Found Deceased Spain - Esther Dingley, from UK, missing in the Pyrenees, November 2020 #6

[Hatty]

Esther Dingley: Missing hiker's boyfriend finds her body

 

[IrisElizabeth]

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We are on the outside looking in and without knowing or understanding as much as we might think we do. I think we should be careful about ascribing guilt and remorse to others.

Yes that’s a good point. Hopefully enough info will be recovered from her body/the surroundings to ascertain exactly what happened. But the foul play hypothesis does seem to be the most unlikely one fortunately.

 

[OEJ-JEO]

Here's a slightly different view of the Pic and Port de la Glère. The 2200m contour is actually a little lower than I thought. From this angle it seems quite likely that the skull fragment may simply have fallen under gravity or been carried by meltwater to the area where it was found.

 

[Owlpellet]

I think she may simply have gone too close to the edge at the top of the pic and it has given way, possibly partially burying her and the slope was unstable and has continued to move, gradually revealing her. If it had been covered with snow at the time it would have been a case of going out too far onto the cornice and would have been a common mistake, particularly for anyone inexperienced in winter climbing. Was there any snow on the tops at that time?

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Was there any snow on the tops at that time?

A smattering. I believe these two pics are from the weekend she vanished. I forget the exact direction she was facing now but that could well be Glere in the distance behind her on one of them. The heavy snow, which stopped the searches, came a week or so after that iirc.

 

[poirotoupierrot]

A smattering. I believe these two pics are from the weekend she vanished. I forget the exact direction she was facing now but that could well be Glere in the distance behind her on one of them. The heavy snow, which stopped the searches, came a week or so after that iirc.

View attachment 308305

View attachment 308306

She was towards Pic Aneto in one of them...

 

[CoverMeCagney]

She was towards Pic Aneto in one of them...

I can’t remember now, even though I spent hours matching mountains up when she first went missing! It’s more an illustration that there was not a huge amount of snow that weekend.

 

[otto]

What a relief for DC and ED's family, I have to imagine, as well as immense grief for their loss.

@otto, since you are our resident mapping genius, I wonder if this information is enough to help us understand where ED's remains may have been found. From what I can interpret from the article @ZaZara just posted, it sounds like ED's remains were above the Port de la Glere??


BBM

I'm just looking at different articles trying to get a sense of where exactly the body was found.

This is the google earth link to the Port de la Glere.

Google Earth

I'm curious whether they mean near Pic de Sacroux.

Randonnée Pic de Sacroux | rando-marche

Not sure yet.

If she stayed in Spain overnight, hiked to Port de la Glere in the moring, arrived after noon, perhaps hiked Pic de Sacroux (which is not an easy trail), still not dipping into France but perhaps wanting to enjoy the view.

I'm not ruling out suicide.

 

[Herat]

Here's a slightly different view of the Pic and Port de la Glère. The 2200m contour is actually a little lower than I thought. From this angle it seems quite likely that the skull fragment may simply have fallen under gravity or been carried by meltwater to the area where it was found.

The steepness of that trail and the background of what looks to be loose shale/ rock is really quite terrifying.

 

[poirotoupierrot]

I can't visualise where they found her either. I did just read an article DC wrote for BBC online mid July which mentions they were combing phone data of everyone who was on the mountain... I really hope they found what they needed to find, it does look like phone data could be significant in helping at least eliminate foul play. Also, I'm so impressed by the ability of DC and family to hold it together. I don't know how they've managed. I've swung between theorising about DC and external parties not because I hate anyone or think them intrinsically bad, but I've been trying to evaluate all the possibilities. It's partly wanting to remember a woman who was alone in the mountains at night for reasons I can't quite work out. It really isn't judgement, but hopefully usefully eliminating sort of speculation, I absolutely don't want to disturb the bereaved or disrespect Esther's memory.

 

[Grouse]

A smattering. I believe these two pics are from the weekend she vanished. I forget the exact direction she was facing now but that could well be Glere in the distance behind her on one of them. The heavy snow, which stopped the searches, came a week or so after that iirc.

View attachment 308305

View attachment 308306

Might be wrong but I think it was discussed before that these two pics were facing opposite directions, presumably to get all the background view in?

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Might be wrong but I think it was discussed before that these two pics were facing opposite directions, presumably to get all the background view in?

Also might be wrong but I think one was from Sat and one from Sun. It’s been a while though, bit rusty!

 

[otto]

The actu.fr article is contradictory about the precise location of her remains, but perhaps that's to be expected at this stage. They're said to be "below the Pic" and also "a few hundred metres above the Port":

Pyrénées. Après son crâne, le reste du corps et le matériel d'Esther Dingley retrouvés | Actu Toulouse

I suppose this means the remains were higher than the Port de la Glare, but below the Pic de la Glere.

