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

[Satchie]

Adding this one, from France Bleu, yesterday:

Accident, suicide or crime?

At this point in time, there are only three viable scenarios: an accident, the hiker might have fallen into a crevasse, voluntary disappearance or a criminal hypothesis.

RSBM

Very helpful, thanks. So it appears that to the French, 'voluntary disappearance' means suicide. I see that as much more possible than 'abandoned her life to run away with a stranger'.

ETA: more possible in terms of a scenario that does often apply to missing persons, rather than specifically to Esther

 

[CoverMeCagney]

If she turned back after her encounter where she asked for fruit...about how long might it have taken her to reach the van? Could she have made the trip before darkness set in?

We can’t really say without knowing where she parked the campervan. From memory the Benasque one was several miles away, not sure about the nearer one, maybe only a mile or so?

So her van was not in the RV parking area (is there a charge?) and was out on the street?

No, we think it was in a car park (parking lot) in Benasque. But there is a nearer one, at the start of the trail. It's assumed that when the kind hiker gave her a lift, his vehicle was at the nearer one, and he drove her the few miles to the Benasque one.

Someone else will have more accurate distances, I'm sure!

 

[PeggyHenry]

When I read the Facebook posts I find a change in style of writing for the post that refers to the kind fellow hiker.

There are lots of errors in this post possibly from predictive text etc Misspelt words or words that don’t make sense. In Esthers previous posts she seems to take care not to have any errors. I have a feeling of doubt that she wrote this particular post.

also it is far more rambling than her previous posts where she writes fairly well constructed sentences.
the photo is odd... I know several have mentioned the most peculiar outline of her figure! Strange. Just my thoughts and observations

 

[stmarysmead]

I’m confused. The last contact was the photo, correct?

But wasn’t there some speculation that she had done that route twice? So if she turned around and descended before reaching the summit, but after the encounter with the couple she asked for fruit...could the photo she sent have been from the day before?

Did she ask for fruit so that they’d remember her? Remember that she was ascending and at a late time of day?

If there is a possibility that she is alive and for some reason, maybe for her “self-care”...just needing a break from her old life... perhaps a move like this, where it appears that she disappears in the mountains.. would be a way of disappearing instead from her old life...achieving the time and space she needed.

 

[Satchie]

We can’t really say without knowing where she parked the campervan. From memory the Benasque one was several miles away, not sure about the nearer one, maybe only a mile or so?



No, we think it was in a car park (parking lot) in Benasque. But there is a nearer one, at the start of the trail. It's assumed that when the kind hiker gave her a lift, his vehicle was at the nearer one, and he drove her the few miles to the Benasque one.

Someone else will have more accurate distances, I'm sure!

We estimated 4-5 hours to hike the most direct trail to the peak from the town.

Benasque is the starting point, or close to the starting point, for many hikes. There are many trailheads in that area, many routes.

The hike that ended on Nov 19 was, IMO, in a different area, more to the west of the town, and used completely different trails. The name of the hostel where she started that hike, back before Nov. 19, can be searched on google maps and you can see it is in a different area. (I forget the name: the interview with the hostel owner is up thread).

As with most backpackers, Esther would get her gear together to go on a multiday hike of, perhaps, 3 or 5 days, preferring a loop so that she wouldn't have to return by the same trail. When that was finished, she would rest for a day or two, do some dayhikes, and then later go on a completely different loop, to explore a different area over 3 or so days.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

We estimated 4-5 hours to hike the most direct trail to the peak from the town.

Benasque is the starting point, or close to the starting point, for many hikes. There are many trailheads in that area, many routes.

The hike that ended on Nov 19 was, IMO, in a different area, more to the west of the town, and used completely different trails. The name of the hostel where she started that hike, back before Nov. 19, can be searched on google maps and you can see it is in a different area. (I forget the name: the interview with the hostel owner is up thread).

As with most backpackers, Esther would get her gear together to go on a multiday hike of, perhaps, 3 or 5 days, preferring a loop so that she wouldn't have to return by the same trail. When that was finished, she would rest for a day or two, do some dayhikes, and then later go on a completely different loop, to explore a different area over 3 or so days.

