BBM
It’s not only LE’s assertion it was a forensic officer in the van that I find puzzling.
I also don’t understand why tracker/sniffer dogs weren’t used in the search for Esther.
From DC’s dossier: "Dan did offer to give clothes / samples to the French police so they could do a forensic search or send in sniffer dogs, but they said they didn't have that type of dog and/or it was too long afterwards.”
IMO, it’s odd, even unbelievable, that SAR in the Pyrenees does not have access to tracker/sniffer dogs.
In 2018, when a young man went missing in a ski area of British Columbia, dogs were employed in the search, in two meters of snow,
three weeks after he was last seen. See article below where we read "
If he is there, they are confident the dogs will find him."
This leads me to question the statement “it was too long afterwards."
https://cfjctoday.com/2018/03/08/specialty-dogs-take-up-search-for-man-missing-at-sun-peaks/
February 17th, the last time anyone saw 20 year old Ryan Shtuka. He left a house party on Burfield Drive just after 2am, it’s believed he was headed home, just a five minute walk away.
Nearly three weeks later, a renewed search effort. Five canine specialists from the Canadian Search and Disaster Dogs Association, along with their handlers, have arrived in Sun Peaks for an intense three day hunt.
“They have a sense of smell which is really really strong, by air scenting it allows them to isolate the other scents which is better in this case,” says Silvie Montier, Canadian Search and Disaster Dogs Association Team Leader.
The dogs are trained to find human scent in wilderness, rubble and water searches. With a sense of smell a million times stronger than ours, they can detect any human trace from a distance, be it live or deceased.
“They will catch a scent from far enough and it’s very important for a situation like this where the snow is so deep the dog can’t go everywhere, so he has to be able to get the scent from far enough, so that he can go in the deep snow only where it’s needed,” says Montier.
Trudging through nearly two metres of deep snow, the canine unit is focusing on the Burfield area where Ryan was last seen. If he is there, they are confident the dogs will find him.
(To date, Ryan Shtuka has not been found.)