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

[otto]

If she was skeletal remains, that explains why her clothing was separate from her bones.

"On Wednesday, a team of Criminal Investigation Technicians (ICTs in French) from Toulouse was still up in the mountains, examining the place where Colegate found Esther's 'skeletal remains'.​

Police blame the WEATHER for not finding Esther Dingley's body in area they had already searched | Daily Mail Online

 

[Grouse]

I think it's good for all concerned that the area/evidence is examined throroughly and from all angles. The problem comes in the spin being put on it by certain media.
DM (sorry) article with interesting comments about the earlier searches refers to 'Criminal Investigation Technicians'
Police blame the WEATHER for not finding Esther Dingley's body in area they had already searched | Daily Mail Online
'On Wednesday, a team of Criminal Investigation Technicians (ICTs in French) from Toulouse was still up in the mountains...'
Sorry if this has already been posted. I'm losing track!

TBH, while no expert on police procedure, personally I'd be amazed and think it a lack of due diligence if a criminal investigation team was not consulted at this point when a body has just been discovered. Normal protocol surely?

 

[Owlpellet]

There would be no reason at all to chase after a tarptent that would have provided very little weather protection anyway. This seems a very unlikely scenario. Note, it was not actually a tent, but more like summer "keep a light rain off" kind of thing; there was no fly; it's just a thin layer of fabric and a bunch of net. You'd let the thing blow away, for gosh sake, if it took off.

You’re right- it was a Lanshan Ultralight tent - £125 on Amazon. I was assuming it was a higher spec one costing several times that!

 

[Hope4More]

1. A "forensics investigation" isn't necessarily a "criminal investigation." The former becomes the latter if there is reason or evidence to believe a crime has been committed.

2. The insinuation in the DM that foul play is now being considered is completely misleading. What investigators have said on the record is that they will be doing a full investigation, meaning they won't rule out any possibility ahead of time. Because, that's how any even minimally competent investigation is undertaken. Determination will be made on the evidence.

 

[Grouse]

1. A "forensics investigation" isn't necessarily a "criminal investigation." The former becomes the latter if there is reason or evidence to believe a crime has been committed.

2. The insinuation in the DM that foul play is now being considered is completely misleading. What investigators have said on the record is that they will be doing a full investigation, meaning they won't rule out any possibility ahead of time. Because, that's how any even minimally competent investigation is undertaken. Determination will be made on the evidence.

Wow, the DM being misleading, are you sure?

 

[otto]

The easiest way for ED to get to the PortdelaG from the PicdeS was to go back down to the Cabane de Besurtas. She'd already done that trail 3 times. She'd be able to zoom back down it, and she did have a basic headlamp if she got caught in darkness towards the bottom. No problem for her to get to the Cabane. The next day, she'd ascend to the PortdelaG, perhaps arriving in late afternoon. Evidently, the pathway up the PicdelaG is evident at the PortdelaG.
Upthread, I posted a blog entry detailing exactly that ascent from the Cabane, with photos. It's in Spanish.

This would explain why there are no phone pings. The phone pings still happen in airplane mode, but she was evidently in an area where she wasn't even ping-able evidently, or trackable by the geolocator on her phone (otherwise, they could have tracked her down). This was not true of the Hospice valley. We know there was no cell service at the Cabane, and there may not have been good satellite fixing in the heights of that valley, either.

My two cents:
-I don't understand why anything is being made of the tarptent and its presence or absence. It was with ED or not with ED. Why is it important which? She could've ditched it in town for all we know.
-There would be no reason at all to chase after a tarptent that would have provided very little weather protection anyway. This seems a very unlikely scenario. Note, it was not actually a tent, but more like summer "keep a light rain off" kind of thing; there was no fly; it's just a thin layer of fabric and a bunch of net. You'd let the thing blow away, for gosh sake, if it took off.
-The curiosity for me is why ED ventured up the PicdelaG. I seriously doubt she was peak-bagging. <modsnip - no link>
-IMO deliberate climb to say goodbye at sunset.....
-desperation could easily put you into an otherwise inaccessible place; if you've stopped caring about the world, why would you care if you fell catastrophically trying to get to a catastrophically-located ledge?

I have been in favor of accident this whole time since ED went missing. Up to now, my picture had it the accident occurred while descending, on the French side, from the PortdelaG. But I see no compunction to climb PicdelaG except to say goodbye to the world. And, as I look at the preceding days, the events that unfolded secure my opinion that this is what happened.

It does look like she did as she said: that she would hike to the Port de la Glere the following day, that she might dip into France. She climbed the Pic de la Glere - a difficult hike. She would have been there in the afternoon of Nov 23. Whether she did that for a phone signal, the view, or because she didn't know how to navigate her life going forward, who knows. One thing is certain - that it is not something she was equipped to do alone at that time of year.

