, who knows. And I will admit they are subject to,change.

1. I believe that LE had a reason to lie about the witness sighting. Therefore I believe the witness sighting. I have no idea what that reason might be.

2. I believe there was trouble in the relationship. Two weeks after her indications of this in FB, a witness reports that Esther told her they might not get back together. That’s not a passing mood IMO. I believe the witness.

3. I believe that Esther could have made contact on the 21st if she so desired. IMO I believe that long period of no contact has significance.

4. If Esther left of her own accord, I believe she had to have help from a third party.

5. I don’t rule out an accident because I believe the locals are very well informed on the perils of the area. I believe that Dan’s grief prevents him from acknowledging that.

6. I believe that the BBC interview has great significance just not sure how. IMO something was set in motion by it...no idea what.

7. I like the theory of the fugue state because I do have trouble with the idea of Esther putting her parents through this ordeal.

8. I think the dispersal of the dogs that Esther seems to adore..is significant. She is 37...no children...I think they were emotionally very important to her.

9. Maybe it’s because I come to this Website too often, but unfortunately, I can think of TOO MANY ways Esther would be vulnerable to a crime. And too many ways a perpetrator could cover it up.

just my current opinions...nothing more.

Excellent summary and I agree with all your points.

ETA: sorry about the blank posts above, I was trying to post this reply here and I kept getting a "wait *advertiser censored* seconds message". Little did I know it was posting blank replies each time!

 

[stmarysmead]

She notified everyone of her plan, from parking the van to sending a map and keeping her partner in the loop regarding her hike. She was on her way to the Refuge de Venasque according to all information, including the route suggested by the person she met on Nov 19.

She said that she stayed at the Cabana de la Besurta overnight on Nov 21. This is a fact she told her partner, yet there is speculation that she was instead at her van. She provided a map of her route, yet there is speculation that she hiked the Glacier on Maladeta instead.

‘Maybe what you describe is just what Esther felt she needed escape from.

This is an Oxford educated 37 yr old woman who may have begun to resent the constant control of her life by others. What one partner sees as love and protection, another partner can feel is stifling control.

Esther is up in her beloved mountains but is she “free?” How does she feel when she gets cell service and there’s a barrage of messages perhaps “suggesting” what she should do, or insisting she come home? How does she feel when her day in the mountains begins with numerous messages “to get her on her way.”

A lot of her dog posts are about getting out of the house, so she can be free with her own thoughts. What does that mean? How “managed” did Esther feel when they were not trekking? How many major decisions like writing books, publicizing books and especially dispersing all of her beloved dogs, did Esther have a full say in?

I don’t know, just guessing... she may have liked things just this way, feeling she had to check in numerous times a day and account for her future plans, and send maps, and status checks (two hitches, halfway!”) These things may have made her feel loved and secure. But they also may have made her feel stifled. I’m bringing my own feelings into this interpretation. I would have found this to be unbearable.

I’ve wondered...did she initiate that “two hitches...halfway!” text or was it an answer to “Where are you now?” If the latter...how often did she get such texts? Did they make her feel empowered and loved or like a child allowed in the park on her own for the first time?

IMO it’s possible that what began as a voluntary disappearance became a crime or a suicide. Perhaps Esther chose the wrong person to facilitate “a break” or perhaps she just decided to do what SHE wanted for a week or so , ditch the phone, go wherever the mood took her for several days...and when she found out she was an international missing person, she could not deal with the consequences.

Just opinionated musings as usual. Just a fictionalized theory...

 

[BoraBora]

One last thought for the night.

How and why did this disappearance so quickly become an international fr0ntpage story?

Just on this thread, posts have been made about strange disappearances in the wild or while trekking in Europe, even the Western US.

I read numerous online newspapers every morning. Most I’d never heard of.

They were presumed to be accidents and remained local stories.

Not this.

How and why has this ended up in the NY papers and my local paper! An international mystery!

It’s a question that is really starting to puzzle me.

Yes I have thought this too. Just look at the person who went missing when ED & DC made their own video that time when the helicopter went past their place. That person wasn't all over the newspapers, yet it was the very same thing - person missing in the alps. This must happen a lot up there, yet we don't hear about it. This case reminds me very much of Madeleine McCann, lots of similarities, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything either. I do wonder if the police have a criminal line of enquiry they are following that none of us are privvy to? Sometimes the police "know" but they cannot say as they have to nail it all down first. And maybe the person in the van was part of that knowing? I don't know though, just throwing out an idea.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Yes I have thought this too. Just look at the person who went missing when ED & DC made their own video that time when the helicopter went past their place. That person wasn't all over the newspapers, yet it was the very same thing - person missing in the alps. This must happen a lot up there, yet we don't hear about it. This case reminds me very much of Madeleine McCann, lots of similarities, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything either. I do wonder if the police have a criminal line of enquiry they are following that none of us are privvy to? Sometimes the police "know" but they cannot say as they have to nail it all down first. And maybe the person in the van was part of that knowing? I don't know though, just throwing out an idea.

What similarities do you think it has with Madeleine? Because I really can’t think of any!

