Found Deceased Spain - Esther Dingley, from UK, missing in the Pyrenees, November 2020 #4

[Grouse]

Yes, I'm with you 100%. I'm back to the bats flitting under the street lights and casting fleeting shadows on that bed, so it looked like someone was moving around. Even a breeze in a tree would do something like that.
And if the person who took the photo was a little spooked by the darkness, it might have been easier to see things that weren't there.
We also don't know if the light was from a security floodlight on the side of the building with a mud clod on it.

I think you may be doing the witness a slight disservice here. She mentioned quite specifically that she saw a person with light brown hair lying on the bed, I'm really struggling to see how bats under the street lights could induce such a vision.

 

[RickshawFan]

Could this all just have blown out of control? Remember the couple that disappeared from Wheaton Il. years ago. They had no idea that they would be come a huge media story and that frightened them from making contact.

Esther told him she might not have a signal late on the 22nd. On the 25th Dan alerts authorities, on the 26th a massive search begins. And almost immediately this is an international story. If it’s an accident, things moved slowly...if a planned disappearance, she didn’t even have four days.

I wonder how I’d feel if less than a week after I set off for some freedom, I learned I was the center of such a huge media storm? Coming forward would mean laying bare all my reasons, all my fears and implicating perhaps a kind friend who’d helped me. Just trying to imagine how someone would feel...if, in this imaginary scenario, she did not want to justify all her reasons for leaving to Dan, would she want to do it on such an enormously public way?

So, here's where the "rescue" theme can come in. If ED desperately wanted a rescue—because she was a gal that liked being rescued—why would she return to a situation that she was trying to get rescued from? Maybe she simply found herself a "rescuer"?

 

[RickshawFan]

If being outdoors, and climbing mountains is how she wants to live, why would she want to give that up to go and stay isolated with one person, even if it was someone new, someone she didn't know all about.

Snipped for focus

Maybe the climbing mountains thing was a convenient way to keep herself not thinking about home, but what she she really wanted was a real escape.

 

[otto]

I thought he was house sitting it?

I wonder whether there was a debate about their roles in their joint venture with 6 years of mountain climbing memoirs, dog stories for children, and adventure routes.

"Meanwhile the partner of Ms Dingley has been interviewed by police for a third time about her disappearance, MailOnline can reveal.

Four officers from the French Gendarmerie paramilitary force spoke to Daniel Colegate at the farmhouse in Gascony that he is house-sitting on Monday afternoon.

Mr Colegate, 38, had stayed at the 1000-a-week holiday let while long-term partner Esther embarked on a solo hike trip in the Pyrenees mountains last month.

Bordinaro maintained that Mr Colegate had been interviewed as a witness, not a suspect."
​

Police reveal missing British hiker's domestic life 'was not as idyllic as social media suggested' - NewsWep

 

[stmarysmead]

Here are my current theories. Are they right or wrong, who knows. And I will admit they are subject to,change.

1. I believe that LE had a reason to lie about the witness sighting. Therefore I believe the witness sighting. I have no idea what that reason might be.

2. I believe there was trouble in the relationship. Two weeks after her indications of this in FB, a witness reports that Esther told her they might not get back together. That’s not a passing mood IMO. I believe the witness.

3. I believe that Esther could have made contact on the 21st if she so desired. IMO I believe that long period of no contact has significance.

4. If Esther left of her own accord, I believe she had to have help from a third party.

5. I don’t rule out an accident because I believe the locals are very well informed on the perils of the area. I believe that Dan’s grief prevents him from acknowledging that.

6. I believe that the BBC interview has great significance just not sure how. IMO something was set in motion by it...no idea what.

7. I like the theory of the fugue state because I do have trouble with the idea of Esther putting her parents through this ordeal.

8. I think the dispersal of the dogs that Esther seems to adore..is significant. She is 37...no children...I think they were emotionally very important to her.

9. Maybe it’s because I come to this Website too often, but unfortunately, I can think of TOO MANY ways Esther would be vulnerable to a crime. And too many ways a perpetrator could cover it up.

just my current opinions...nothing more.