I knew you'd remember better than I did, Satch! Can you recall where and how far the nearer car park is?

 

[ZaZara]

RSBM

Very helpful, thanks. So it appears that to the French, 'voluntary disappearance' means suicide. I see that as much more possible than 'abandoned her life to run away with a stranger'.

ETA: more possible in terms of a scenario that does often apply to missing persons, rather than specifically to Esther

Voluntary disappearance means voluntary disappearance. Suicide may be a consequence, but that needn't be. The person who disappears voluntarily may also want to start a new life and leave the old life behind.

The person who wrote the header was perhaps a bit blunt. 'Voluntary disappearance' is a lot more tactful.

 

[GinaSeikwa]

The sighting in the supermarket was on November 19. Was it before or after her hike that day? This is the day she returned with the fellow hiker wasn’t it?
The next sighting of her was on November 21 by the same woman who assisted her in the supermarket. Esther was seen doing yoga beside her van in the carpark. She stood out and was noticed by passerby because it was unusual to see a young woman in a car park practising yoga.

I’d have to go back to review the video to see if there was a time stamp indicating if it was taken before her hike or after she returned with the other hiker.

 

[Satchie]

The sighting in the supermarket was on November 19. Was it before or after her hike that day? This is the day she returned with the fellow hiker wasn’t it?
The next sighting of her was on November 21 by the same woman who assisted her in the supermarket. Esther was seen doing yoga beside her van in the carpark. She stood out and was noticed by passerby because it was unusual to see a young woman in a car park practising yoga.

I’d have to go back to review the video to see if there was a time stamp indicating if it was taken before her hike or after she returned with the other hiker.

The hike on the 19th was not a day hike. She was on a backpacking trip that ended on the 19th, she'd been out of town for several days hiking.

 

[Satchie]

I knew you'd remember better than I did, Satch! Can you recall where and how far the nearer car park is?

Sorry, I really not up to trying to figure it out, I posted this link that indicated the hike was estimated to take 5 hours or so, 18 km total, now I wonder if that was for the whole purple loop?
Salvaguardia desde los Llanos del Hospital

 

[GinaSeikwa]

The hike on the 19th was not a day hike. She was on a backpacking trip that ended on the 19th, she'd been out of town for several days hiking.

Ok so definitely after her return! Thank you for clarifying.
If memory serves me she had posted a screenshot of her dinner that night so possibly shopping after her return to town in the afternoon and before dinner.
We don’t know what she did on the 20th.
She was seen again on the 21st practising yoga.
And of course the next afternoon the 22nd on the trail to the summit asking for fruit.

 

[patCee]

The sighting in the supermarket was on November 19. Was it before or after her hike that day? This is the day she returned with the fellow hiker wasn’t it?
The next sighting of her was on November 21 by the same woman who assisted her in the supermarket. Esther was seen doing yoga beside her van in the carpark. She stood out and was noticed by passerby because it was unusual to see a young woman in a car park practising yoga.

I’d have to go back to review the video to see if there was a time stamp indicating if it was taken before her hike or after she returned with the other hiker.

On her Facebook post on the 19th she describes her decision to return to the van as she didn't have enough food for more than one night. This might suggest she was buying food in the shop after her hike. If a morning shop I would expect her to buy enough food in view of her plan to hike for longer than the one night. I'd missed the video of her doing yoga outside the van on the 21st.

 

[Seni]

Police reveal missing British hiker's domestic life 'was not as idyllic as social media suggested' | Daily Mail Online

I cannot find any date stamp on the supermarket video.

The article says that Esther does not speak Spanish, presumably the conversation with the Spanish skier was in English. And we do not know the nationality/language of the friendly hiker. Does E speak French? I suppose she speaks Dutch because of her mother?

Had also missed the yoga reference.

 

[10ofRods]

Voluntary disappearance means voluntary disappearance. Suicide may be a consequence, but that needn't be. The person who disappears voluntarily may also want to start a new life and leave the old life behind.

The person who wrote the header was perhaps a bit blunt. 'Voluntary disappearance' is a lot more tactful.

