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

[stmarysmead]

Do we believe all witness reports though? If we didn't believe them then we would have to wonder why a witness said this. If its a true fact then has Dan confirmed it?

My life experience has been that two people can have very different assessments of the state of their relationship. A dear friend and neighbor came home from work to an completely empty house. His wife had planned meticulously to leave him, even hiring movers. He had just bought a new “wok”...he was quite the gourmet cook...and as he always added later when referencing this shock...”Even the wok...walked.”

My niece had a similar end to her first marriage. Now in both cases, there were obviously tensions, but nothing that the abandoned partner felt was terminal to the relationship. Sometimes, the more dominant partner thinks that they have won all the arguments, when instead the passive one just shuts down and plans an escape.

 

[PeggyHenry]

Physio Laura, 27, who lives in Spain, spoke to a Thames Valley officer on December 11 and said: “They wanted to know my opinion on how well prepared Esther had been in terms of equipment, plus her physical and emotional shape.

“I told them what she said to me about their relationship.

"Esther said she and Dan were taking a break and she didn’t know if they were going to get back together.

Missing hiker Esther Dingley 'had problems in her love life' Brit cops hear as they join search for her (thesun.co.uk)

So why has this been released into the media now? She gave the report in December (11th) to British police.

If DC and Esther were taking a break (and there's no reason to think she is lying as she gave her statement to Thames Valley Police), then why hasn't this been made public previously? I'm finding this stranger and stranger - so much does not add up. Nothing is straightforward. What next? If nothing else, it tells me the police investigation is progressing faster than we may think

 

[sundaaaay]

Completely agree that a suicide mission can’t be ruled out and I think it’s obvious her lifestyle was being attacked from all angles (brexit, money issues, relationship etc). There is certainly something romantic about having the valley all to yourself which is really only guaranteed during covid lockdown. She had reached the peak before and maybe something that day wasn’t right, such as there being a few hikers hanging around the refuge so she decided to come back another day. So was she climbing the peak to see if anyone was in the valley below so that she could continue her mission.

 

[sundaaaay]

Sorry duplicate post

 

[Quietey]

For someone who loved walking with her dogs it must have felt very lonely walking without them

 

[Rhomal]

Just been catching up with Esthers thread. Have there been any recent reports anywhere in press? Would also appreciate if some of you long-time sleuthers would check out ... NI - Noah Donohoe, 14, North Belfast, 21 June 2020 This 14 year old boy was found naked in a storm drain in Belfast last summer. Very bizarre circumstances with cctv of him cycling naked along the street and no evidence of drugs. His mother feels the authorities are withholding information. See #mynoah. I reckon you guys might bring a lot to the conversation. Thanks

 

[stmarysmead]

Physio Laura, 27, who lives in Spain, spoke to a Thames Valley officer on December 11 and said: “They wanted to know my opinion on how well prepared Esther had been in terms of equipment, plus her physical and emotional shape.

“I told them what she said to me about their relationship.

"Esther said she and Dan were taking a break and she didn’t know if they were going to get back together.

Missing hiker Esther Dingley 'had problems in her love life' Brit cops hear as they join search for her (thesun.co.uk)

So why has this been released into the media now? She gave the report in December (11th) to British police.

If DC and Esther were taking a break (and there's no reason to think she is lying as she gave her statement to Thames Valley Police), then why hasn't this been made public previously? I'm finding this stranger and stranger - so much does not add up. Nothing is straightforward. What next? If nothing else, it tells me the police investigation is progressing faster than we may think

Peggy, you have hit on exactly the key question...

“So why has this been released into the media now? She gave the report in December (11th) to British police.”

 

[jsoap]

I’m not sure if this has been mentioned before but I was under the impression she hiked up there a second time because it was the only place you could get phone signal which she hadn’t had for a period of time in the Spanish side. She knew it had phone signal because she had been there before so she took a detour to let DC and family know her whereabouts before continuing.