 

[stmarysmead]

I wonder whether there was a debate about their roles in their joint venture with 6 years of mountain climbing memoirs, dog stories for children, and adventure routes.

"Meanwhile the partner of Ms Dingley has been interviewed by police for a third time about her disappearance, MailOnline can reveal.

Four officers from the French Gendarmerie paramilitary force spoke to Daniel Colegate at the farmhouse in Gascony that he is house-sitting on Monday afternoon.

Mr Colegate, 38, had stayed at the 1000-a-week holiday let while long-term partner Esther embarked on a solo hike trip in the Pyrenees mountains last month.

Bordinaro maintained that Mr Colegate had been interviewed as a witness, not a suspect."
​

Police reveal missing British hiker's domestic life 'was not as idyllic as social media suggested' - NewsWep

I think you may be onto something! That opens all sorts of questions!

 

[stmarysmead]

Snipped for focus

Maybe the climbing mountains thing was a convenient way to keep herself not thinking about home, but what she she really wanted was a real escape.

Yes! I would like to add this theory to my list posted above.

 

[otto]

Good question @Puzzles! Ever since I learned of the Hannah Upp (HU) case on St. Thomas USVI, I have seriously pondered the possibility ED disappeared in a dissociative fugue state or some similar dissociative disorder. Below is (1) a link to a ~6m YouTube/ABC video on the HU case, clinical information from (2) Mayo Clinic and (3) Merck, (4) WS link to the HU case, and (5) a link to the ~45m A&E TV show (for U.S) on the HU case - all quite riveting information.

Mayo Clinic: “Dissociative disorders are mental disorders that involve experiencing a disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions and identity. Dissociative disorders usually develop as a reaction to trauma and help keep difficult memories at bay. Signs and symptoms…

· ….
· Significant stress or problems in your relationships, work or other important areas of your life
· Inability to cope well with emotional or professional stress
· Mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors” (2)​

Merck: “Dissociative fugue is a rare form of dissociative amnesia… A dissociative fugue may last from hours to months, occasionally longer…. If the fugue lasts several days or longer, people may travel far from home, form a new identity, and begin a new job, unaware of any change in their life… During the fugue, people may appear and act normal or appear only mildly confused and attract no attention.” (3)

As for ED, here is why this strikes me as a possible explanation, not only for her disappearance, but also for her lack of contact with LE, DC, or family (that we know of). IMO, ED simply may not have fully recognized who she was when she disappeared. I say the following as my opinion based on the data I have studied from this case, and I am not attempting any kind of diagnosis as I am not an expert in this area. I am sharing this only because it might provide important insight to help find ED.

• I have come to believe ED was overwhelmed and traumatized at the prospect of returning to a traditional lifestyle and possibly to her long-term relationship.
• ED has a history of depression and openly shared her personal angst and fears on social media as recently as the month before she vanished.
• The strange 'small lettuce-red pepper-oatmeal' overnight hike (with LA) provisions several days before ED disappeared could be early signs of something being off.
• Some here observe starting 19/11, ED’s patterns of posting to social media changed significantly, raising the question as to why – this theory might explain that.
• What ED told Mr. Ballarin on 21/11 may have been her new plans, despite how different they were from what she told DC just a half hour earlier that morning.
• On 21/11 ED made an odd departure from her stated plans to start her loop in France at the Refuge de Vanesque - she ended up at Cabane la Besurta that night.
• The 22/11 release of the BBC article about the lives of ED and DC may have been a significant trigger for ED, perhaps exacerbating underlying issues.
• We have 26 hours unaccounted for between ~1pm 21/11 and ~3pm 22/11 during which perhaps ED was disoriented or trying to get back on track if you may.
• ED re-summited Pic de Sauvegarde late afternoon, 22/11, oddly asking for fruit from the skier (auto pilot?) and oddly responding to a series of texts (auto pilot?)

