@RickshawFan, excellent question. There are a few ED text statements from the dossier that truly confound me. And I agree with you, this is one of them:
22/11, 15:31 – “Not much signal in this area sorry. I’m on a col/peak so can’t stop for too long but wanted you to know...."
And here is why it confounds me:
1)
If ED was at the pic de Sauvegarde summit per the dossier - based likely on the analysis by LE of the mast from where and when her cell phone pinged - she would have
excellent cell service and ED knew that from her summit the day before. So on 22/11, why say
"Not much signal in this area" unless ED was not actually on the summit?
2)
If ED was at the pic de Sauvegarde summit, why not just say that rather than
"I'm on a col/peak...". Why not name the peak you are on? And to your point, RickshawFan, why say col/peak, when clearly the summit is not a col. From what little I know there is a difference. Could ED have been on an un-named col near by?
3)
If ED was at the pic de Sauvegarde summit and was concerned about the late time of day (15:31) is that why she said
"... so can't stop for too long"? If so, then why did ED proceed to stay past 16:08, at least 37 more minutes? What if ED was not
on the summit, but was on her way somewhere? What if she stopped briefly at 15:29 when she got her first cell signal in 26 hours, started hiking again at 15:31, then took a break, and at 16:04 texted
“I’m heading off now… I think I can see you !!!”
Of course another explanation to these odd words is ED's mental state, which we have examined as honestly and gently as we can. But for a moment, let's suspend the idea that ED was at all mentally or emotionally compromised. And let's also suspend the long held belief here that ED was on the pic de Sauvegarde summit 22/11?
I am not a cell phone expert, but I know it is very difficult to identify a cell phone location based on a single mast ping. Usually it takes some sort of triangulation between multiple cell masts to identify a cell phone location. In this case, IMO, ED could have been close to the pic de Sauvegarde cell mast, but not on the summit.
This takes us back to Page 18 of Thread #2 (and perhaps Thread #1), where many of us explored in great detail the possibility that ED was
NOT on the summit of pic de Sauvegarde at 15:29 on 22/11. That may be an assumption by LE and DC based on ED's phone pinging off of the summit cell mast. It also takes us back to our endless examination of the selfie ED sent DC on 22/11 and whether that was just another shot (later in the day) from 21/11. I still believe both of these are possibilities.
We have long since moved on from those sleuthing efforts, but your question this evening, RickshawFan, has brought me full circle. So I am revisiting this...
We know that Marti Vigo del Arco and his girlfriend saw ED at 15:00 on 22/11. We are not sure where they saw ED on the trail. But some of us, including me, thought they met below the port de Vanesque. If true, that opens the possibility that rather than summiting pic de Sauvegarde again, ED could have headed through the port de Vanesque. I suspect she could have stopped there, checked for cell service, and with not a lot but enough service (
"not much signal in this area"), ED sent her texts and read her messages, etc. Depending on where on the ascent she met Mr. del Arco, ED could have even made it through the port de Vanesque, past the Refuge de Vanesque (we discovered a trail that goes high above the refuge for a direct line past it) and gotten back into cell service by 15:29 when she first got a signal. See the image below, which is my attempt to show where ED may have been when she got that cell signal on 22/11 and made texts / video chat. This of course is all IMO.
Could locations #2 and #3 be cols?
View attachment 287733 Click image to enlarge it.
So why does this matter? Of course this could affect the search area for ED's remains if she had a tragic accident or committed suicide in those areas. But if ED was not at the summit of pic de Sauvegarde on 22/11, given the rest of her texts that day, it also means she may have been striving to get somewhere that evening - perhaps she had a personal goal, or she was planning to meet someone, or she was already executing her voluntary disappearance and being evasive with DC. If for instance, at 16:08 on 22/11 ED was as far along as location #3 in my image above, I believe she could have made it to Hospice de France (all down hill) by dark.
Hospice de France has a parking lot and access to a road. Could ED have met someone there - friend or foe? Could ED have been aiming to get to Hospice de France to meet DC, stating at 16:04 on her way there
"...I think I can see you !!!” since from point #3 (above) she'd have had a clear shot of her destination?
And IMO, this also opens the possibility ED stayed at Hospice de France 22/11 and hiked / hitched to Luchon 23/11, like ED told Jose Antonio Ballarin 21/11 she would, and like she may have told DC when ED stated,
"Might dip into France". Some here have opined what ED meant was visit a proper town or city in France.
Sources:
1. Dossier:
https://42cc80b7-be3b-41e3-a85b-18b...d/4addd9_d8c55b489c6f445b96d6324dd882f5a1.pdf
2. Wiki Definition of
Col
3.
Esther Dingley: Olympic skier 'saw' missing British hiker on day she disappeared in Pyrenees
4.
Missing Esther Dingley's secrets, by the last man to see her alive | Daily Mail Online