I think that the phone signal availability is an interesting aspect, and something DC refers to a lot in the dossier. If for example she stayed in the refuge and took the route though the lakes to Port de la Glere, there would be no signal on the French side. nor would there be a signal on the Spanish side until she hitched back to Benasque. So would it not be possible that she made it back to the road, without any opportunity to call DC.
So it would be possible that she went missing on the road between the trailhead and Benasque.
Maybe it would be worthwhile looking into some of the other missing persons in the area - like Françoise Dasnois 2009, and Michel Nielsen in 2010.

 

[stmarysmead]

“Stretched out like a rubber band
Stressed out like a working man
All I need is a helping hand from
Someone who loves me”....

“A little love is medicine.”

On Oct 19, on her FB a page, Esther reveals she is going thru a “difficult time” again with “some soul searching.” Esther says that the helping hand she so desperately needed...came from a stranger...from Alex Boyle’s music.

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

This is about one month before she disappears.

Edited to add...she posts this while they are together at the rental house, just three days before she leaves on her trip.

 

[Hexe]

She talks about missing them and that dog walking is healing for her “overactive mind” and stops her “cravings to eat.”

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.

 

[ZaZara]

Maybe it would be worthwhile looking into some of the other missing persons in the area - like Françoise Dasnois 2009, and Michel Nielsen in 2010.

Snipped for brevity and BBM

Be careful what you wish for

I did a little google search for Françoise Dasnois already. She has been declared legally dead last year.
Info about her is on SudInfo.be, and most of it is subscription only. Teasers only. Her husband still has questions, her sister is of the opinion that.... . There would have been criminal involvement because.... Spanish LE would have botched the investigation because... Someone knows something, why don't they tell...
Unless you subscribe you are never to know, and even then IMO no answers may be given

About the circumstances of her disappearance I have read the following:

- she was on a hike with her family (husband & 2 sons)
- she was on a hike with family and friends
- she became tired (all sources agree)
- she sat down and waited until the family would return. when they did, she was not there
- she told the family she would return to the house they were renting but never got there
- she told the family she would return to the village
- she returned on the same trail
- she took a shortcut

A judgment handed down on 20 May last by the 2nd chamber of the Family Court near the Court of First Instance of Namur records the absence of Françoise Dasnois, it being noted that it cannot be specified "the place, date and time of death or discovery of the lifeless body" of the latter. This decision takes the place of a civil status record of death since it was transcribed and given the force of res judicata, i.e. this Tuesday 8th December ...

https://www.sudinfo.be/id293159/art...uis-11-ans-francoise-dasnois-une-habitante-de

 

[patCee]

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

Edited to add...she posts this while they are together at the rental house, just three days before she leaves on her trip.

This sounds like strong feelings of unhappiness. Could the decision to hike alone in Pyrenees be to not just a get away, but also to avoid the imminent breakdown in their relationship, that developed between them. in the past. Described in DCs earlier blogs prior to giving up their old lifestyle. It's hard to see how they could continue together with such despairing emotions. It does seem to have become very unpleasant in the past, described as romance gone, and loathing.

I believe that Laura's account to the police of EDs feelings could be accurate.
What that means for this situation is difficult to tell, other than we're told EDs recent hike was initially for 2 weeks but was extended and extended. Suggesting a reluctance to return perhaps, in contrast to DC saying they were excited to see each other again.

In view of all this I believe ED had an accident or involuntary disappearance. I think it would be out of character if she decided to disappear as that could 'burn too many bridges' in relation to other parts of her life, including family. But sometimes desperate needs must.......................

Esther Dingley ‘may have deliberately gone missing to retain nomadic lifestyle’ | News | The Times

 

[Ruthbullock]

I keep catching up and then get distracted, so apologies for being out of sync with the thread conversation. We all discussed timings from the refuge to the hospice, but today I read a post that referred to it taking 4 hours- that is the allocated time for an ascent and descent from the hospice to the refuge. It would have been quite possible to reach the hospice (but not much further) before darkness fully fell, if ED had travelled further that way.
En savoir plus sur l'itinéraire
Altitude départ 1385
Horaire montée 2h15
Horaire descente 1h45
Parking Oui à l'Hospice de France
Approche Non
Facile à trouver ? Evident
Fréquentation Beaucoup de monde en été.
Refuge
Refuge de Vénasque au bord des lacs.
Topo Randonnée : Lacs de Vénasque

 

[sundaaaay]

I think that the phone signal availability is an interesting aspect, and something DC refers to a lot in the dossier. If for example she stayed in the refuge and took the route though the lakes to Port de la Glere, there would be no signal on the French side. nor would there be a signal on the Spanish side until she hitched back to Benasque. So would it not be possible that she made it back to the road, without any opportunity to call DC.
So it would be possible that she went missing on the road between the trailhead and Benasque.
Maybe it would be worthwhile looking into some of the other missing persons in the area - like Françoise Dasnois 2009, and Michel Nielsen in 2010.