So, I now wonder if ED could be wondering around in some sort of fugue state in Bagneres du Luchon, Toulouse, even perhaps working / staying at the Super Bagneres Ski Resort, or anywhere! … an involuntary disappearance from which she would not know she is missing or to communicate with anybody who is looking for her.

Sadly though, someone in such a state, I imagine, is vulnerable and bad things could have happened. For ED's, DC's and her family's sake I hope she is still alive.

1. https://youtu.be/cjo2IQK6prs
2. Dissociative disorders - Symptoms and causes
3. Dissociative Fugue - Mental Health Disorders - Merck Manuals Consumer Version
4. US Virgin Islands - Hannah Upp, 32, St. Thomas, 14 Sept 2017
5. Vanished in Paradise: The Untold Story | A&E

Interesting and well-supported possibility.

 

[RedHaus]

Interesting and well-supported possibility.

Thank you @otto. And you know, I was thinking about what @Puzzles added to that theory. One of the keen things I've picked up from the HU case in St. Thomas USVI (suspected dissociative fugue) is that in her prior two fugue episodes, she was seen (and remembered a bit afterwards being) at places familiar to her. So that led me to wonder if LE and DC should be looking in warmer climes in Spain where I believe she and DC liked to hang out during some of the winters of their 6 year journey.

 

[stmarysmead]

One last thought for the night.

How and why did this disappearance so quickly become an international fr0ntpage story?

Just on this thread, posts have been made about strange disappearances in the wild or while trekking in Europe, even the Western US.

I read numerous online newspapers every morning. Most I’d never heard of.

They were presumed to be accidents and remained local stories.

Not this.

How and why has this ended up in the NY papers and my local paper! An international mystery!

It’s a question that is really starting to puzzle me.

 

[RedHaus]

Here are my current theories. Are they right or wrong, who knows. And I will admit they are subject to,change.

1. I believe that LE had a reason to lie about the witness sighting. Therefore I believe the witness sighting. I have no idea what that reason might be.

2. I believe there was trouble in the relationship. Two weeks after her indications of this in FB, a witness reports that Esther told her they might not get back together. That’s not a passing mood IMO. I believe the witness.

3. I believe that Esther could have made contact on the 21st if she so desired. IMO I believe that long period of no contact has significance.

4. If Esther left of her own accord, I believe she had to have help from a third party.

5. I don’t rule out an accident because I believe the locals are very well informed on the perils of the area. I believe that Dan’s grief prevents him from acknowledging that.

6. I believe that the BBC interview has great significance just not sure how. IMO something was set in motion by it...no idea what.

7. I like the theory of the fugue state because I do have trouble with the idea of Esther putting her parents through this ordeal.

8. I think the dispersal of the dogs that Esther seems to adore..is significant. She is 37...no children...I think they were emotionally very important to her.

9. Maybe it’s because I come to this Website too often, but unfortunately, I can think of TOO MANY ways Esther would be vulnerable to a crime. And too many ways a perpetrator could cover it up.

just my current opinions...nothing more.

Well summarized, SMM! I have a similar set of "assumptions" rattling around in my head plus maybe a few more... I suspect each of us has our set of swirling factors.

 

[otto]

It's one thing to take a temporary break from a partner, and family, but to be gone for more than two months? She did have a week from the time she was last heard from, and to when her disappearance hit the news. There would have been time to get to another part of Spain if she wanted to, but not on her own, without money. If staying with someone, without feeling the relationship stress, how long would it take Esther to miss her wandering life?
As for the dogs, do we know if it was a temporary or permanent separation?

Good point. If she, aged 37, did not want her life with her life partner of 18 years, she still wanted her life in the mountains. That is not in doubt. I doubt that she would put her family through the pain of not knowing that she is alive and well. There is no trace of her since Nov 22.

A fugue state does not account for the oversight that she loved, but has not been seen in, the mountains. Fugue might mean new identity and life, but it doesn't fully explain that she vanished from the face of the earth presumably with free will during a pandemic.

 

[RedHaus]

I wonder whether there was a debate about their roles in their joint venture with 6 years of mountain climbing memoirs, dog stories for children, and adventure routes.

snipped for focus

I think you may be onto something! That opens all sorts of questions!

