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

[otto]

The thing that makes me feel they may have had some financial issues is that when DC advertises the books on Facebook he does encourage people / family to buy them as it 'will help them out' or words to that effect. It did read like a bit of a plea!

It would not be surprising that their finances were dwindling. Few people can afford to travel continuously for 6 years. The chia seed debate and requests for food from strangers strikes me as living on a shoestring budget. Perhaps they were at a point where they needed to generate more income to finance their non-stop vacation, perhaps that not a lifestyle she wanted.

 

[otto]

They certainly have lived a Spartan life...this is from their account of life in their first van.

‘To give some examples, during the past week or so that we've been enjoying the peace and quiet of this beautiful Spanish beach camping we've been pretty mindful not only of minimising use of our water pump to save power, but also minimising use of gas.

The reason for this is that we don't have a refillable system, don't have space to fit standard Spanish gas bottles in Homer's gas cupboard and don't fancy spending a small fortune on the smaller CampinGaz ones either. Instead we're hauling 2 extra French 5kg bottles with us, one of which is living in the habitation and we have to move around it throughout the day. However, since this has to power our fridge we're in full gas conserving mode, not only cooking some of our meals on a meths burner outside (which gets enough funny looks) but also showering in the frosty, but free, beach showers close to our parking. In fact, use of any warm water whatsoever in Homer is strictly off limits for the foreseeable future! And don't even think about the heating either if it gets chilly, we've got extra coats for that.

Coming back to the water pump, after our scare with the leisure battery and top up by our kindly neighbours, we're also now acting the role of 'tap' for each other by pouring water from a plastic bottle over each others hands or any crockery that needs a rinse when it comes to washing up.

I was curious and found the link for your quote.

Motorhome Modifications - A Luxury Outdoor Tent Or Home Comforts? - Solar Panels and Refillable Gas Systems On Our Christmas Wish List | Esther & Dan - Adventuring Together - Life, Love, Health & Travel

It does sound like they were dirt poor and relying on others for power.

"But changes may well be afoot in the months ahead. In the meantime I'm off to start work on the first of them. I'm planning to make a sign saying "Naive and needy. Any spare solar power?" for our window."​

 

[ZaZara]

The bigger it is, the more expensive to run...

I have to disagree. The home battery (not the one for the engine) is charged while driving, the solar will also charge the battery, while driving or parked. When facilities are available at a campervan location, you simply connect to the net and when all else fails, which it may yet hardly ever does, the freezer and fridge will run on LPG. (Gaslow refillable LPG 11 kgs according to the description of the current van.)

BTW the current van is the third one they have bought during the last 6 years, IMO not a sign that they were struggling financially.

 

[patCee]

Whatever the costs of EDs time hiking, it's a fact that living separately for the weeks involved will have increased their joint costs with separate expenses to meet each of their individual needs.

What stands out is DC, at home, has written books, advertised them, and set up the BBC interview to promote their joint travels along with the books. about the dogs.

It does seem that DC remained connected with normal life and the need to be more goal oriented in setting up a possible means for additional income, thinking ahead. Whilst ED continued to enjoy the 'freedom' she appeared to crave. IMO it is pretty clear by the extensions she made that she was finding it hard to think about returning and remaining in one place for an indeterminate time.

Its already been said that this time in the mountains was decided after a quick turnaround (days) from a previous hike with DC, to be for only a few days. How did DC feel about the various extensions? How unreasonable would DC have felt in not agreeing? How difficult is it for a reasonable partner to say NO enough, I'm on my own and need you here? What did ED think about him being stuck there, in lockdown, on his own? They were separate whilst one went off on yet another adventure, not to earn more money, but to spend more.

Whilst it's likely that sadly ED met with a fatal accident, I also feel that she found it difficult to be herself, and was 'driven' by her own doubts and insecurities to roam and distract herself by each new day, diets and exercise. I wonder did she want to stay in the mountains forever rather than face normal life, and harmed herself in order to do so.

Over the years I have known a couple of people well, who harmed themselves, one successfully, the other recovered and didn't try again. The person who recovered described having no fear at the time, and made what felt like a rational decision to end it all, calm , fearless and determined. So it can at the time be an action without fear, consideration for others, and the right thing to do.

 

[Grouse]

‘And, even after three months away, according to the dossier...Esther was only able to have the “home bug” for about two weeks. ( the previous 2 weeks they were traveling in the van.)