And it doesn't have to be a stranger that she met up with. Nor does she have to meet up with anyone.

I still feel this was wilderness misadventure, though.

 

[otto]

On her Facebook post on the 19th she describes her decision to return to the van as she didn't have enough food for more than one night. This might suggest she was buying food in the shop after her hike. If a morning shop I would expect her to buy enough food in view of her plan to hike for longer than the one night. I'd missed the video of her doing yoga outside the van on the 21st.

I can't get past the experienced hiker who planned a 3 day trip but forgot to pack the food, but a woman looking around at life who hiked up and met a nice man, then came down the mountain with him for a lift deeper into the valley, then she posted a nice photo on Nov 22 that he took on Nov 19? Did she just receive the photo on Nov 22 when she was at the summit?

Apologies, but still trying to figure out the timeline.

She met the mystery photographer on Nov 19. Is that the same day that she was upset about a price while buying groceries? What time of day was she buying groceries?

No info on Nov 21, but Nov 19 photo from summit posted on instagram on Nov 22? Did she post it?

Just trying to get a clearer timeline and picture of what happened when and where she was going next.

Regarding merging two images into one, I can do it in 20 minutes with residual effects around the scaled image. What is her facial expression taken by the mystery photographer?

Image sources posted upthread - I clicked on a link to see these photos

 

[mrjitty]

Maybe we can post the timeline to the start of the thread because the same questions keep coming up

 

[otto]

And it doesn't have to be a stranger that she met up with. Nor does she have to meet up with anyone.

I still feel this was wilderness misadventure, though.

She met a mystery photographer on Nov 19, but there's confusion about the date that the photo appeared on her social media accounts. There's also confusion about whether the grocery store dispute was before or after her hike. It matters because if she went for a hike with food for 3 days and was then disputing grocery bills, it suggests she returned to her vehicle with the stranger. If the grocery dispute was before she started the hike, it suggests that finances are tight.

There's nothing to suggest wilderness adventure. The route she planned on Nov 22 from the Summit, where she was alive and well, to the hostel / refugio does not appear treacherous, although there is a lake. All the bears in the region are tagged and none were near her.

 

[otto]

Maybe we can post the timeline to the start of the thread because the same questions keep coming up

Has someone started a timeline starting on Nov 19 with yoga?

What happened next - groceries to hike for 3 days, more groceries at the end of the first day, or grocery cost concerns only in the morning to plan for a 3 day hike on the morning of Nov 19 ... and asking strangers for food on Nov 22?

 

[Deleted member 277705]

I can't get past the experienced hiker who planned a 3 day trip but forgot to pack the food, but a woman looking around at life who hiked up and met a nice man, then came down the mountain with him for a lift deeper into the valley, then she posted a nice photo on Nov 22 that he took on Nov 19? Did she just receive the photo on Nov 22 when she was at the summit?

Apologies, but still trying to figure out the timeline.

She met the mystery photographer on Nov 19. Is that the same day that she was upset about a price while buying groceries? What time of day was she buying groceries?

No info on Nov 21, but Nov 19 photo from summit posted on instagram on Nov 22? Did she post it?

Just trying to get a clearer timeline and picture of what happened when and where she was going next.

Regarding merging two images into one, I can do it in 20 minutes with residual effects around the scaled image. What is her facial expression taken by the mystery photographer?

Image sources posted upthread - I clicked on a link to see these photos

Otto - If you reverse these images reverting to the natural position of the pose, ie, you will see that her right leg is in fact, the standing one.

 

[otto]

I'm so confused about the timeline. The stranger took the photo of her on the Summit of Pic de Sauvegarde on November 19, and she was seen ascending the same slope on Nov 22 by the Olympian - thus the question of why she climbed the same summit on Nov 19 and Nov 22.

<modsnip>

But what if she intended to make the Summit a day trip on Nov 19, met the man, discussed meeting up at Refugio on the French side of the border on Nov 22, he sent her the Nov 19 photo, she uploaded it on Nov 22, they met in the middle between Summit and Refugio and she is in the lake, he returned to the Refugio after an afternoon hike towards the Spanish border?