@otto, I recall up post you shared an image of the inside cover of the DC / ED memoir on their adventures and you cited the fact that DC was the sole author, while ED was the editor, despite an opening preamble referring to author(s) plural. Anyhow, is that the kind of 'debate about their roles' you and SMM are referring to? I just don't want to miss another door opening with questions to answer. That's what keeps me coming back to this thread of course... the hope we can figure this out!

 

[otto]

People have a right to disappear. If you don't want The Big Search to follow, inform the Police, in Esther's case possibly both in France and Spain and be gone.

I'm not into this Oh her partner was so .... whatever would have made her want to do a runner without telling him, but speaking to LE and informing them that you don't want to be found, would have solved that dilemma. A smart operator would have known this and acted before the news broke.

Instead, Esther told LE in Benasque that she would be gone for two or three days, so that must have been her plan.

She notified everyone of her plan, from parking the van to sending a map and keeping her partner in the loop regarding her hike. She was on her way to the Refuge de Venasque according to all information, including the route suggested by the person she met on Nov 19.

She said that she stayed at the Cabana de la Besurta overnight on Nov 21. This is a fact she told her partner, yet there is speculation that she was instead at her van. She provided a map of her route, yet there is speculation that she hiked the Glacier on Maladeta instead.

 

[otto]

One last thought for the night.

How and why did this disappearance so quickly become an international fr0ntpage story?

Just on this thread, posts have been made about strange disappearances in the wild or while trekking in Europe, even the Western US.

I read numerous online newspapers every morning. Most I’d never heard of.

They were presumed to be accidents and remained local stories.

Not this.

How and why has this ended up in the NY papers and my local paper! An international mystery!

It’s a question that is really starting to puzzle me.

I suppose the reason is similar to the story about the wife who went running one morning and didn't come home. An experienced hiker who had regular contact with family went hiking and didn't come.

There are 3 possibilities: suicide, murder, accident. I think we aim to reduce the possibilities, but it seems nearly impossible..

 

[otto]

snipped for focus
@otto, I recall up post you shared an image of the inside cover of the DC / ED memoir on their adventures and you cited the fact that DC was the sole author, while ED was the editor, despite an opening preamble referring to author(s) plural. Anyhow, is that the kind of 'debate about their roles' you and SMM are referring to? I just don't want to miss another door opening with questions to answer. That's what keeps me coming back to this thread of course... the hope we can figure this out!

Yes, I wonder how their roles were filtering down in terms of stories about dogs for children and a memoir of their 6 years travel that was authored by Dan Colgate, edited by Esther Dingley, but "authors" is written in the preamble. An Oxford educated couple knows better than to use authors when there is only one author. It leaves me wondering why there is a misfit.

That option implies suicide, not hiding from her family.

 

[RickshawFan]

One last thought for the night.

How and why did this disappearance so quickly become an international fr0ntpage story?

Just on this thread, posts have been made about strange disappearances in the wild or while trekking in Europe, even the Western US.

I read numerous online newspapers every morning. Most I’d never heard of.

They were presumed to be accidents and remained local stories.

Not this.

How and why has this ended up in the NY papers and my local paper! An international mystery!

It’s a question that is really starting to puzzle me.

Just like the tot Madeleine disappearing in Portugal. It has some of the the same elements, or at least they've been cast that way (e.g. a potentially uninterested LE).

In the US Press, white women get much more exposure than non-white women. Just sayin'. I can think of a few that have been high profile. Samantha Sayers is a lot like Dingley; she was all over the news. Then there's Lakoduk.

It's possible there's an element of proximity. Out West in the US, you read a lot about missing hikers in the press. White female works especially well, evidently, for audience consumption. Dingley is near everywhere in Europe, millions of people are familiar with the Alps, and there's a certain "romance" about a person "missing without a trace" in the mountains. UK had the BBC stuff, too; that would have added to the media buzz.

Dingley has a PR firm evidently keeping her name in front of people, too.

