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

[Gottlieb]

The more I see of her photos and descriptions, the less optimistic I am. She may be an experienced hiker (as in "hiked a lot and has always been lucky") but she seems very daring and I don't mean it as a compliment. Others have been mentioned a few crucial mistakes - you don't set out for an uphike at 14.30 in winter, you just don't walk into big untouched fields of snow (you never know how deep the snow is even if it seems shallow, there may be deep cracks which you have really no way of noticing), you don"t follow footprints of wild animals into the unknown. Honestly, she seems to be very unaware of or careless about the dangers that are out there.

I really don't mean this as victim blaming, but I completely agree with the poster who mentioned the dangers of this mentality of obsessively stepping out of your comfort zone. We should respect the power of nature and should not ignore our own limits.

I lean towards foul play scenario myself though, mostly because that's about the only chance she could still be alive, and I really hope she is.

 

[Grouse]

The more I see of her photos and descriptions, the less optimistic I am. She may be an experienced hiker (as in "hiked a lot and has always been lucky") but she seems very daring and I don't mean it as a compliment. Others have been mentioned a few crucial mistakes - you don't set out for an uphike at 14.30 in winter, you just don't walk into big untouched fields of snow (you never know how deep the snow is even if it seems shallow, there may be deep cracks which you have really no way of noticing), you don"t follow footprints of wild animals into the unknown. Honestly, she seems to be very unaware of or careless about the dangers that are out there.

I really don't mean this as victim blaming, but I completely agree with the poster who mentioned the dangers of this mentality of obsessively stepping out of your comfort zone. We should respect the power of nature and should not ignore our own limits.

I lean towards foul play scenario myself though, mostly because that's about the only chance she could still be alive, and I really hope she is.

From her posts on previous treks I get the impression she was actually very capable and very prepared. The reason her pack was large was because she carried what she needed to camp overnight on these hills if necessary due to unexpected bad weather, or if she simply wanted to do that. The fact that she climbed that mountain , which is about twice the height of Ben Nevis - the highest in the UK and the highest I have ever done (and that was with a light pack) , carrying full gear indicates to me that she must have been incredibly fit.

I haven't seen anything about following footprints of wild animals, only that she was asking if a paw print she saw could be a bear.

Also there wasn't much snow up there and the weather was good the witness said.

I would question the wisdom of going up there at that time, but if she was planning to camp up there, or somewhere lower down on the descent route, then she is more likely to have set off later I think.

 

[Inverloch]

The police have asked the man who gave her a lift to come forward: surely he should have seen reports of her disappearance in the media & come forward by now anyway?
Perhaps he befriended her on Facebook, started following on Instagram after they met on the 19th?

 

[Elgana]

The police have asked the man who gave her a lift to come forward: surely he should have seen reports of her disappearance in the media & come forward by now anyway?
Perhaps he befriended her on Facebook, started following on Instagram after they met on the 19th?

It does worry me that he hasn't come forward yet. If that was me and I was innocent, I would want to clear my name asap.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Mr Colegate said police were now probing "non-accident" options. Police said bad weather in Huesca, in north-eastern Spain, had halted the search.

Mr Colegate said the case had been turned over to a "specialised judicial unit in France".

"This means they will be looking at other options beyond a mountain accident," he said.
Esther Dingley: Search halted due to bad weather


Hunt for hiker who gave lift to missing Briton Esther Dingley

Investigators want to talk to the hiker who took this picture of Esther Dingley on Pic de Sauvegarde before giving her a lift up the valley to the town of Benasque
Hunt for hiker who gave lift to missing Briton Esther Dingley | News | The Times

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Does anyone know what time the press conference starts today? tia

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Esther Dingley: Search halted due to bad weather

A search for a British hiker missing in the Pyrenees has been halted due to bad weather.

 

[Vaccine]

According to The Sun, five days before she vanished Esther posted a photo on Facebook of what looked like a large paw print left behind in the snow on the mountains.

She asked: “Can anyone let me know if this might have been bear prints?”

Brown bears attacks on livestock and humans have been reported in the Pyrenees since the species was introduced in the late ’90s in an EU biodiversity plan.
Missing Brit hiker Esther Dingley shared snap of 'bear prints' before vanishing

I highlighted this on her Dan and Esther FB many pages ago.

 

[kelsie]

"There has been no sign of life from Esther Dingley since a WhatsApp message was sent on November 22," according to Chief Warrant Officer Pierre Guillard of the Luchon PGHM.

I find this phrasing very interesting. There has been no sign of life. Hmm.

The police have asked the man who gave her a lift to come forward: surely he should have seen reports of her disappearance in the media & come forward by now anyway?
Perhaps he befriended her on Facebook, started following on Instagram after they met on the 19th?

I am worried that this man hasn't appeared yet. This could be bad. I don't feel like she is still in the area they've searched.

This was reported by me and others many pages ago.

Sometimes we read so many threads on so many cases and we forget what has already been posted. I was actually looking for that link so I am glad it got reposted.

 

[Auntie_Seagull]

I am worried that this man hasn't appeared yet. This could be bad. I don't feel like she is still in the area they've searched.

If this dude is a hiker, he might be in the middle of nowhere right now, with limited or no access to media and internet.

 

[RickshawFan]

From her posts on previous treks I get the impression she was actually very capable and very prepared. The reason her pack was large was because she carried what she needed to camp overnight on these hills if necessary due to unexpected bad weather, or if she simply wanted to do that. The fact that she climbed that mountain , which is about twice the height of Ben Nevis - the highest in the UK and the highest I have ever done (and that was with a light pack) , carrying full gear indicates to me that she must have been incredibly fit.