 

[PeggyHenry]

Yes I have thought this too. Just look at the person who went missing when ED & DC made their own video that time when the helicopter went past their place. That person wasn't all over the newspapers, yet it was the very same thing - person missing in the alps. This must happen a lot up there, yet we don't hear about it. This case reminds me very much of Madeleine McCann, lots of similarities, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything either. I do wonder if the police have a criminal line of enquiry they are following that none of us are privvy to? Sometimes the police "know" but they cannot say as they have to nail it all down first. And maybe the person in the van was part of that knowing? I don't know though, just throwing out an idea.

it wouldn’t surprise me if the police have a very good idea of what happened.. they just need to be able to prove it. By releasing snippets of information they may be applying a squeeze on someone. They are remarkably quiet and not making any appeals for information. Imagine they know a lot more than we do and have been able to make some sense of the different pieces of the jigsaw. I hope so anyway

 

[sundaaaay]

That person wasn't all over the newspapers, yet it was the very same thing - person missing in the alps

A. She was English and the English media are notorious. As a nation England is still considered an empire of sort and internationally is held in very high regard (a little less so since Brexit lol)
B. She is female. Females garner much more attention when they go missing because they are perceived as vulnerable and people assume there may be a sexual element involved.
C. She is middle class. It’s more fascinating for the public watching a tragedy affecting a person/s whose life is considered by outsiders to be perfect or easy.

I don’t agree with any of these by the way!

 

[Ninja Bunny]

A while back I was listening to an episode of (I think it was) This American Life where two men took a year off from their homes, jobs, and families to live on the street as homeless people to see what it was like. At the end of that year one man needed intense therapy to rejoin his former life, the other man remained homeless. The homeless experience messed with their heads that badly.

I don’t think Esther was in a fugue state or anything like that, but wandering from place to place relying on others for years may have messed with her head and the thought of settling down was out of her grasp. I think she voluntarily disappeared.

 

[ZaZara]

A. She was English and the English media are notorious. As a nation England is still considered an empire of sort and internationally is held in very high regard (a little less so since Brexit lol)
B. She is female. Females garner much more attention when they go missing because they are perceived as vulnerable and people assume there may be a sexual element involved.
C. She is middle class. It’s more fascinating for the public watching a tragedy affecting a person/s whose life is considered by outsiders to be perfect or easy.

I don’t agree with any of these by the way!

I would like to add D.:

D. They are both well-connected digitally, are still in contact with their university network for instance. At their age this probably means friends in right places. On top of that, lots of info can be found about both of them on the internet so reporters have an easy day.

Also, I'd slightly modify A if I may, with all due respect of course:

A. She was English and the English media are notorious. As a nation England is still considered an empire of sort and internationally is held in very high regard (a little less so since Brexit lol)
English is a language that many people can read, unfortunately this results in an overdosis of news from sources in the English language.

 

[RedHaus]

it wouldn’t surprise me if the police have a very good idea of what happened.. they just need to be able to prove it. By releasing snippets of information they may be applying a squeeze on someone. They are remarkably quiet and not making any appeals for information. Imagine they know a lot more than we do and have been able to make some sense of the different pieces of the jigsaw. I hope so anyway

Good point, @PeggyHenry. LE's long silence always has me thinking why? Here is my short list of possible answers (in order of probability) - others please chime in!

1. LE is waiting for SAR (France and/or Spain) to continue their search in the spring - the only explanation is ED is deceased in the mountains - accident, suicide, murder
2. LE is pursuing a lead(s) in a criminal investigation off of the mountains - a the third party theory related to an abduction or voluntary disappearance gone wrong
3. LE has been notified by ED she is safe and does not want to be found - voluntary disappearance that for some reason must entail her loved ones not knowing
4. LE has been notified by a women's shelter or mental health hospital ED is safe and she requires isolation to heal - a voluntary admission to an institution for help
5. LE is pursuing leads of ED sightings in any number of places - perhaps they too suspect a dissociative fugue or some sort of breakdown and they hope to find her

Of course I have no LE experience or expertise, so others here who do may have a completely different perspective.

 

[RickshawFan]

Do you mean her last excursion in the Pyrenees to be a way to keep her from thinking about home, or do you mean the way she and Dan had been living the last couple of years? I agree that this last excursion most likely was a way to get away from home, and to avoid thinking about how her life could change in the future, but I think she had been enjoying the nomadic life, the "don't fence me in" and live for the day. Would she really want to give that up, and stay hidden in a place, even if it was with someone new. It might have felt like a real escape, and a way to "keep herself not thinking about home", but for how long? Had the last six years, and how she had posted about what she had been doing in SM been a lie, if not for the entire time, so towards the end of it? If she had wanted to settle down, wasn't that what Dan also wanted? If tired of her relationship, wouldn't there be better ways to end it?

I mean the entire last at least 2 years.

 

[Puzzles]

Hi @RedHaus – This is a comprehensive list and includes reasons for possible LE focus. My mind couldn't have developed such a clear presentation. Thank you.

