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

[The_Investigator]

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.

Sounds like she fitted all her favour activities into her last month,… was that the plan? Sound like suicide more and more, <modsnip - no link>

 

[Cryptic]

I just can’t imagine that Esther, who Dan thought would mainly be sensible and stuck to the trails, would look at that and consider it doable.

I agree with your opinion and Dan's observations. And now...... the caveat:

Under normal conditions, Esther would stick mainly to trails and would never consider that option to be doable. Esther, however, might not of been operating in normal conditions.

Rather, she could have been facing compounding challenges from lack of nutrition, good clothing, lack of knowledge of the area, nightfall, being alone, to a reluctance to ask for help on the French side.

When exhaustion and perhaps mild hypothermia set in, there is increased chances for "tunnel vision" where outdoorsmen and women get fixated on an option that, to the outside, is simply not viable.

Or, in the contrary, exhaustion and / or mild hypothermia increase chances for confusion which leads to a series of rapid plan / direction changes, which leads to more exhaustion- then more disorientation, then a possible selecting of a dangerous option in error.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Yep, crazy. Definitely not along that ridge. Thanks for the photo.
Now, when I looked at the map, I looked for trails along the flank of these peaks, and couldn't find one. If there were such a thing, you wouldn't have to go all the way into the valley to get from the PortdeV to the PortdelaG. There is such a trail along the Spanish flank in the other direction from the PicdeS. Hikers use it to make a loop down to the Hospice (see journal and spectacular photos: Randonnée Pic Sauvegarde 2738m – Les Topos Pyrénées par Mariano . This gave me the idea that there could be a trail from PortdeV and PortdelaG without having to go down to the valley, but as you can see, not a snowball's chance in hell...
The quickest way to get there was down to the Cabane (a trail ED already knew well, because she'd done it 3x) and then up to the PortdelaG. Otherwise, she'd have to make a big loop via the Hospice or Otto's shortcut which is extremely dicey. SAR/LE found no evidence that she'd headed in those directions: they were quite clear.
'We have nothing': police stumped by disappearance of Briton in Pyrenees

I agree, that photo rules out a short cut across the gap in the loop. We’ve always said Besurta was an alternative stopover (rather than Refuge de V) on 22nd, and we know there was no signal at Besurta which would explain zero contact. So did she head back down to the Spanish side and back up to Glere the next day? Again, hopefully her phone will tell us, she would have taken photos I reckon.

 

[RickshawFan]

The big pack also suggest to me that if she did plan to finish her life, it was an impromptu thing. That, or circumstances prevailed to take her life, rather than her choosing it. Perhaps that is a comfort to the family. Also, I remember her backpack was nearby. That would make sense, if she had kept it on the whole time, and either fallen by accident or lost consciousness due to exposure and fallen, no? I really should go now....

Did LE/SAR say the backpack was on the remains? I can't remember seeing that. I got the impression it was not, i.e. likely there was no falling with a pack on, though I suppose a person could fall with a pack on and then take it off.

 

[searancke]

That isn't what was said. BETWEEN the Port and the Pic was what was said.

Unfortunately to conflicting statements seem to have been released. previously it was said that she was found "below the Pic and above the Porte" And there looks to be a place where you could fall from the Pic and be hidden fropm view from the trail.

Now the Daily Mail are quoting "Captain Bordinaro said the distance between where the body and skull were found was '100 metres as the crow flies'. Her remains were discovered by her boyfriend Mr Colegate 400 metres below the Pic de la Glere on August 9 - approximately 100 metres from where a fragment of her skull was found 18 days earlier on July 23. "

The Porte looks to be at 2375m and the pic 2450m - from here Col de la Glère

Whereas the new statement quoted in the Daily Mail suggests the body was at 2050m but that conflicts the the fact the skull was supposedly at "2200m line" and the body 100m above(?)/from that. I guess it could be below...I'm just reviewing the available information.... I realise I have "assumed" the fact the body is 100m from the skull means it was above but it could be below if animals were involved.....

Maybe if we discount the original statement that the body was between the Porte and the Pic, all becomes clear.

Walking down the steep, zig zag, shale/scree track she slips and falls, hits head. Never goes near the Pic (which seems difficult anyway)

<EDIT> to redo the picture - 2200 marked red, with a cross on the path for the skull.
green circle for "100m" from skull,, and yellow line for "400m below Pic"

 

[Federico_A]

Ok, let's put to bed the idea that she climbed to the top of the Pic de la Glere. I don't know where that came from. It's absolutely unhikable. No way. Forget it. And it's not necessary to assume she even attempted it. There are other places to fall from.

The place I marked X on the lower shoulder of the pic earlier today is actually 100m as the crow (or vulture) flies from the path on the scree below, so there can hardly be any other possibility than that she fell from somewhere close to that spot. I can't imagine the authorities will pin-point the spot on the map for us, so that may be closest we can get.

Just playing around on Google Earth again, I tried approaching that spot on the ridge to see what the view is like - not too impressive as I suspected, but with every inch further towards the very edge, the view of the cirque opens out below and is much more impressive. I can easily imagine her leaning out to get the best shot, then slipping on a loose rock or losing balance in a sudden gust of wind. The crags below are in deep shadow on Google so it's difficult to gauge how far she might have fallen, but from other pictures it looks pretty sheer.

Still can't rule out a suicidal leap, but given the plausibility of a reckless-ridge-slip, suicide seems less probable.

 

[Cryptic]

likely there was no falling with a pack on, though I suppose a person could fall with a pack on and then take it off.