Edited for correction....Esther only had the home bug for 8 days. They arrived 14/10...she left 22/10. They had spent 10 days previously traveling in the van.

I think the home bug may have lasted a lot longer than previously thought. Knowing now, from the dossier, that the house-sitting location is Larroque-sur-l’Osse, I decided to look back through Instagram with a fresh eye and was surprised to see that it appears they were based there since at least December 2019 Login • Instagram I had been assuming it was a much more recent thing. Maybe the owners were there for the period of the Alpine trek.

There are also quite a lot of posts of them appearing to cope quite well with lockdown 1.0 and staying in the vicinity, eg (my correction of obvious missing word) " We might [not] be able to go far from.the house but without the traffic on the road, we've been able to explore and create new routes each day, taking us past new gardens and fields where we can admire the beautiful #flowers and blossoms. Plus new routes, equals new opportunities to pass more #cherry trees!!!" Login • Instagram

There's always more going on underneath the surface, but I think this possibly belies some of the theories of ED not being able to cope with life back at the farmhouse.

 

[patCee]

I think the home bug may have lasted a lot longer than previously thought.

Snipped BM for focus

When did they do their 80 day trek? I didn't think it was that long ago.

 

[Grouse]

When did they do their 80 day trek? I didn't think it was that long ago.

Over the summer I think. They also visited the UK. By "home bug" I was meaning more generally - as in ED/DC seem to have been loosely based there for a much longer overall period than I'd realised.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Snipped BM for focus

When did they do their 80 day trek? I didn't think it was that long ago.

Mid July to early October.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Over the summer I think. They also visited the UK. By "home bug" I was meaning more generally - as in ED/DC seem to have been loosely based there for a much longer overall period than I'd realised.

Do you know how long they were staying there from December 2019?

 

[RickshawFan]

Pleased to know it - I read otherwise.

ED might not have known she had a whistle. Most people who own those packs don't realize it's built-in. That's why I'm saying I'm willing to tell anyone how to locate it, because I might just save your life.

The whistle thing is moot for ED anyway. Because of COVID, there was no one out there to whistle to.

 

[RickshawFan]

Despite being still quite young they've been together a long time already, nearly 20 years. By working hard in the 10 years or so before they went traveling, and ploughing everything they could early on into that mortgage, they may even have paid it off by now, or have relatively little left on it. We did that and got ours paid off in about 15 years by bumping up the payments when we could.

from --> About Us | Esther & Dan - Adventuring Together - Life, Love, Health & Travel
"Neither of us have ever really been particularly driven by material possessions, but we were both savers by nature and so anything spare went into repaying that mortgage. We also worked hard to earn extra where we could and began sacrificing holidays, meals out etc."

I have a hard time with statements about scrimping so you can have a multi-year respite, but at the same time expecting strangers to provide necessities (e.g. hiking food).

 

[Grouse]

Do you know how long they were staying there from December 2019?

Yes, tabbing through the posts from December 2019 there are regular posts with Larroque (or sometimes nearby Condom) as the location going right up to early June. Posts after that are from the UK and then we are into the Switzerland trip.

 

[stmarysmead]

So what changed? Something in their relationship? Something in Esther’s mental health?

She has had her three month “fix” of wandering mountaintops during the pandemic and when she returns to the remote rental, she starts posting about struggling a ‘difficult spell” that requires “soul-searching.” . She’s back only 4 days when she’s “stretched out like a rubber band” quoting sad song lyrics...and within days...she’s off AGAIN!

This trek is supposed to be...according to her...a four day excursion...but almost a month later, she still hasn’t come home.

IMO, all the love talk and “I think I can see you” is just to placate Dan. I’m not sure, IMO, if there really was no cell service ANYWHERE on Nov 21. We don’t have her phone so we don’t know.

IMO Esther had a plan...maybe that plan started in the 8 days before she left. Whether the plan was self-harm or involved another person, I can only guess. But the reason this seems like no accident is all of these odd details that make no sense.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Yes, tabbing through the posts from December 2019 there are regular posts with Larroque (or sometimes nearby Condom) as the location going right up to early June. Posts after that are from the UK and then we are into the Switzerland trip.

Thanks. It does sound like it could be somebody’s holiday home, and that perhaps D&E have been able to use it more this year due to Covid.

Has any worked out whether we can get a time stamp from an Insta post? I’m still intrigued to know what time the 21st posts per posted because it would indicate whether she had signal after descending Sauvegarde that day.

