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

[FrostOwl]

Esther Dingley, a British woman who have been travelling Europe for six years, is missing during a solo hike in the French Pyrenees. She was last heard from last Sunday when she last spoke to her partner from a mountain top.
UK woman who has travelled Europe for six years goes missing in Pyrenees

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[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

It has 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.

 

[Sillybilly]

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.

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.

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

This post lands at random.

There is an ongoing cleanup of this thread. In the meantime, stop with the judgmental posts and the trashing of the victims. It is no way productive in trying to find out what has happened to Esther.

ETA: Be careful what you wish for ... when someone says Goodbye, we are very polite and say Goodbye in return.

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

This post lands at random.

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We now have a discussion sprinkled with unsupported, possible misinformation and members are discussing as if it is fact (i.e. search dogs stopped at a certain point ....). We only have X number of Moderators and it is impossible for us to go back through entire threads and remove all misinformation and all responses to that information. We rely on our members to let us know as soon as there is a problem when posts violate Websleuths Terms of Service. This is especially important when it is a matter of misinformation or info that is not supported by approved links. No member has special dispensation to state information as fact without backing it up with links to WS approved sources unless they are Verified by Websleuths.

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[Mrs Marple]

I've only dipped in and out of this thread.

Such a sad outcome but perhaps her family would rather know than spend their lives wondering.

 

[Jmoose]

I've only dipped in and out of this thread.

Such a sad outcome but perhaps her family would rather know than spend their lives wondering.

Yes, exactly right

 

[Pahorb]

I have heard about the bones of Esther Dingley on radio. It is sad at only 37 years of age. These things happen but she got lost and fell on way down when light is low I think. She does not know how to be high up when it is very cold and her route is strange. It is a good path. I am not sure why none of her clothes or her pack can be found. I do not know why she did not say about her way to a friend or someone else. Honestly, she was like walking in circles. Some things are mystical, however. I am not sure why.

 

[otto]

I've only dipped in and out of this thread.

Such a sad outcome but perhaps her family would rather know than spend their lives wondering.

Recent articles have said that SAR will continue to search for her equipment to better understand what happened. Given that her partner has suggested a criminal event, how she died needs to be investigated to rule out that possibility.

 

[LadyL]

Her mother Ria Bryant and boyfriend Dan Colegate said they were "distraught".

A joint statement said: "We have all known for many months that the chance we would get to hug our beloved Esther again, to feel her warm hand in ours, to see her beautiful smile and to watch the room light up again whenever she arrived was tiny, but with this confirmation that small hope has now faded. It is devastating beyond words.

"At this stage, with just a single bone found and no sign of equipment or clothing in the immediate area (which has been closely searched again over several days), the details of what happened and where still remain unknown."


Esther Dingley: Remains confirmed as those of missing hiker

 

[otto]

I have heard about the bones of Esther Dingley on radio. It is sad at only 37 years of age. These things happen but she got lost and fell on way down when light is low I think. She does not know how to be high up when it is very cold and her route is strange. It is a good path. I am not sure why none of her clothes or her pack can be found. I do not know why she did not say about her way to a friend or someone else. Honestly, she was like walking in circles. Some things are mystical, however. I am not sure why.

I agree that the route is strange. Two days in a row she hiked to the Pic de Sauvegarde. From there, we don't know what she did next. She might have stayed in the same area over night and hiked in Spain to Port de la Glere the following day, where she would decide whether to dip into France, or she may have hiked into France from Sauvegarde, arriving at dusk and stayed over night at the Refuge de Venasque. From the Refuge, there are two routes that Esther could have taken to the Port de la Glere, but it looks like one of the routes was not explored per Dan's map.

This maps show a shortcut



GRPdesBF 331-333

Dan's map does not explore the shortcut



Esther Dingley: Partner vows to keep searching for missing hiker

I hope that SAR explores the shortcut, as that seems to be quite challenging as well.

 

[Herat]

I disagree.

I do believe Dan's map shows him exploring the shortcut.