Edited to add this is in response to your post #751

 

[PeggyHenry]

Police do not believe that Esther had an accident and is in the Pyrenees
Police searching for missing UK blogger interview boyfriend twice | | Express Digest

This is from a report some time ago but I really believe that the police would not have said that unless they had reason to believe it. But if this is true then I can’t see a scenario where someone drags her out of the mountains. If she isn’t in the Pyrenees then she surely must have walked off them herself or maybe got in a car with someone. Have the police since changed their view ? I know of reports where they say all lines of theory are on the table. If Esther is not somewhere in the Pyrenees then I’m surprised that there are no sightings / cctv of her.

 

[patCee]

1. LE is waiting for SAR (France and/or Spain) to continue their search in the spring - the only explanation is ED is deceased in the mountains - accident, suicide, murder
2. LE is pursuing a lead(s) in a criminal investigation off of the mountains - a the third party theory related to an abduction or voluntary disappearance gone wrong

6) Or self harm:

 

[FrostOwl]

Yes I have thought this too. Just look at the person who went missing when ED & DC made their own video that time when the helicopter went past their place. That person wasn't all over the newspapers, yet it was the very same thing - person missing in the alps. This must happen a lot up there, yet we don't hear about it.
<snip>

It's always easier to look for information about cases when it's written in English, as there are more people who understand English, even when it's not their native language. When there are interesting missing person cases in countries where English isn't the native language, articles/information has to be translated to get that info out to a wider audience. The if there's a missing person's case and they are found quickly, be it alive or deceased, and there are no "mystery" about it, then of course there are not going to be much info about the case. Had Esther been found, alive or deceased in an accident, a couple of days after she was reported missing, there would not have been written many articles about her, and there would be no speculations about her choices in life.

As for how important the English language is when it comes to a missing person's case, try do a search for "Helena Andersson Mariestad 1992".

 

[Puzzles]

Police do not believe that Esther had an accident and is in the Pyrenees
Police searching for missing UK blogger interview boyfriend twice | | Express Digest

... I know of reports where they say all lines of theory are on the table. If Esther is not somewhere in the Pyrenees then I’m surprised that there are no sightings / cctv of her.

Snipped and BBM

There may well have been confirmed sightings/CCTV of Ed which have not been disclosed to the media.

I wonder if the family or LBT Global has considered offering a reward for information about her.
I wonder if the family has hired a private investigator.

Perhaps there aren't sufficient funds to do so.
Perhaps they don't believe either is necessary, as they be may be confident LE is intensively analyzing a well-founded area of focus.

We all know so little, and we all wonder so much.

 

[PeggyHenry]

‘We all know so little , and we all wonder so much’ (Puzzles)

that is so true!!! We do wonder so much...

Maybe this is all as a result of a few different factors such as it is lockdown, ED is an endearing character, so many jigsaw pieces to discuss, the location etc etc.

But similarly I feel what may have happened to Esther is due to a number of factors such as lockdown, location, food issues, possibly financial issues, possibly relationship issues, time of life... all resulting in decisions that may have cost her her life. Hopefully not.

we’ve discussed the possibility that she was going to meet someone on 22nd hence the late ascent of Pic. Just thinking that such a late meeting time was potentially to avoid many others being in the location. I. E was a meeting planned at that time deliberately to ensure a lack of witnesses in the vicinity?

 

[Normal Norm]

How and why did this disappearance so quickly become an international fr0ntpage story?
It’s a question that is really starting to puzzle me.

Snipped by me for focus.

At the risk of making sweeping generalisations, sounding very judgemental, and over-simplifying things, I think it comes down to one word ... class. I see that Sundaaaay has already beaten me to it on this point (post #748) and added other plausible explanations. Esther had a very expensive education, got a degree from one of the world's top universities, and has been "living the dream" for the last 6 years. I mean, she even represented her country at rowing back in her early days!

There are dozens, possibly hundreds, of people who go missing in the UK every day, but very, very few of them will be Esther's equal either in their socio-economic status or in terms of their lifestyle opportunities / choices. Their disappearances don't generate newspaper sales or click-through ad revenue.

 

[FrostOwl]

Snipped by me for focus.

At the risk of making sweeping generalisations, sounding very judgemental, and over-simplifying things, I think it comes down to one word ... class. I see that Sundaaaay has already beaten me to it on this point (post #748) and added other plausible explanations. Esther had a very expensive education, got a degree from one of the world's top universities, and has been "living the dream" for the last 6 years. I mean, she even represented her country at rowing back in her early days!

There are dozens, possibly hundreds, of people who go missing in the UK every day, but very, very few of them will be Esther's equal either in their socio-economic status or in terms of their lifestyle opportunities / choices. Their disappearances don't generate newspaper sales or click-through ad revenue.

I'm not so sure that class is the most important factor why there is so much written about Esther. Don't forget that she went missing as if she went up up in smoke; that she has a blog/facebook/instagram with lots of info that can be discussed at length; that her partner have posted info about her wanderings in Spain.
If other missing persons in the UK, or any other country, and there were lots of information written by them in English, I'm sure there would be lengthy treads here, and articles in newspapers, about them, regardless of class. The less info there is out there in cyberspace about a person, the less interesting/less possible it is to discuss them.