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

[pineapple23]

I'm relieved for her loved ones Esther has been found and they can now work out what happened.

I'm hoping that the findings can be conclusive enough to put an end to continuing speculation and that the family is given space. It must be difficult enough as it is for them to come to terms with what has happened.

 

[ZaZara]

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

Pyrenees. After her skull, the rest of Esther Dingley's body and equipment found

The rest of Esther Dingley's body and equipment were found by her partner on Monday 9 August 2021 in the Pyrenees, more than two weeks after her skull was found.

The 37-year-old British blogger had been missing for eight months. On Monday 9 August 2021 in the afternoon, Esther Dingley's body and equipment were found in the Pyrenees, more than two weeks after the discovery of her skull at the Port de la Gléré, near Luchon, Actu Toulouse has learned from the charity LBT Global, which is supporting Esther's family and Dan Colegate, her partner. A source close to the investigation confirmed this to Actu Toulouse.

According to the family of the British blogger, the discovery was made "close to the place" where her skull was found a fortnight ago. According to our information, they were found "in a very rugged area", at the level of the Pic de la Gléré, a few hundred metres higher than the eponymous Port.

According to confirmed sources, the discovery was made by Esther's partner, Daniel Colegate. This was "following a relentless search effort on her part since her disappearance", the charity said. Since the discovery of her skull, the young man had been searching for her every day, and he had targeted the area around the Port de la Gléré in particular.

On Monday afternoon, Dan Colegate spotted the body below the Pic de la Gléré, in an area that was "very difficult to access", and reported it to the gendarmes, who intervened on site.

A team of forensic doctors, as well as mountain rescue personnel, were dispatched to the scene on Tuesday morning in order to carry out investigations and recover Esther's body. Specialists from the Luchon High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM) were on the scene, along with soldiers from the Toulouse Investigation Section and the Criminal Investigation Technicians (TIC) from the Ville rose.

Without venturing into the circumstances of the death, the family specifies that "at this stage", "given the location and other early indications", the "most likely" hypothesis is that of an accident. This is also the preferred hypothesis of the Saint-Gaudens public prosecutor and the Toulouse investigation unit, and the current investigation must confirm this in order to understand the exact circumstances of Esther's death.

"In the light of these latest discoveries, nothing allows us to envisage another hypothesis," a source close to the case confirmed this Tuesday.


BBM

 

[drama_farmer]

Esther’s photo:

View attachment 308018

Bears have more toes and they’re more parallel. Looking at this image of animal prints, it does seem more likely to be from a bird.

View attachment 308017

Could be an old print of anything... Maybe even a ski/walking pole. Snow melt causes major changes in the shape, depth and appearance of tracks. Imo

 

[Hatty]

Thanks for posting that. Unrelated to the point you were making but it's worth noting here that she explicitly states that she is navigating by map. Not using a phone screen or GPS device

We don't know that DC is making any assumptions about the route plans.
They had a video call immediately after she sent the last message. We don't know what was discussed on the call, DC does. The only information we have is the written message. Whereas DC likely has significantly more information than we do.

Precisely! I’ve mentioned this up thread before.

 

[Owlpellet]

Anthem for Dan... who walked 700 miles....
“I’m gonna be the man who’s coming home with you...”.

A bit upbeat, but somehow I think Esther would approve:

 

[poirotoupierrot]

It may only be 2 days. The last comms were just after 1600 on 22nd. DC's dossier says he alerted the authorities on 25th. The cops say they were alerted on 24th (all flagged before). My view is to take the dossier as a primary source and the media reports as secondary, so on that basis I favour 25th. If so, 3 days of radio silence while in Pyrenees in sub-zero temperature on the first night.

Still - a freaking long time to be in sub zero temperatures.

I'm not convinced that these temps reflect the elevation in the mountains, but these are the temps for the weather station near Venasque France.

History Weather Data Venasque - Synop | Weather2Umbrella LTD

Click on the calendar to switch to Nov 21 - 22, 2020. It was cold overnight and I'm convinced that there would be snow at higher elevations.

I don't think there was any shelter near the Port de la Glere, or in the valley below. She had to complete the hike between the Port de la Glere and the Refuge de Venasque in one day, and she was wise to hope for a Winter Room.

If she was heading to the Refuge de la Glere, that closes in the second week of October.