 

[Grouse]

<snipped>
Has any worked out whether we can get a time stamp from an Insta post? I’m still intrigued to know what time the 21st posts per posted because it would indicate whether she had signal after descending Sauvegarde that day.

I hadn't but I just examined the page now and it seems to be Sat, 21 Nov 2020 12:10:25 +00:00 (<time class="_1o9PC Nzb55" datetime="2020-11-21T12:10:25.000Z" title="Nov 21, 2020">November 21, 2020</time>)

I think that is my local time so looks like 13:10 CET

How to See EXACT Time an Instagram Post was Made

ETA: ties in with the dossier

 

[Onlinesleuth]

ED might not have known she had a whistle. Most people who own those packs don't realize it's built-in. That's why I'm saying I'm willing to tell anyone how to locate it, because I might just save your life.

The whistle thing is moot for ED anyway. Because of COVID, there was no one out there to whistle to.

You are SO right! Quite seriously, what I gain from forums such as this is an education on what NOT to do should I ever be about to do the same, rather than discovering what’s happened as we’ll never have all the details unless the authorities release them...

Before I started reading various forums, I didn’t know that dehydration was as dangerous as it is, that drinking salt water drives one to hallucinate, that one naturally walks in circles if not using a map when lost, that there are wolves in the Pyrenees, etc. Also, I’ve learned that both financial difficulties and alcohol feature in a huge percentage of accidents/suicides/murders/disappearances. Additionally, I’ve learned that if you take one person with depression and pair them up, then it’s more likely that the other person will come down with it (rather than be able to help the first person recover); take two people with depression and put them together and both their cases worsen.

 

[stmarysmead]

Thanks. It does sound like it could be somebody’s holiday home, and that perhaps D&E have been able to use it more this year due to Covid.

Has any worked out whether we can get a time stamp from an Insta post? I’m still intrigued to know what time the 21st posts per posted because it would indicate whether she had signal after descending Sauvegarde that day.

Could it have been an Airbnb rental or something of that sort that would cost them money? Have we been able to find documentation that they paid no rent?

I live in a rural area that was inundated by “refugees” from major cities during this pandemic. No one was giving free rent when there were so many people trying to be accommodated. Would it have been different in that part of France?

 

[Grouse]

Could it have been an Airbnb rental or something of that sort that would cost them money? Have we been able to find documentation that they paid no rent?

I live in a rural area that was inundated by “refugees” from major cities during this pandemic. No one was giving free rent when there were so many people trying to be accommodated. Would it have been different in that part of France?

It's described as house-sitting in the dossier and BBC article ("Or when they quickly found farm work or house-sitting jobs when they needed some extra cash or a stable base for a while".)

Don't think they were paying, seems like the opposite.

 

[Onlinesleuth]

I have a hard time with statements about scrimping so you can have a multi-year respite, but at the same time expecting strangers to provide necessities (e.g. hiking food).

It’s a very bizarre mindset but I do know people like that. For example, a businesswoman who owns a huge amount of property, goes on expensive vacations, but always insists on taking a doggie bag home from dinner and also complains to suppliers she can’t afford to pay the going rate. It comes across as Scrooge-like. However, in ED’s case, to me it sounds more like a lack of forward planning re rations, or an indication of gradually running out of funds...

 

[Onlinesleuth]

I have a hard time with statements about scrimping so you can have a multi-year respite, but at the same time expecting strangers to provide necessities (e.g. hiking food).

It’s a very bizarre mindset but I do know people like that. For example, a businesswoman who owns a huge amount of property, goes on expensive vacations, but always insists on taking a doggie bag home from dinner and also complains to suppliers she can’t afford to pay the going rate. It comes across as Scrooge-like. However, in ED’s case, to me it sounds more like a lack of forward planning re rations, or an indication of gradually running out of funds...

I was curious and found the link for your quote.

Motorhome Modifications - A Luxury Outdoor Tent Or Home Comforts? - Solar Panels and Refillable Gas Systems On Our Christmas Wish List | Esther & Dan - Adventuring Together - Life, Love, Health & Travel

It does sound like they were dirt poor and relying on others for power.

"But changes may well be afoot in the months ahead. In the meantime I'm off to start work on the first of them. I'm planning to make a sign saying "Naive and needy. Any spare solar power?" for our window."​

Even the thought of living like that makes my stomach churn... humiliating