Found Deceased Spain - Esther Dingley, from UK, missing in the Pyrenees, November 2020 #1

[TillyMay]

I hope she's found safe and well, her family must be tormented with worry.
Have you read about this case @Pinkerton PI

 

[Sjm_qc]

Hi Sjm,

Can confirm that there has been extensive media coverage in Spain and France.

Thank you!

I’ve now spent a couple of hours reading the French media reports (and social media commentary) and it seems to me that while the authorities on both the French and Spanish sides are doing their due diligence/keeping an open mind about possibilities other than an accident, the abduction/kidnapping suggestions aren’t really plausible.

It’s stated several times that the authorities don’t expect to find her alive, and implied - IMO - that she’s up in the mountains somewhere, they just didn’t spot her.

The impression I have is that the “she’s not there” (because they didn’t find her yet) theory comes mostly from her partner/husband and/or her family members.

I do hope that the chap who gave her a lift on the 19th is found/interviewed soon, if only to eliminate some of the wilder speculation I’ve seen (not here!). IMO again, he’s a red herring.

ETA: by “interviewed”, I mean by LE, not the media.

 

[Sjm_qc]

I would love to read that story, but am not finding it at the link. I know it somehow spans Wheaton and San Diego, and the woman's name is Carolyn, they're at an unnamed religious university - would love to have their story in my files!

The link worked for me: Scott Swanson and Carolyn MacLean, case from 1988 (and there’s a 2017 brief update when Carolyn died).

 

[Neal Issagum]

Apologies if this has already been posted (new here!) but picture 6 from this article has the 60 year old manager of the refuge in what looks like a picture taken with Esther. Is this the first time he’s been named/pictured?
Family of British hiker missing in Pyrenees fear she has been kidnapped | Daily Mail Online

 

[Sjm_qc]

Apologies if this has already been posted (new here!) but picture 6 from this article has the 60 year old manager of the refuge in what looks like a picture taken with Esther. Is this the first time he’s been named/pictured?
Family of British hiker missing in Pyrenees fear she has been kidnapped | Daily Mail Online

That’s a different refuge that she stayed at several days BEFORE she went missing, NOT the (unmanned) one she was supposedly heading for the day she went missing.

 

[Lucy6226]

I was thinking about the intense Covid lockdown and what effects it might have on locals.

Severe Lockdown effects?:

- a deviant local man with less access to hookers?

Sex workers is the correct term

 

[Auntie_Seagull]

Severe Lockdown effects?:

- a deviant local man with less access to hookers?

- frustration/aggression has built up in a mentally ill man?

- the economy must be suffering greatly in Luchon. Did someone rob Esther for $$$?

You can rob, beat or rape someone without hiking deep into mountains. And hikers are notoriously low on money.

 

[Blondiexoxo]

Have we had any confirmation of the last time someone actually spoke to Esther by phone call/video call? Has anyone spoken to her, not by message, since the Facebook post detailing the ‘hiker’ who was going to give her a lift?

I worry that Esther, although experienced with hiking, had underestimated the conditions out there and perhaps not thought ahead as to what danger she could be in being alone. Also, after being isolated on her journey, she may have put a little too much trust in a stranger offering to help. The conditions she had slept in on previous nights were not ideal atall, the space she stayed did not look safe imo. It looked dark, cold and almost like an abandoned shack. I’m all for people feeling in touch with nature and wanting to travel but I fear that after living this life style for a while and being used to taking risks, one could put themselves in dangerous situations. I don’t think I could last a single night alone out there, you’ve got to be really experienced, prepared and fearless. I really hope that she’s just met this other hiker and took off on a whirlwind romance, that’s the best case scenario I can think of right now.

 

[Sjm_qc]

Have we had any confirmation of the last time someone actually spoke to Esther by phone call/video call? Has anyone spoken to her, not by message, since the Facebook post detailing the ‘hiker’ who was going to give her a lift?

I worry that Esther, although experienced with hiking, had underestimated the conditions out there and perhaps not thought ahead as to what danger she could be in being alone. Also, after being isolated on her journey, she may have put a little too much trust in a stranger offering to help. The conditions she had slept in on previous nights were not ideal atall, the space she stayed did not look safe imo. It looked dark, cold and almost like an abandoned shack. I’m all for people feeling in touch with nature and wanting to travel but I fear that after living this life style for a while and being used to taking risks, one could put themselves in dangerous situations. I don’t think I could last a single night alone out there, you’ve got to be really experienced, prepared and fearless. I really hope that she’s just met this other hiker and took off on a whirlwind romance, that’s the best case scenario I can think of right now.

Yes, the lift from the hiker was November 19th. She spoke to both her father & husband/partner on November 22nd, before & possibly during her hike that day (the last day she was heard from).

she was also seen on the trail on the 22nd by independent witnesses.

 

[Justice2016]

I would translate "Vols et Degradations" as "Theft and Damage". Are you confusing the words "vol" and "viol"? The latter means "rape" in French.

Yes my French is super rusty.

I should have pointed to the violent crime category on the same page.

 

[Andreee]

Do we have confirmation that the lake at the spot where ED disappeared has been searched? On the short route between the Pic de Sauvegarde and the refuge there is a pool that looks big enough for a person to disappear in. I presume they searched it. Dan would have walked past it when he retraced her steps too.

Yes, that is something I hoped they searched thoroughly, although not sure how they can determine for sure she isn't in the water. I wonder if there are many pools of water throughout the route she took, and if anyone has mapped that out.