Accueil, Refuge de la Glère

I really do wonder what she was thinking taking hiking advice from a complete stranger to hike trails and Refuges that close in October due to Winter conditions.

I think it's also notable she couldn't quite recall if the Porte de la Glère name was right - was she already too tired? Was she knowingly taking chances? Or was she actually just making something up about where she was going and couldn't remember the place she had thought up to say? Still different possibilities...

 

[drama_farmer]

IF that area was scoured by HRD canines (human remains detecting) it looks like another unsuccessful search for them. I really want to believe that the canine nose is a powerful, unbiased detection tool.

Maybe it's the handlers that need more training? Imo

 

[RedHaus]

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??

According to the family of the British blogger, the discovery was made "close to the place" where her skull was found a fortnight ago. According to our information, they were found "in a very rugged area", at the level of the Pic de la Gléré, a few hundred metres higher than the eponymous Port.

BBM

 

[Grouse]

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

at the level of the Pic de la Gléré, a few hundred metres higher than the eponymous Port.

RSBM - I'm a bit surprised it was that high, maybe rules out a big fall down the scree then.

ETA: @RedHaus and of course it rules out both our theories about the lakes.

 

[RedHaus]

And sorry if this is not appropriate timing, but if ED in fact died high up near a pic, I have to wonder again if suicide in a special, isolated spot is how ED's life ended. Of course, she could have been exploring off trail high up near a pic and had a tragic fall that ended her life. However her life ended, I hope it was instant or peaceful.

 

[ZaZara]

RSBM - I'm a bit surprised it was that high, maybe rules out a big fall down the scree then.

My first impression was that she may have tried to reach the top of the Pic de la Glere, deviating from the planned track, and that something went wrong there.

 

[RedHaus]

Indeed it does, @Grouse!

ETA: @RedHaus and of course it rules out both our theories about the lakes.

 

[Grouse]

My first impression was that she may have tried to reach the top

I think I need to have a look on Google maps etc, I can't really visualise that Pic in relation to the planned circular route (or indeed the possible but less likely route across the ridge). There are some on here who are better than me at at that sort of thing though like @otto so I may wait to see what appears.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I think I need to have a look on Google maps etc, I can't really visualise that Pic in relation to the planned circular route (or indeed the possible but less likely route across the ridge). There are some on here who are better than me at at that sort of thing though like @otto so I may wait to see what appears.

Here's the French side (ie facing south towards Spain)
Google Earth

 

[touch]

I think it's also notable she couldn't quite recall if the Porte de la Glère name was right - was she already too tired? Was she knowingly taking chances? Or was she actually just making something up about where she was going and couldn't remember the place she had thought up to say? Still different possibilities...

It's easy to be confused about the name of it. In Spain it's referred to as "Puerto de la Glera" and in France it's called "Port de la Glere". If you're english-speaking and neither French nor Spanish then what is the correct name to use?

 

[PeggyHenry]

IF that area was scoured by HRD canines (human remains detecting) it looks like another unsuccessful search for them. I really want to believe that the canine nose is a powerful, unbiased detection tool.

Maybe it's the handlers that need more training? Imo

I've no doubt the canine nose is a powerful, unbiased detection tool - If they had searched in the area I've no doubt they would have detected the human scent. That makes it really puzzling to me

 

[PeggyHenry]

In my head, I'd always predicted that Dan would locate her body. I'm not surprised at all. I hope the investigating team gets to the bottom of this.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I've no doubt the canine nose is a powerful, unbiased detection tool - If they had searched in the area I've no doubt they would have detected the human scent. That makes it really puzzling to me

Do you know if the dogs covered that specific area since the skull was found? Because that narrowed the location down significantly, and allowed searchers to focus on a much smaller area in the last few days.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

I've no doubt the canine nose is a powerful, unbiased detection tool - If they had searched in the area I've no doubt they would have detected the human scent. That makes it really puzzling to me

Do we know exactly where she was found yet? It may have been a long way down from any tracks where dogs were.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

In my head, I'd always predicted that Dan would locate her body. I'm not surprised at all. I hope the investigating team gets to the bottom of this.

Me too. Poor Dan has had to endure not only the loss of his partner but snarky comments in the media and elsewhere insinuating his involvement! It will be great when all that speculation ends. I'm not surprised he found her either, he was on a one-man mission to find his love and bring her home. I dont think he would have stopped until he did. I hope this brings him the start of some peace.

JMO