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

[OEJ-JEO]

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).

Pic de la Glère is the craggy peak in the left side of this image. Port de la Glère is just above the scree field to the right. The point of view here is southwest into Spain:

Google Earth

Port de la Glère was at the end of the loop through France according to DC's dossier, and the Pic just east and above it on the border ridge.

 

[OEJ-JEO]

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

 

[CoverMeCagney]

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

Doesn’t that basically mean she was somewhere between the top and the bottom?

 

[poirotoupierrot]

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?

I meant more in relation to all the other things in the area named 'de la Glère' which are not necessarily near to there - so she goes somewhere, but where, plus is she really going there? I would suggest is more correct as it's on the French side... I haven't really thought about the this and don't really see it as relevant...

 

[ChiCubs2016]

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

I truly admire his dedication. RIP Esther. Hopefully some day Dan finds peace in knowing he brought her home.

 

[RickshawFan]

BBM Do you mean late that Sunday, straight after her last convo with Dan, from Pic de Sauveguarde, or late the following day?

I'm relieved for her loved ones Esther has been found and they can now work out what happened. The not knowing must have been unbearable.

I meant the day AFTER Pic day #2, but I have to catch up with this thread.

 

[poirotoupierrot]

Also in the most recent French article from CoverMeCagney (with much thanks):

"But it was Dan Colegate who, Monday afternoon, located the body and his girlfriend's belongings, below the Pic de la Gléré, in a "very difficult to access" area, and reported it to gendarmes, who intervened on the spot. However, not all the equipment was found: her famous yellow tent is missing."

I was drawn to someone saying they found it weird that DC scoured everywhere except the slope beneath the Pic itself, according to the map on the BBC. DC has no doubt been through Hell, whatever happened.

 

[RickshawFan]

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

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.

 

[RickshawFan]

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?

PdelaG, PortdelaG, PicdelaG....

 

[Grouse]

Pic de la Glère is the craggy peak in the left side of this image. Port de la Glère is just above the scree field to the right. The point of view here is southwest into Spain:

Google Earth

Port de la Glère was at the end of the loop through France according to DC's dossier, and the Pic just east and above it on the border ridge.

Thanks. So it sounds like maybe the body was on that steep section just below the peak (I've marked as A on the attached image), but not too far down to be above the Port? If so I'm not surprised it was hard to access. It looks like there could be quite a few places where she could have got lodged after possibly a fall off the Pic.



If I'm not mistaken I think it was said the skull fragment was near the trail to the Port a few hundred meters into the French side, maybe around B?

 

[touch]

PdelaG, PortdelaG, PicdelaG....

I'm not sure what your point is? Glere/Glera is different between French and Spanish for each of the locations you've listed so it makes sense to be unsure what the "correct" spelling is.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

PdelaG

I'm not sure that would have clarified anything . She said "Tomorrow heading for Port de le Glere or something spelt like that" and she did spell it slightly wrong, though it was very clear what she meant. English speakers can struggle with le/la and all the diacritics.

 

[RickshawFan]

I'm not sure what your point is? Glere/Glera is different between French and Spanish for each of the locations you've listed so it makes sense to be unsure what the "correct" spelling is.

I was offering shorthand for the purposes of WS. Then posters don't have to worry how to spell it or what language. Also, trying to insert diacritical marks all the time (e.g. the French grave in Glère) is a DRAG.

 

[OEJ-JEO]

Thanks. So it sounds like maybe the body was on that steep section just below the peak (I've marked as A on the attached image), but not too far down to be above the Port?

I'd guess somewhere on that craggy face, perhaps further down, but certainly in that vicinity.

If I'm not mistaken I think it was said the skull fragment was near the trail to the Port a few hundred meters into the French side, maybe around B?

A bit lower down, I think. The skull fragment was said to have been found around the 2200m contour, which is somewhere around the bottom of that image. The Pic is at 2496m.

 

[touch]

I was offering shorthand for the purposes of WS. Then posters don't have to worry how to spell it or what language. Also, trying to insert diacritical marks all the time (e.g. the French grave in Glère) is a DRAG.

Ok, thanks. That's helpful for on here then, and also proves my point that it's difficult to get the spelling right.
The point I was answering was that ED may have been unsure where she was going because she didn't know how to spell it. I was just pointing out that it's not easy to know the spelling because the French spell it different to the Spanish so it doesn't suggest that she was unsure of the location at all by not knowing the spelling.

 

[poirotoupierrot]

I thought you meant after her last known selfie, the one she sent Dan.

Yeah sure, but I wasn't talking about Where, so much as I was discussing The Cause of her death. I didn't mention a place, you just read one? And on the Instagram it just says 'Pyrenees' so the although the photo may be of a specific place could have been sent from quite a few places in the mountain range... I said this from when I first started posting...

 

[poirotoupierrot]

Ok, thanks. That's helpful for on here then, and also proves my point that it's difficult to get the spelling right.
The point I was answering was that ED may have been unsure where she was going because she didn't know how to spell it. I was just pointing out that it's not easy to know the spelling because the French spell it different to the Spanish so it doesn't suggest that she was unsure of the location at all by not knowing the spelling.

It seems like she maybe didn't speak good French? My point was that the 'Glere' featured in a quite a few names in the area and sure, she may have been mixing things up when tired or at altitude...I didn't see the point of translating any names into Spanish as no Spanish names were being discussed (wasn't getting at you) and she was on the French side of the Pyrenees. You refer to the spelling, but I think I was making the same point as you, differently - her lack of familiarity with place names may have led her to the wrong place, but she may have accepted an impromptu challenge which then went terribly wrong in some way.

 

[touch]

You refer to the spelling, but I think I was making the same point as you, differently - her lack of familiarity with place names may have led her to the wrong place, but she may have accepted an impromptu challenge which then went terribly wrong in some way.

Not at all, I'm saying the complete opposite.
I think she knew exactly where she was going but simply wasn't sure how to spell it. Different maps have different spellings for it between the languages so I'm not surprised that she wasn't sure of the spelling.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I really don’t think the spelling or misspelling of Glere has any bearing on this. It’s clear where she was heading, it is at the other end of the trail loop that she’d mapped out, and it should have been her last mountain before descending back to the road.

The mystery is whether she took the anti clockwise loop (more an inverted U shape) as planned, or risked crossing the gap in the “U” to get directly to La Glere.

 

[RickshawFan]

The trail, with photos, from the Cabane de Besurtas to the summit of Tuca de La Glera. Be warned it's in Spanish, though the Spanish is not difficult. It gives an idea of the terrain while on foot.

Montesymasdebucuesa: 42-14. PICO DE LA GLERA POR LA ARISTA SUDOESTE. 6-6-14.