Found Deceased Spain - Esther Dingley, from UK, missing in the Pyrenees, November 2020 #3

[Grouse]

She mentions going running and listening to his album “six times and crying at so many points.”

But I think she said they were "tears of joy" just after that sentence.

Edited to add quote (and link):
"When I run, I find really listen to song lyrics.
Today I must have listened to the album 6 times and cried at so many points. Tears of joy. Feeling understood. Hope. Realising I'm never alone."

Esther Dingley

 

[Inverloch]

Cravings to eat? I find this alarming. She was thin, no need for slimming down. Why would she have cravings to eat? Was her diet unbalanced, too low on something? Was her caloric intake too small? If the last one then it's bad, you wouldn't want to wander the mountains without proper eating even in summer and in late November it's a hypothermia waiting to happen.

Yes, I noticed that too. Definitely sense an eating disorder of some sort. She was slim, but looking at the various photographs of her, her weight seemed to fluctuate a bit.
Doing the sort of exercise she was doing, you would expect to have a big appetite. I think she used the exercise to control her weight - that was part of the appeal.

 

[Inverloch]

Cravings to eat? I find this alarming. She was thin, no need for slimming down. Why would she have cravings to eat? Was her diet unbalanced, too low on something? Was her caloric intake too small? If the last one then it's bad, you wouldn't want to wander the mountains without proper eating even in summer and in late November it's a hypothermia waiting to happen.

Yes, I noticed that too. Definitely sense an eating disorder of some sort. She was slim, but looking at the various photographs of her, her weight seemed to fluctuate a bit.
Doing the sort of exercise she was doing, you would expect to have a big appetite. I think she used the exercise to control her weight - that was part of the appeal.

 

[stmarysmead]

The food angle to this story is troubling in a few ways IMO. The tiny amount of food she had with her is ridiculous from both a health and readiness standpoint!

First is the idea that she seemingly expects others to share their food with her, in order for her to “travel light.” So this “asking for food” is actually part of her travel plan. She does not plan to be self sufficient...quite the opposite. She gets to travel light and expects others to meet her needs.

Thats somewhat selfish IMO. Obviously she carries no food to share or to help another person...but seems to have this expectation of others.

Secondly, hadn’t she been on this last trek for nearly two days when she disappeared? If she wasn’t due back until the 25th, that’s three more days. I wonder exactly what she’d consumed and what food she had left for three days. At that time of year, and with Covid, the availability of others willing to feed her and her dependency on that “kindness” ...might have been a fatal mistake.

 

[stmarysmead]

But I think she said they were "tears of joy" just after that sentence.

Edited to add quote (and link):
"When I run, I find really listen to song lyrics.
Today I must have listened to the album 6 times and cried at so many points. Tears of joy. Feeling understood. Hope. Realising I'm never alone."

Esther Dingley

Yes,true.

But to me that did not negate that she was going thru a difficult time and the love and understanding came from a strangers song lyric!! Tears of joy that someone actually understands her! What about Dan?

Why would it take a song lyric to make her feel “understood” and “never alone?” I can only imagine the state she was in if...just listening to that album 6 times...caused “so many points” where she was both running and crying.

 

[ZaZara]

“Esther only took dried oats, a red pepper and a small lettuce. I ended up sharing the food I'd taken for myself when we reached a refuge for the night called Refugio de Pescadores, which included a can of tuna and potatoes we heated up in the evening and an apple the following morning.”

Missing hiker Esther Dingley had love life problems says witness as British police called in to help | Daily Mail Online

I can't find in the report in what language Esther and Laura Adomaityte would have been speaking. Esther did not speak Spanish. Laura speaks.... ? and how well? (Spanish very well according to the newspaper.)

Boiled oats with some dried fruits and nuts or seeds would make a healthy breakfast. Raw, soaked oats come in second, it is doable, but porridge is a better start for a long hike.

The lettuce is bizarre. It contains mostly water and hardly nutrients. I suppose she used it to chew on the leaves, one at the time.
So one the one hand, she carries dried oats, and on the other hand water in the form of a lettuce.
They might have made a nice tuna & potato salad, but I don't get the impression that they did.

There was this French woman in Octoberwho allegedly gave Esther 'pate d'amandes', almond paste. If she ate next to nothing and only light things, the almond paste must have hit her stomach hard.

 

[patCee]

Today I must have listened to the album 6 times and cried at so many points. Tears of joy. Feeling understood. Hope. Realising I'm never alone."

Not sure what that really means, is it that she did feel so alone and the record track showed that others feel the same? She was validated in some way.

 

[Sarahlou]

Not sure what that really means, is it that she did feel so alone and the record track showed that others feel the same? She was validated in some way.

Yes that's what I thought she meant.

 

[Grouse]

Yes, I noticed that too. Definitely sense an eating disorder of some sort.

Maybe, but I remember reading that she had been very overweight at one point in her younger years, before the change of lifestyle that led to the campervan life and the healthy living. I've known people who've done that and then had a determination that might seem to border on an obsession not to put that weight back on. I always thought it seemed like rational behaviour rather than an eating disorder. A bit like people who give up smoking and then become ultra anti-smoking.