"But it was Dan Colegate who, Monday afternoon, spotted the body and the belongings of his companion, below the Pic de la Gléré, in a sector "very difficult to access", and reported it to gendarmes, who intervened on the spot."

"According to the family of the 37-year-old British blogger , the discovery was made " near where" her skull was found two weeks ago. According to our information, they were spotted "in a very rugged area", at the Pic de la Gléré, a few hundred meters higher than the eponymous Port."
​

Pyrénées. Après son crâne, le reste du corps et le matériel d'Esther Dingley retrouvés | Actu Toulouse

 

[poirotoupierrot]

I'm just looking at different articles trying to get a sense of where exactly the body was found.

This is the google earth link to the Port de la Glere.

Google Earth

I'm curious whether they mean near Pic de Sacroux.

Randonnée Pic de Sacroux | rando-marche

Not sure yet.

If she stayed in Spain overnight, hiked to Port de la Glere in the moring, arrived after noon, perhaps hiked Pic de Sacroux (which is not an easy trail), still not dipping into France but perhaps wanting to enjoy the view.

I'm not ruling out suicide.

And they said in a BBC article it was in a difficult-to-reach place where they'd be prepared to use a helicopter to recover her body. I was trying to work out where that would be - with enough clearance directly above but also within a recess... I'm guessing here - right on the border between France and Spain - is that significant due to their nationalities? And does that therefore indicate suicide?

 

[Grouse]

Also might be wrong but I think one was from Sat and one from Sun. It’s been a while though, bit rusty!

Pretty sure these were both from Sunday. The ones on the last post made on Instagram were from the Saturday. IG doesn't show the time by default but it was 13:10 CET we established (in my browser selecting the date, right clicking and then "inspect element" shows it).

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Pretty sure these were both from Sunday. The ones on the last post made on Instagram were from the Saturday. IG doesn't show the time by default but it was 13:10 CET we established (in my browser selecting the date, right clicking and then "inspect element" shows it).

Honestly can’t remember but it was just to show the general levels of snowiness when she vanished i.e. not a lot!

I still can’t find any other reference to the tent being awol, so I’m inclined to agree with Zara that it’s a mistake by that one journo. We shall see.

 

[Snoopster]

regarding the tent, here is a quote from the Daily Mail (yes, I know), but it's not clear where they got the quote from. There was also a comment that her body was found tucked out of view in a 'natural hideway'. If the places was difficult to access, I can see why it wasn't spotted earlier, particularly if Esther was off-track, going a bit higher than Port de la Glere.

‘Some of her equipment was recovered, but the yellow tent is not among the articles found.’

Missing equipment including Esther’s Lanshun ½ Ultralight tent have always been considered crucial to solving the mystery, because of the forensic clues it is likely to yield.

The team are made of Criminal Investigation Technicians (ICTs in French) from Toulouse, supported by high mountain police from nearby Luchon, and military personnel.

Esther’s body was found by Mr Colegate on Monday afternoon, close to where a portion of her skull was discovered two weeks ago.

There was no immediate information as to how police managed to miss the human remains, but the source said it was in a ‘natural hideway’, such as a gully, cave, or hidden behind rocks.

Esther Dingley's boyfriend discovers final remains of the missing British hiker in the Pyrenees | Daily Mail Online

 

[drama_farmer]

But... That's not the case with "cadaver" dogs, officially known as HRD. They are not tracking a specific scent of a particular living thing. They are trained to alert to the scents of decomposition.

Not the handlers at all.
LE/SAR asks the family/partners not to go out searching for a reason. Sniffing canines are mooted on the trail of a missing hiker if domestic partners are out looking, because partners have the same aromas on them from being around each other. Canines can't distinguish.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

regarding the tent, here is a quote from the Daily Mail (yes, I know), but it's not clear where they got the quote from.

It’s from “a source”, probably the same source someone here found. Or possibly even direct from Websleuths or another forum, wouldn’t be the first time they lifted our info!

 

[Snoopster]

Here's a link to a blog post that describes someone's hike to Pic de la Glere and Pic de Sacroux. I'm guessing that ED decided to get a view from one of these two before descending toward her motorhome. It has some good photos that give a sense of the environment.
http://robertetlespyrenees.kazeo.com/pic-de-sacroux-2676-m-et-pic-de-la-glere-2496-m-a120142244

From Google Earth/Maps, you can see a path to the right, almost immediately after you pass over Port de la Glere to the Spanish side, that looks like it takes you to Pic de Sacroux. The path is above the lake.
Here is the view from the top... a nice flat area with a great view to across Port de la Glere to Pico de la Glere (which doesn't look as 'friendly' to add on an impulsive off trail climb).

Google Maps