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

[Vaccine]

Missing adventurer, 37, sent boyfriend photo seven days ago during her month-long Pyrenees trek | Daily Mail Online

Esther is part of a couple who have been travelling round Europe for several years and were last week featured on The BBC News website. They have been writing a blog about their travels. She recently went for a month break walking whilst her boyfriend stayed on a farm in France. She is now missing. I imagine this is a straightforward fall in the mountains but of course there could be foul play for a young woman walking on her own in a remote area. The stories do not say where the van is and whether she took it with her. She has been missing 6 days now and was due to reunite with her boyfriend last Wednesday - which was the excited subject of their last call together.

 

[Vaccine]

The BBC News story before she went missing.

Van life: Durham couple's six years on the road (and counting)

 

[FrostOwl]

Esther Dingley, a British woman who have been travelling Europe for six years, is missing during a solo hike in the French Pyrenees. She was last heard from last Sunday when she last spoke to her partner from a mountain top.
UK woman who has travelled Europe for six years goes missing in Pyrenees

 

[kelsie]

The couple, who have been together for 18 years, hit the road in 2014 with their five dogs after Colegate almost died of an infection following surgery.

They regularly posted about their adventures on their blog, Esther and Dan, and seven days ago they were featured in a BBC article discussing how they swapped their careers and a permanent home for motoring through the mountains, valleys and coastlines of Europe.

Colegate said he had joined French police teams using helicopters and dogs in the search for Dingley. “She always tried to keep in touch but sometimes on her hikes was out of contact for a couple of days,” he said. “This is not looking good.”

 

[Coach]

I think I read somewhere that her boyfriend was heading back up the mountain.

 

[Vaccine]

One thing I'd like to know is whether she took the car or left it with him on the farm. And if she took it, if and where it was found.

 

[Rosegold68]

this is worrying

 

[KatzEye]

Missing adventurer, 37, sent boyfriend photo seven days ago during her month-long Pyrenees trek | Daily Mail Online

Last photo she sent her partner :

 

[Satchie]

Good to see she had dogs, they may help in finding her...

 

[TexLil]

Missing adventurer, 37, sent boyfriend photo seven days ago during her month-long Pyrenees trek | Daily Mail Online

Last photo she sent her partner :

She looks so happy. I hope she and the pups are ok somewhere and found soon.

 

[FrostOwl]

One thing I'd like to know is whether she took the car or left it with him on the farm. And if she took it, if and where it was found.

According to the article she had the van with her, there is no information if it has been found or not.

Good to see she had dogs, they may help in finding her...

I don't think the dogs are with her, it's only the first selfie that she sent to her partner that's new, the rest is old photos. If the dogs isn't trained in search and rescue, I don't know if they would be of any help in a search a week after she was last seen.

 

[PhoebeTries]

Prayers for Esther. I imagine the weather is getting quite harsh there, end of November.

 

[FrostOwl]

Prayers for Esther. I imagine the weather is getting quite harsh there, end of November.

Here's the temperatures for the town where she started her hike from. It goes down to 0 degrees Centigrades at night, but around 10 degrees Centigrades during the day. If Esther is skilled at hiking in the mountains, my guess is that she knows how to dress, and what to have with her during a hike.
El Tiempo: Benasque (Huesca) - Predicción 7 días - Tabla - Agencia Estatal de Meteorología - AEMET. Gobierno de España

 

[StillDiggin]

We have an appeal from a friend.
Friend of Esther Dingley 'shocked' experienced hiker missing in Pyrenees

Lena Zucher, a friend of Esther Dingley said she was "really shocked" when she heard the news the 37-year-old was missing.

She continued her friend had "so much experience" of hiking outdoors and "just loves to be in nature".

I think it was a really dangerous hike for the time of year. Having walked in the Pyrenees i know it is such a dangerous place.

 

[TimesEight]

I would expect such an experienced and solo hiking outdoorswoman to have a GPS(watch) with her. Newer models can be accessed from a laptop/pc to find its nearest known location, and some can even send out an emergency notification to an paired cellphone if the watch breaks after a fall/crash for example. I wonder if she had one of those, it might be a great help in locating her.

Also, its not really clear to me if she did reach the refuge she was planning on staying that last night or not. Did she ever made it there?

I'm hoping she had extra clothing, an emergency blanket and water or a water purifier with her and is taking warm shelter somewhere with an injury or so. Fingers crossed she will be found alive!

Is it expect to be foul play or an accident at this moment?

 

[Atoz]

I've only walked across the Pyrenees once but I was impressed by how quickly the temperature dropped and also how quickly you can end up in disorienting clouds.

I do hope her experience in hiking can ensure a happy outcome here. Her partner must be beside himself.

 

[LadyL]

they seem like lovely people
so when was the last phonecall? she could still be alive?

 

[RobinCAL]

Esther Dingley search: Six teams look for her in Pyrenees

"Search teams and a helicopter have been out in the Pyrenees looking for a missing British woman who has spent six years on a campervan tour of Europe.

Esther Dingley, 37, last messaged her partner Dan Colegate via Whatsapp a week ago, when she was on top of Pic de Sauvegarde on the France-Spain border.

She had been due to return from her solo walking trek on Wednesday but has not been seen.

French authorities said six search teams had been out looking on Sunday."

 

[dotr]

British woman Esther Dingley still missing in Pyrenees
''A spokesperson said: "The problem is that we are in lockdown here so there aren't that many hikers on the paths.

"Nobody has come forward with any information about her."

The weather has remained fair, and search-and-rescue teams are expected to look in the more inaccessible areas today.''

Esther Dingley with two of her dogs
(Esther Dingley/Facebook)

 

[Auntie_Seagull]

Here's the temperatures for the town where she started her hike from. It goes down to 0 degrees Centigrades at night, but around 10 degrees Centigrades during the day. If Esther is skilled at hiking in the mountains, my guess is that she knows how to dress, and what to have with her during a hike.
El Tiempo: Benasque (Huesca) - Predicción 7 días - Tabla - Agencia Estatal de Meteorología - AEMET. Gobierno de España

Up in the mountains it is colder and the weather can change very fast. Last witness reports about Esther place her on top of Pic de Sauvegarde (Pico de Salvaguardia in Spanish).
Esther Dingley search: Six teams look for her in Pyrenees
Now, Pic is 2 738 m (8983 ft) above the sea level. That's pretty high and temps there have been below freezing, especially at night. Bad news is that it is expected to snow there for a good part of this week. I hope Esther just got lost when coming down the Pic and is somewhere waiting to be found, but well... The mountains claimed many, many experienced hikers.