 

[Justice2016]

Okay, I found these stats too. They aren’t just for Bagneres-de Luchon, they are for the whole area, and concern a total population of 64,502.
Chiffres délinquance Bagneres de Luchon (31110)

I also respectfully suggest that crime statistics from an area across the border from where Esther went missing are a red herring/OT diversion.

(I’m bilingual).

Pity you weren't digging into the crime stats in the area before. Many hands on deck etc.

Can you locate and screenshot the precise Luchon quantity of cases for us if my French misled me.

 

[Justice2016]

The cases in this program have all been solved and the perpetrators convicted and jailed.

The crimes were also committed in/around Toulouse, which is nowhere near where Esther went missing.

Can you provide sources for those assertions regarding location and the criminals currently being in jail? Maybe link to the news reports?

 

[ZaZara]

I searched for info about Luchon as that is the "commune" the investigating police belong to.
Chiffres délinquance Bagneres de Luchon (31110)

These are the 2014 crime stats for the area but it's in French and I'm a bit rusty. If anyone is fluent in French please correct me if I have misinterpreted the stats.

Basically the category "Vols et Degradations" is the sexual crime category. It comprises 65.1% of all crimes in the area. That's a lot! More than any other type of crime... lots of perverts in the area proportionate to population.

I was thinking about the intense Covid lockdown and what effects it might have on locals.

And I read on here about an old case in which a psychopath farmer switched the signpost so female hikers ended up at his farm.

Severe Lockdown effects?:

- a deviant local man with less access to hookers?

- frustration/aggression has built up in a mentally ill man?

- the economy must be suffering greatly in Luchon. Did someone rob Esther for $$$?

Luchon is famous for "wellness and spa" tourism. So that's how they make a living.

But with lockdown there are zero tourists. Is money the cause of someone harming Esther?

* I searched Google News for any recent rape cases in Luchon. A 60yr old pedophile from Luchon was just caught (Dec 2) raping 3 boys in Nepal. Not the kind of case I was looking for but it lends credence to the assault stats for the area.
French paedophile caught in act with three boys

FYI Nepal is not in the Luchon area, in fact it isn't anywhere near France.

The correct translation of Vols en Degradations is Damage and Theft.
Not sexual crime as you suggest.

Violences sexuelles are at 0.44% of all crimes in the entire region Bagnères-de-Luchon in 2014.

Hope this helps.

 

[Justice2016]

Okay, I found these stats too. They aren’t just for Bagneres-de Luchon, they are for the whole area, and concern a total population of 64,502.
Chiffres délinquance Bagneres de Luchon (31110)

I also respectfully suggest that crime statistics from an area across the border from where Esther went missing are a red herring/OT diversion.

(I’m bilingual).

Yeah you found the same link I posted in my posts. Identical.

 

[ZaZara]

It is well known that Esther was returning to France in 2 days as reported by her boyfriend. Her descent would practically speaking be on the French side.

That is why the French police for Bagneres de Luchon are heavily involved. I think the police know where to investigate best.

Esther would be returning to France in her campervan. The van was still parked in Benasque, Spain. She was expected to return from her hike to this van in Benasque.

The French LE are involved because part of her hike would go through the French side of the Pyrenees. There is no indication that she planned to go as far as Luchon IMHO.

 

[Justice2016]

Apologies if this has already been posted (new here!) but picture 6 from this article has the 60 year old manager of the refuge in what looks like a picture taken with Esther. Is this the first time he’s been named/pictured?
Family of British hiker missing in Pyrenees fear she has been kidnapped | Daily Mail Online

If that's the case what a great find. Where was he the day her mobile was switched to flight mode and presumably off?

 

[Justice2016]

Have we had any confirmation of the last time someone actually spoke to Esther by phone call/video call? Has anyone spoken to her, not by message, since the Facebook post detailing the ‘hiker’ who was going to give her a lift?

I worry that Esther, although experienced with hiking, had underestimated the conditions out there and perhaps not thought ahead as to what danger she could be in being alone. Also, after being isolated on her journey, she may have put a little too much trust in a stranger offering to help. The conditions she had slept in on previous nights were not ideal atall, the space she stayed did not look safe imo. It looked dark, cold and almost like an abandoned shack. I’m all for people feeling in touch with nature and wanting to travel but I fear that after living this life style for a while and being used to taking risks, one could put themselves in dangerous situations. I don’t think I could last a single night alone out there, you’ve got to be really experienced, prepared and fearless. I really hope that she’s just met this other hiker and took off on a whirlwind romance, that’s the best case scenario I can think of right now.

Her boyfriend received whatsapp messages from her after the hiker gave her a lift. As per news reports.

 

[Andreee]

It is well known that Esther was returning to France in 2 days as reported by her boyfriend. Her descent would practically speaking be on the French side.

That is why the French police for Bagneres de Luchon are heavily involved. I think the police know where to investigate best.[/QUOTE

This contradicts the police's very clear comments in an article dated 5 December.

If you want to dispute recent police comments where they were very recently interviewed by a reputable news site please link to the news report so we have a source for your claims.

The police state clearly as per my article post a page ago that they believe she is not on the mountain.

That's what I thought the authorities said as well, that they didn't think she was on the mountain!

 

[Sjm_qc]

Pity you weren't digging into the crime stats in the area before. Many hands on deck etc.

Can you locate and screenshot the precise Luchon quantity of cases for us if my French misled me.

I linked directly to the methodology & sources used for the stats, which clearly state they can’t be broken down by town/village etc & why.

If my Spanish language skills were as competent as
my French ones, I would certainly check the crime figures for the area she went missing in.