Actually beyond the refuge on the France side, there was phone signal but ED may not have been aware of that at the time.

 

[sundaaaay]

“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

 

[Hexe]

“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. Now I am not surprised Esther was asking people for food. With her diet so poor, low on fat and calories she just had to be perpetually hungry (and cold).

 

[PeggyHenry]

Ms Adomaityte added: 'I spoke to the Spanish police two days after she was reported missing and told them everything I knew.

'The British police called me last month after the Civil Guard rang me back to ask if they could pass on my number to them.

'They wanted to know my opinion about how well prepared Esther had been in terms of the equipment she was carrying and the shape she was in physically as well as how she was emotionally.

'They didn't appear to me to be focusing on anything in particular. They just asked a lot of questions.'

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

So, Ms Adomaityte came forward to speak with Spanish police 2 days after Esther was reported missing. At that point the police must realise all is not well with Esther and relationship etc.

It is possible that other hikers also came forward and the police learnt various things - none of which are in the public domain.
Perhaps these snippets made them examine the relationship further and come up with their previous comments on Esther's home life. I guess that pieces of the jigsaw will start to make sense at some point - it is just that we cannot see many of the pieces right now.

The food thing is starting to make sense - if there were food issues and a need to control intake then it makes sense she would carry little but if she got desperate for food then she would ask. It seems she was on bare minimum rations but the energy she was using probably created a need to ask strangers

 

[RedHaus]

The cables are on the way to the Pic Sauvegarde see- Randonnée Pic Sauvegarde 2738m – Les Topos Pyrénées par Mariano

jsoap - the cables on are on the way to the Pic Sauvegarde from the Refuge de Vanesque, right? And for ED, it would be on her way to the Refuge, if our facts are right. And RickshawFan has posted this blog before so thanks for posting again... I think these are vitally important pictures to understand the terrain and topography for ED.

 

[Hatty]

Physio Laura, 27, who lives in Spain, spoke to a Thames Valley officer on December 11 and said: “They wanted to know my opinion on how well prepared Esther had been in terms of equipment, plus her physical and emotional shape.

“I told them what she said to me about their relationship.

"Esther said she and Dan were taking a break and she didn’t know if they were going to get back together.

Missing hiker Esther Dingley 'had problems in her love life' Brit cops hear as they join search for her (thesun.co.uk)

So why has this been released into the media now? She gave the report in December (11th) to British police.

If DC and Esther were taking a break (and there's no reason to think she is lying as she gave her statement to Thames Valley Police), then why hasn't this been made public previously? I'm finding this stranger and stranger - so much does not add up. Nothing is straightforward. What next? If nothing else, it tells me the police investigation is progressing faster than we may think

It’s The Sun!!! It could be that the police officer she spoke to was an off duty one, or a former one - or she spoke on the phone to one and what has been said has been manipulated - as someone else has commented in a previous post.

In other words, she may have said she was on a break away from DC (ie, not in a bad way) and not sure when she was going back - after all she kept extending her trip.

 

[jsoap]

jsoap - the cables on are on the way to the Pic Sauvegarde from the Refuge de Vanesque, right? And for ED, it would be on her way to the Refuge, if our facts are right. And RickshawFan has posted this blog before so thanks for posting again... I think these are vitally important pictures to understand the terrain and topography for ED.

Yes this short section is near the pic. Although it may look dangerous, it's only 10m. This would be the first place that SAR would have looked. I would think that if she did fall here then there would be signs of debris - walking poles, backpack. However SAR found nothing and then oddly expanded the search to mountainous areas 10km away. Again according to the pdf dossier, they also seem to be of the opinion that is not in this area.