A year later, no plans to renew search for hiker Sam Sayers | Seattle Weekly

 

[FrostOwl]

Hi @FrostOwl
Snipped for focus and BBM – To answer your two questions
1. "If someone had found her on the mountainside showing any signs of cognitive impairment, why not take her to a hospital?"
- As described earlier in previous posts, a person suffering from dissociative fugue (it is no longer called psychogenic fugue) would not usually present with any cognitive impairment.

2. "If she doesn't have psychogenic amnesia, how would you explain her staying away voluntarily alive, without money, and having left her past behind."
- As suggested earlier in previous posts by both @stmarysmead and I, IF she is in a dissociative fugue state, ED may have assistance from a willing third party.

1. According to this Dissociative Fugue Statistics symptoms of dissociative fugue include among others confusion about ones identity, and extreme distress, and I think that those things would be noticable during the first days at least. It's not that she would go from knowing that she is Esther, and suddenly present herself as for example Theresa and be able to give information about her past to someone she just met. If she was herself mentally when she spoke to Dan from the Pic, and that there are no signs that she made it down somewhere in the evening, or next day, where she could have met people who could help her, I doubt she would have been able to convince others that she was somebody else, especially when the papers began to post info about a missing woman.
(I didn't mention dissociative fugue in my post, I said dissociative amnesia, and dissociative fugue is a facet of that disorder, according of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
2. I asked for an explanation of why she would stay away voluntarily if not a case of fugue. If she had planned to leave because she felt that she couldn't no longer stay in the relationship, and acquired the help of a third (or several others) to stay away. That it wouldn't matter to her how her parents would feel if she was missing, as long as she is happy/satisfied with the choice she has made?

 

[FrostOwl]

Snipped for focus

Maybe the climbing mountains thing was a convenient way to keep herself not thinking about home, but what she she really wanted was a real escape.

Do you mean her last excursion in the Pyrenees to be a way to keep her from thinking about home, or do you mean the way she and Dan had been living the last couple of years? I agree that this last excursion most likely was a way to get away from home, and to avoid thinking about how her life could change in the future, but I think she had been enjoying the nomadic life, the "don't fence me in" and live for the day. Would she really want to give that up, and stay hidden in a place, even if it was with someone new. It might have felt like a real escape, and a way to "keep herself not thinking about home", but for how long? Had the last six years, and how she had posted about what she had been doing in SM been a lie, if not for the entire time, so towards the end of it? If she had wanted to settle down, wasn't that what Dan also wanted? If tired of her relationship, wouldn't there be better ways to end it?

 

[PeggyHenry]

So much to read and digest this morning with all the theories!

I don’t think the publicised camper van image is meant to show the sleeping figure. The dog Walker probably took this image before she walked up closer. I think she was specific in her description of the sleeping figure and can’t see a reason not to believe her.

With a criminal investigation in place then this was likely to form a key element to the case and therefore I don’t believe they would disclose any pertinent information to the public. I am thinking that they said as little as possible in order to shutdown any public discussion. They may even have deliberately used the campervan as part of their investigation. After all, they did suggest voluntary disappearance as a possible option. It makes sense that they might watch the van in case someone returned to it to collect belongings. Then a dog Walker comes along .. just what they didn’t need it!!

If Esther had an accident then we won’t find out until searches resume in Spring. Can’t do much about that so have to consider the other theories..

Suicide or third party involvement, voluntary disappearance.

I have a strong feeling Esther couldn’t do the voluntary disappearance! She couldn’t break her family’s hearts! Not capable. IMO.

I think she’d hit a time of life which for some women is a real ‘assessment’ time. It was for me!! What do I want? Am I going to get it if I stay in this current mode of living? It can be a panicky time.. quite overwhelming.
So she’s out there in the mountains, thinking and feeling all sorts of scary stuff. She keeps extending her trip but can’t find any quick and easy answers. ( I very much agree with SMM’s theories) . DC is making lots of contact when perhaps she needs her own head space. She is really vulnerable in that any human contact she makes will seem really appealing. Like a perfect storm brewing... she falls into the wrong hands. JMO..