 

[Hope4More]

Wow, the DM being misleading, are you sure?

I do so hope I haven't disillusioned you.

 

[Grouse]

I do so hope I haven't disillusioned you.

Ha, my evening is now ruined Back to tentgate methinks.

 

[pineapple23]

The guardian isn’t known for putting any spin on things and that is what they have reported happened and that her body was only retrieved this afternoon as reported by the bbc.

Where did I mention the Guardian? Was referring to that section of the media which lkes to sensationalise and add conspiracy where there is none. They don't even have to tell untruths. It's the way that you say it.

 

[Grouse]

You’re right- it was a Lanshan Ultralight tent - £125 on Amazon. I was assuming it was a higher spec one costing several times that!

Possibly a bit lower spec than I'd assumed as well, but at this point during the trip wasn't ED just using the winter refuges as her mainstay for overnight accommodation? Bet there are loads of people do that and don't even take a tent.

 

[RickshawFan]

It makes a difference because if it is missing, it suggests that she fell, was alive and used the tent for protection. The piece of skull makes me think she did not survive the fall.

I'm not sure how you arrive at that rationale. Can you explain? It could have just plain blown away. Or maybe she didn't even bring it?

I'm thinking we'd need LE input for understanding the skull and other bones. Skulls do fall apart, but as we discussed upthread, it might have been dropped by one of those evil-looking vulture thingies.

 

[RickshawFan]

If she was skeletal remains, that explains why her clothing was separate from her bones.

"On Wednesday, a team of Criminal Investigation Technicians (ICTs in French) from Toulouse was still up in the mountains, examining the place where Colegate found Esther's 'skeletal remains'.​

Police blame the WEATHER for not finding Esther Dingley's body in area they had already searched | Daily Mail Online

We'd need to get more info here, but if there was no trace of clothing on the skeleton, that would be typical for hypothermia. Victims of hypothermia often remove their clothes.
This article may have relevance to the find location as well.
Get Naked and Dig: The Bizarre Effects of Hypothermia

 

[Hope4More]

I'm sure this was already posted awhile ago, but here it is again. Nothing of what her BF says suggests that she was unhappy, much less suicidal.

Esther Dingley: Partner vows to keep searching for missing hiker

 

[yddraigfach]

I'm puzzled by where ED has been found.

I think that I've managed to work out where she went during her time in Benasque, thanks to Facebook, Instagram and DC's Dossier. I’ve been meaning to annotate some maps to show this (and will try and do so this weekend).

DC says in her dossier that ED is "not in the habit of walking off paths". My puzzling very much supports this. When she isn't following a path marked on the official Spanish maps (available at http://www.ign.es/iberpix/visor), she’s following a path clearly visible on the ground and included as a trail on plotaroute.com.

If DC had found her remains amongst the scree below Port de la Glere, or below Pic de Sacroux, I be much happier that she had accidentally slipped and fallen.

Climbing Pic de la Glere just seems totally out of character. In her Instagram post on 15/11, ED talks of the respect she now has for climbers, and her new appreciation for "the strength and the skill required". The limited information I've been able to find online about Pic de la Glere suggests it is more of a technical alpine route. It is such a massive step in terms of difficulty - ED is experienced at walking through alpine terrain, but isn't an alpinist. What on earth possessed her to try and go up there? Could @RickshawFan be thinking along the right lines in post 656?

The location strongly suggests that she was still alive on 23/11. She couldn't have reached Pic de la Glere directly from Pic de la Sauvegarde - she would have had to descend into either France or Spain and climb back up towards Port de la Glere first (most likely the following day).

I've also been feeling increasingly uneasy about French SAR, and the thoroughness of their searches. They were so insistent back in December that there was no evidence that she had ever crossed into France, and then in July that her skull hadn't been there when they had previously searched Cirque de la Glere. Although I think she most likely spent another night at Cabane de la Besurta (given that she didn’t turn her phone back on, and we know that it is in a signal blackspot), I now wonder whether French LE and SAR could also have missed traces of her at Refuge de Venasque...

 

[Mel79]

I've been trying to gauge that myself, but not managed to find much info at all on that ridge route. It's only about 2Km but potentially looks like a difficult route. That said, given where ED was found, if she did go that way it looks like she made it along the ridge section.

I haven't seen anyone who has posted that there is such a ridge route, and certainly no hiking path marked on any map I've looked at. IMHO she could not have done this with 1 hour of good hour of daylight and 1 hour of failing light left and with a heavy pack - she was a hiker and not a mountaineer. This link gives an idea of distances walking the French side (the blue route she was predicted to take and the difficult pink shortcut via Lac de la Montagnette with good kml visual link) GRPdesBF 331-333

 

[RickshawFan]

The location strongly suggests that she was still alive on 23/11. She couldn't have reached Pic de la Glere directly from Pic de la Sauvegarde - she would have had to descend into either France or Spain and climb back up towards Port de la Glere first (most likely the following day).