 

[dormouse]

Interesting new developments. It’s worth noting as well that eating disorders are particularly prevalent among intelligent, perfectionistic high-achievers. I’ve had several friends with such issues, many of which have persisted into their 20s and 30s to some extent.

 

[Skigh]

Maybe, but I remember reading that she had been very overweight at one point in her younger years, before the change of lifestyle that led to the campervan life and the healthy living. I've known people who've done that and then had a determination that might seem to border on an obsession not to put that weight back on. I always thought it seemed like rational behaviour rather than an eating disorder. A bit like people who give up smoking and then become ultra anti-smoking.

Did she lose weight and change life style after she met Dan?

 

[Hexe]

Maybe, but I remember reading that she had been very overweight at one point in her younger years, before the change of lifestyle that led to the campervan life and the healthy living. I've known people who've done that and then had a determination that might seem to border on an obsession not to put that weight back on. I always thought it seemed like rational behaviour rather than an eating disorder. A bit like people who give up smoking and then become ultra anti-smoking.

It's not rational, when you are always hungry. And it's certainly not rational when your diet isn't adequate to your lifestyle. A lettuce head, some bell peppers and dried oats is very inadequate food for someone on a mountain trail in late Autumn.

 

[Grouse]

“Esther only took dried oats, a red pepper and a small lettuce. I ended up sharing the food I'd taken for myself when we reached a refuge for the night called Refugio de Pescadores, which included a can of tuna and potatoes we heated up in the evening and an apple the following morning.”
Missing hiker Esther Dingley had love life problems says witness as British police called in to help | Daily Mail Online

BBM - tuna? That's interesting, I thought ED was vegan?

Also, "born in Lithuania but is fluent in Spanish". We know ED doesn't speak Spanish so presumably they spoke in English? I posted earlier about potential translation issues about the relationship issues, but if these are accurate literal quotes made in English, rather than having been translated, it seems her English is excellent and does put a new light on things.

ETA: this must have been the girl in glasses on Nov 13th I think. They also had a jacket potato. Login • Instagram

 

[Grouse]

Did she lose weight and change life style after she met Dan?

No I think she gained and lost the weight while they were together. I definitely read it but can't remember where now. They both went through a bad time with health and depression issues.

Can I ask why you ask?

 

[Skigh]

No I think she gained and lost the weight while they were together. I definitely read it but can't remember where now. They both went through a bad time with health and depression issues.

Can I ask why you ask?

Only wondered if he already followed a healthy eating regime which she then adopted.

 

[Grouse]

It's not rational, when you are always hungry. And it's certainly not rational when your diet isn't adequate to your lifestyle. A lettuce head, some bell peppers and dried oats is very inadequate food for someone on a mountain trail in late Autumn.

I agree that doesn't sound adequate on the face of it but she's done so much hiking and seemed to know what she was doing.

It's possibly interesting in terms of trying to gauge ED's mental state, but I don't see all this nutritional stuff being as a concern in terms of the disappearance. If she collapsed suddenly from malnutrition it would be unlikely to make her "become both incapacitated and invisible instantly." to use DC's words. JMO.

 

[Hexe]

I agree that doesn't sound adequate on the face of it but she's done so much hiking and seemed to know what she was doing.

As RickshawFan said before, sometimes experienced people are experienced in doing things the wrong way. Shehad a lot of experience under her belt, but she certainly wasn't doing the things right way, not about food.

It's possibly interesting in terms of trying to gauge ED's mental state, but I don't see all this nutritional stuff being as a concern in terms of the disappearance. If she collapsed suddenly from malnutrition it would be unlikely to make her "become both incapacitated and invisible instantly." to use DC's words. JMO.

Before you will loose your strength to the piont of collapsing, the malnutrition can do many weird things with your mind. You cannot focus, your brain seems to be wrapped in wet cotton wool, you are confused, fatigued, cold o matter how many clothes you put on, and all you can think about is food. Deprivaton of certain nutrients can even trigger psychosis.

 

[Grouse]

As RickshawFan said before, sometimes experienced people are experienced in doing things the wrong way. Shehad a lot of experience under her belt, but she certainly wasn't doing the things right way, not about food.
.

Well yes, there are always things that it's right to question but we could fill an entire thread just based on general hiking advice. While it does seem ED/DCs's approach is unconventional I think the many 1000's of miles of trekking they have done is not to be sniffed at/dismissed on here. MOO.

 

[stmarysmead]

But perhaps, when Dan is with her on these treks, he makes sure she has proper nutrition, There is something childlike about her dependency on others to care for her, provide for her. Particularly when she is alone.

Remember the solo bike ride with no phone, no food, no money?

 

[Puzzles]

Social media pleas and general coverage on FB of a woman in Australia who disappeared on Dec 30th "without a trace" is so very different from how ED's disappearance is being managed. I find it odd we've not heard more from her mother, or her aunt. Is it because LBT has silenced them, and, if so, why? DC stated LBT Global asked him not to speak with the media – that's not a direct quote from him, but the gist of it, IIRC. Why would that be their advice?