It is in the valley next east from Port de la Glere. It is just to the northwest of the yellow pin for Sauvegarde.

He traverses the spine of the unnamed ridge that lies east of Pont de la Glere, and he has tracks zigzagging along the col beneath the ridge, and all surrounding the Lac de la Montagnette. I just think that she was never there.

I think she fell on the tract on the Port de la Glere and the vultures disturbed her remains in that valley, as there were certainly plenty of rocks nearby.

As Dan would have made these trips in the days, weeks, and perhaps months after their last contact, it will be interesting to hear if he found anyone's tracks in these areas at all.

 

[RickshawFan]

I agree that the route is strange. Two days in a row she hiked to the Pic de Sauvegarde. From there, we don't know what she did next. She might have stayed in the same area over night and hiked in Spain to Port de la Glere the following day, where she would decide whether to dip into France, or she may have hiked into France from Sauvegarde, arriving at dusk and stayed over night at the Refuge de Venasque. From the Refuge, there are two routes that Esther could have taken to the Port de la Glere, but it looks like one of the routes was not explored per Dan's map.

This maps show a shortcut

View attachment 306634

GRPdesBF 331-333

Dan's map does not explore the shortcut

View attachment 306633

Esther Dingley: Partner vows to keep searching for missing hiker

I hope that SAR explores the shortcut, as that seems to be quite challenging as well.

IMO she spent the night after the Pic in the Cabane de Besurtas. I'm thinking this would have qualified as "in the same area" because she spent the night before there.

Also, if DC ascended to the P de la G, it would not at all have reproduced "descending" as far as difficulty. Difficult enough, but not even close to the treachery of coming from above.
I have spelled out the risks of descending vs ascending in a post ^^^^, as well as what a nightmare it would have been in that location.

 

[RickshawFan]

I agree that the route is strange. Two days in a row she hiked to the Pic de Sauvegarde. From there, we don't know what she did next. She might have stayed in the same area over night and hiked in Spain to Port de la Glere the following day, where she would decide whether to dip into France, or she may have hiked into France from Sauvegarde, arriving at dusk and stayed over night at the Refuge de Venasque. From the Refuge, there are two routes that Esther could have taken to the Port de la Glere, but it looks like one of the routes was not explored per Dan's map.

This maps show a shortcut

View attachment 306634

GRPdesBF 331-333

Dan's map does not explore the shortcut

View attachment 306633

Esther Dingley: Partner vows to keep searching for missing hiker

I hope that SAR explores the shortcut, as that seems to be quite challenging as well.

I'm not sure how a "shortcut" via Refugio de Venasque would factor into a loop trip that takes you to the P de la G, which is a mountain pass. It doesn't go close. And the skull fragment was found way high up on the ghastly scree slope just 100 m into France.

If there was a shortcut involved, I'm thinking it was on the Spain side of the mountains from the Port de Venasque to the Port de la Glère, but that would be sheer madness. One look at a detailed topo map and that's, so to speak, a no-go.

I'm thinking since ED made it up to the Pic from the Cabane the day before, she might have assumed it was a mere scamper from the Cabane to the P de la G. It looks much more difficult and longer to me. She may have arrived late and/or exhausted and then wanted to scurry down and into France.

IMO the misadventure happened the day after she topped the Pic S.

If it were me, and I reached the P de la G from the Cabane and I was running low on energy and my legs were shot, I would have overnighted right in the Port. There is some shelter from the weather right there because it's got rock walls. In fact, there might be a nook there. If ED did that, the misadventure would presumably have happened the 2nd day after the Pic. I believe on descent; that's what statistics tell us.

 

[otto]

I disagree.

I do believe Dan's map shows him exploring the shortcut.

It is in the valley next east from Port de la Glere. It is just to the northwest of the yellow pin for Sauvegarde.

He traverses the spine of the unnamed ridge that lies east of Pont de la Glere, and he has tracks zigzagging along the col beneath the ridge, and all surrounding the Lac de la Montagnette. I just think that she was never there.