Sadly, I would go with your first option.

"Paradoxical undressing" and / or impulsively abandoning needed gear, tunnel vision regarding options etc., are all signs of exhaustion and perhaps in her case, mild to moderate hypothermia.

 

[The_Investigator]

One point against suicide for me is that Esther would know that she would be endangering many, many people. She would have known that a huge SAR expedition would be launched. I just can’t wrap my mind around that.

Yes but like the people who kill themselves in front of trains,.. no regard for the poor Tain drivers there is there !

 

[The_Investigator]

There is a video of Esther and Dan somewhere, where mountain rescue is nearby searching for someone. They talk about what an amazing job SAR do in sometimes treacherous circumstances. She was fully aware. I’ll try and find it.

Found it!

She looks very vacant in that video,.. perhaps exhausted?

 

[IrisElizabeth]

One point against suicide for me is that Esther would know that she would be endangering many, many people. She would have known that a huge SAR expedition would be launched. I just can’t wrap my mind around that.

I can imagine if one felt suicidal, you would kind of enter a nihilistic state of mind where you wouldn't be acting in a selfless manner, and what happens after you have gone may seem inconsequential once you were in that final moment/frame of mind.

 

[mal23]

French side of Glere, yes. But why near a path?

runners stick to paths..

 

[The_Investigator]

I agree, that photo rules out a short cut across the gap in the loop. We’ve always said Besurta was an alternative stopover (rather than Refuge de V) on 22nd, and we know there was no signal at Besurta which would explain zero contact. So did she head back down to the Spanish side and back up to Glere the next day? Again, hopefully her phone will tell us, she would have taken photos I reckon.

 

[The_Investigator]

runners stick to paths..

Does anyone know where her bike was as she did 3 cycle rides in the month away? Would it have been inside the camper van? Is that possible. It wasn’t on the outside.

 

[ZaZara]

My simple theory is that Esther walked as planned.

From the Salvaguardia to the Refuge de Venasque, and the next day the planned route that led her to the Port de la Glere. In that area, she climbed one mountain top too many, unfortunately, and that was the only time that she deviated from the plan.

Her phone will be found with her remains and the pictures she took will confirm this. If she stored it in airtight containers, what remained of her food (oats, pasta and the like) for the trip will be found. Esther and Dan kept an ample supply of basic foods in their van, and Dan has stated that she had enough food for 5 days on her last hike.

All awaiting confirmation of course.

 

[gribb0]

We don't actually know she fell of anything as far as I can remember they have just said likely accident. That could mean trip over a rock, sprained ankle, it could be anything. With no phone signal and stuck out overnight exposure would be quick I guess. She was in a hard to reach area but she may have gone there looking for shelter.

 

[otto]

DM is now claiming (but sourced), that the skull was found very close to the body - only 100m apart. So as expected, the skull find really narrowed down the search area - but also shows how hard it is to find a body without a helicopter.

My guess is it you couldn't see the body uphill from the track - e.g if a fall it came to rest against an obstruction or choke point - so you'd likely only see it from the peak

Esther Dingley's boyfriend 'paced up and down for DAYS' retracing her steps until he found her body | Daily Mail Online

It's still somewhat confusing. The remains are 100 meters from the skull (which was near the trail at 2200 meters), the remains are at an elevation above the Port de la Glere and below the Pic de la Glere, yet DM has placed the body below the skull in this illustration.

Esther Dingley's boyfriend 'paced up and down for DAYS' retracing her steps until he found her body | Daily Mail Online

Or was the body above the skull?



Either way, we know the general location of body and skull. It's probable that vultures moved the piece of skull. We know that she was on a dangerous or difficult climb when she either fell, found herself in bad weather and sought protection from the elements, or chose to end life.

 

[searancke]

I have just realised my diagram also works if you look at her being found between the Pic and the Porte vertically (not horizontally) so maybe what they meant was this
(Red cross is the skull (2200m, on the path), yellow line is 400m below pic (2050m), green circle is approx "100m from skull", and white lines indicate the Pic and the Porte)

So she was found between the Pic and the Porte, 400m below the Pic, 100m from the skull, puts her at near where the green circle and yellow line (don't quite) intersect

 

[Mel79]

The fact that her gear was found with her indicates to me that she fell from much lower down on Pic de la Glere rather than the top (she surely wouldn't carry all her gear on an up-down hike, especially one involving a scramble). There is a small path going up the lower shoulder of Pic de la Glere towards the escarpment (see attached picture). I'm guessing she fell from point X.

She could have been looking for shelter or trying to get away from something.

There is a video of Esther and Dan somewhere, where mountain rescue is nearby searching for someone. They talk about what an amazing job SAR do in sometimes treacherous circumstances. She was fully aware. I’ll try and find it.

Found it!

Interesting video. Sadly she doesn't get much of a chance to talk! When she does she looks to him constantly, maybe in case he'll be annoyed with her interjecting.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Interesting video. Sadly she doesn't get much of a chance to talk! When she does she looks to him constantly, maybe in case he'll be annoyed with her interjecting.

Or maybe not. Big assumption to make.

 

[mal23]

Unfortunately to conflicting statements seem to have been released.

Walking down the steep, zig zag, shale/scree track she slips and falls, hits head. Never goes near the Pic (which seems difficult anyway)

all very confusing, but she was walking up to the col. i'm trusting the initial report of 2200m for now. as a mountain walker, that outcrop would be very appealling, possibly for a bivvy.
re tent -no need if staying at refuge..