Snipped for focus
Great post...
I have a new line of thought that us WS-ers might not have hashed through (surprise!). I'm reading on the Morphew threads that LE has given testimony in the last few days (nota bene: as I understand it) that their accused perpetrator had his phone on airplane mode. Nonetheless, they could track the phone.
If this is the case, why couldn't ED be located even though her phone was on airplane mode? Why were there no geolocator bips? What about "find my phone"? Why wasn't there ANY WAY to locate her via phone?
My thought is, she was in the valley of the Cabane de Besurtas. In Spain. Or on an unreachable-by-satellite side of the PicdelaG. We know from DC's statements that there was not bad service in the French valleys. So maybe she wasn't traceable the entire time because she wasn't in France.

Of the 70 Morphew threads, the relevant discussion would be this one that covers testimony in the preliminary hearing in this case: CO - CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #70 *ARREST*

However, do not quote me on this concept! I might have NO idea what I'm talking about, since I'm not a big phone user.

One article quoted: Your smartphone can be tracked even if GPS, location services are turned off

 

[Pyrite]

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

Even if they hadn’t been together for months, 4 if my memory for how long ED was on her solo jaunt is correct?

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Even if they hadn’t been together for months, 4 if my memory for how long ED was on her solo jaunt is correct?

She set off from the farmhouse on 22nd October, so that is the last time she saw Dan. Exactly one month.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Esther’s timeline Oct/Nov 2020 (from the dossier)

4/10 – Completes a summer of hiking with her partner Dan in the Alps.
4/10 – 14/10 – Esther and Dan travelling in France together in motorhome.
14/10 – 22/10 – Esther and Dan house-sitting together in Larroque-sur-l’Osse.
22/10 – Esther departs Larroque-sur-l’Osse in the motorhome and spends the night at a parking in Samatan.
23/10 – Arrives in Arreau in the Pyrenees, a village Esther and Dan had visited many times during the past 6 years. This is the region Esther initially planned to spend the fortnight revisiting.
23/10 – 28/10 – Esther remains in Arreau – cycles up various familiar Tour de France climbs (Col d’Aspin, Col de Peyresourde, Col Louron Azet etc.)
29/10 – In view of the imminent French lockdown, Esther crosses the border into Spain via the Tunnel Bielsa.
30/10 – 2/11 – Completes a 4 day/3 night hiking trip in the Spanish Pyrenees in the area around Refuge Tucarroya.
2/11 – 3/11 – Returns to motorhome on 2nd and drives to Bielsa for resupply. Repacks her equipment and spends the night at Cabane Collata Chietau.
3/11 – 7/11 – Returns to motorhome on 3rd and relocates to Ainsa. Weather is unsettled so she spends most of her time near the motorhome. The forecast is for the good weather to return in a few days and she has been invited to go hiking with some people she met on the ‘30/10-2/11’ hike, so she waits. On the evening of the 7th she relocates to Egea.
8/11 - Goes hiking to Pic Turbon with the people she met during the ‘30/10 - 2/11’ hike.
9 / 11 – 11/11 – Remains in Egea and goes day hiking solo. On the evening of 11th she drives to Benasque following an invitation to go hiking with a girl she met on Pic Turbon.
12/11 – 13/11 – Overnight trip from Benasque with the girl she met on Pic Turbon.
14/11 – Climbing with friends she had made in the area.
15/11 – 16/11 – Trail running from Benasque solo.
17/11 – 19/11 – 3 day/2night hike from Benasque including Refugio de Estos.
20/11 – Poor weather so remains at the motorhome. Plans one more hike before returning to France.
21/11 – Sets off fully equipped for a 4-5 day hike from Benasque (route details are given below). Her immediate plan is to hitchhike to Hospital de Benasque and explore the area around the head of the valley. She reaches the Pic de Sauvegarde in the early afternoon and lets her family know she is safe but that phone signal is poor in the area. She also shares some pictures on Instagram.
22/11 – After spending the night at Cabane de la Besurtas, she returns to Pic de Sauvegarde at around 15:30. Over the next half an hour she shares WhatsApp messages with Dan and other family members. Final contact is at 16:07 in a WhatsApp video call with Dan from the summit of Pic de Sauvegarde. Esther confirms her onward route and signs off as normal.
After this time, nobody has heard from or reported seeing Esther anywhere.

 

[Hope4More]

Is this where she might have been hiking, then? If so, it definitely looks pretty steep, but nothing imo that would require any kind of special skill- just endurance. Port de la Glère : Photos, Diagrams & Topos : SummitPost