I think she fell on the tract on the Port de la Glere and the vultures disturbed her remains in that valley, as there were certainly plenty of rocks nearby.

As Dan would have made these trips in the days, weeks, and perhaps months after their last contact, it will be interesting to hear if he found anyone's tracks in these areas at all.

Easiest way to demonstrate is with a map.



Were the long route and the shortcut searched once?

 

[searancke]

Esther Dingley: family grieve after skull is confirmed as lost hiker’s | News | The Times

In the article DC says “Comments I’ve seen and received in recent weeks that suggest Esther was in some way less capable in the mountains on her solo hikes are fundamentally the opposite of what is true,” he said. “It was Esther who looked after me.”

If you are reading this, Dan, remember it is easy for people on keyboards to comment when they don't have all the facts or know the person. I am sorry for your loss.

 

[otto]

Esther Dingley: family grieve after skull is confirmed as lost hiker’s | News | The Times

In the article DC says “Comments I’ve seen and received in recent weeks that suggest Esther was in some way less capable in the mountains on her solo hikes are fundamentally the opposite of what is true,” he said. “It was Esther who looked after me.”

If you are reading this, Dan, remember it is easy for people on keyboards to comment when they don't have all the facts or know the person. I am sorry for your loss.

We know that Esther was less capable in the mountains than Dan. Not sure why Dan versus Esther in the mountains is relevant. He's alive, she is not. He is more capable. We know that.

It's odd that Esther edited his books about their travels with pups and hiking mountains. She was there, she lived the experience, why isn't she an author of those books?

I see suicide on the table,

Someone posted an update from Esther's facebook page stating a week before she vanished that if she were to vanish, she preferred the top of the mountain? Was that at the end of the last thread?

 

[Kike76]

I agree with DC that some comments have suggested she was less capable than suggested. I think Esther Dingley was incredibly experienced as a hiker compared to what most people could hope to achieve in a lifetime and clearly had a very high level of fitness. Like many other hikers she was also conscientious with adequate equipment and respectful of the environment. Of course, her high level of fitness and skills meant she probably took part in walks that most of us could not do so easily so her boundaries were expanded by her fitness- that is just natural.
The problem is that a mountain trip or fall can result in an injury that would be otherwise not life threatening becoming so regardless of skill level. Many years ago my dad fell on a less steep mountain less high up (on descent- more risky!) and dislocated his shoulder. Due to the severity of pain he was quite simply incapable of descending and was thankfully passed by another hiker who got him to safety. If you are out of phone signal and this happens late in the day you can end up in major trouble quickly. In the Winter temperature may be warm in the day but as soon as direct sun disappears they fall quickly .

Even without accident, illness can suddenly occur. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that she developed something like acute appendicitis or COVID 19 infection both of which could incapacitate her relatively quickly.

 

[ZaZara]

Even without accident, illness can suddenly occur. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that she developed something like acute appendicitis or COVID 19 infection both of which could incapacitate her relatively quickly.

RSBM & BBM

Ironically amid the worldwide pandemic, if Esther had been infected with COVID-19, she would have woken up with a sore throat and possibly fever.
If she remained in the Refuge or Cabane, or even in her tent, she would have been found in time. And survived.

IMO, an accident due to a medical emergency remains a possibility, but most likely it wasn't COVID-19.

 

[otto]

The delay between a mishap that Esther had in the Pyrenees and the alert that something was wrong was four days: Nov 21 and Nov 26. I suppose it was too late by then. On the fifth day, SAR was all over it and the next day there was snow, so they shut down for Winter and covid. It was just a dusting of snow, but locals know that means Winter.

What has been found is a partial skull with attached hair (good enough for dental records) and animal bones. Animal bones, and human skull with hair, found together, leaves me wondering about the lammergeier. What other animal puts those bones together?

Also curious about human hair on a skull in July when the mountain peaks on her route are covered with snow on mid-June. Her skull was just exposed to the birds and other animals?