I haven't seen anything about following footprints of wild animals, only that she was asking if a paw print she saw could be a bear.

Also there wasn't much snow up there and the weather was good the witness said.

I would question the wisdom of going up there at that time, but if she was planning to camp up there, or somewhere lower down on the descent route, then she is more likely to have set off later I think.

IMO, we're comparing apples with oranges here.
-Judging from the photos, ED was in mountains, not hills.
-The trek up this particular mountain may have been substantially less strenuous than going up Ben Nevis; everything depends on the altitude of your starting point, whether there are switchbacks (hairpin bends), wind and other weather, slick surfaces, and terrain under foot.
-ED likely was prepared, but a big pack wouldn't be an indicator. Big packs are often symptoms of a novice: they can weigh you down dangerously, disable your legs, prevent you from moving quickly enough, get you stuck in snow, and generally mean you're carrying too much stuff.
- ED was not carrying a heavy pack in any of the photos. I can tell by the position of her back.
-ED has very expensive gear. That translates into "ultralight" and "compact". Her pack didn't need to weigh a lot (or be very large) to have all the right stuff.
-on no account would it be safe to go up that peak at that time of day, whether you were planning to find a cabin a couple of miles from there or go all the way back. None of it is safe, at this time of year, and in such an exposed environment; it's this idea that you should be "going outside your comfort zone" and "pushing your limits" that is very dangerous and might very well have put ED in harm's way.

 

[RickshawFan]

The police have asked the man who gave her a lift to come forward: surely he should have seen reports of her disappearance in the media & come forward by now anyway?
Perhaps he befriended her on Facebook, started following on Instagram after they met on the 19th?

I wonder if this man doesn't exist and that's why no one has come forward?

 

[ZaZara]

If this dude is a hiker, he might be in the middle of nowhere right now, with limited or no access to media and internet.

Or she told him her name was Maria and he has a bad memory for faces. He may even be in hospital with COVID.

It could be anything, it may take weeks and it needn't be suspicious. The two Spanish hikers who allegedly were te last to speak with her while they were going down and she was going up say that she was alone and there was no one behind her.

 

[Mayfly]

There may be innocent reasons why the hiker hasn't come forward, but he needs to be found and spoken to.
I wonder if it would be possible to triangulate all mobile phone data for the area for say, the 22nd and 23rd of November, since there won't have been that many people up there. If LE could do that they could build up a picture of who was where and maybe get an idea of what has happened.

 

[Satchie]

Hunt for hiker who gave lift to missing Briton Esther Dingley

Investigators want to talk to the hiker who took this picture of Esther Dingley on Pic de Sauvegarde before giving her a lift up the valley to the town of Benasque
Hunt for hiker who gave lift to missing Briton Esther Dingley | News | The Times

RSBM

I have taken many distance photos of myself when out solo hiking : just prop the camera on rocks similiar to what are beside her and use the timer function. IMO it's considered guache, ie not a serious hiker, to ask other hikers to stop and take photos of you while you do silly posing for social media.

I'm still confused about the timing of her phone use on the 22nd, and when she posted these photos or sent them to Colegate. I hope the police are aware of these discrepancies and clear them up: though harder to do without the phone itself. IMO it's more likely that some things have become confused, and then even more confused by the media, than an obvious sign of foul play.

 

[Satchie]

The police have asked the man who gave her a lift to come forward: surely he should have seen reports of her disappearance in the media & come forward by now anyway?
Perhaps he befriended her on Facebook, started following on Instagram after they met on the 19th?

Everyone is focusing on this man from a different hike/region on the 19th, but what about other witnesses. ie other people who saw her on the trail on the 22nd. We know there is one pair she spoke to, asking for fruit, but he mentioned other people were behind him on the trail that day, perhaps they can confirm his sighting. Also, other people from earlier in the day may remember seeing her, a woman hiking alone with a multi-day backpack.

Even more importantly, there may have been people who didn't see her, though they were out hiking the same route later that day, which could narrow down when she went missing.

For eg, someone could remember that there was no one on the peak when they left, and she was the only one they passed going down, or that they passed no one. I can still remember whether I saw other people on major hikes, weeks later. There are no distractions, other people make an impression.

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Has anyone said they saw the fellow hiker, or saw Esther with him, or in his car? Is there any information about his vehicle?

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Has anyone said they saw the fellow hiker, or saw Esther with him, or in his car? Is there any information about his vehicle?

No, no, no, and... no.

 

[Grouse]

IMO, we're comparing apples with oranges here.
-Judging from the photos, ED was in mountains, not hills.
-The trek up this particular mountain may have been substantially less strenuous than going up Ben Nevis; everything depends on the altitude of your starting point, whether there are switchbacks (hairpin bends), wind and other weather, slick surfaces, and terrain under foot.
-ED likely was prepared, but a big pack wouldn't be an indicator. Big packs are often symptoms of a novice: they can weigh you down dangerously, disable your legs, prevent you from moving quickly enough, get you stuck in snow, and generally mean you're carrying too much stuff.
- ED was not carrying a heavy pack in any of the photos. I can tell by the position of her back.
-ED has very expensive gear. That translates into "ultralight" and "compact". Her pack didn't need to weigh a lot (or be very large) to have all the right stuff.
-on no account would it be safe to go up that peak at that time of day, whether you were planning to find a cabin a couple of miles from there or go all the way back. None of it is safe, at this time of year, and in such an exposed environment; it's this idea that you should be "going outside your comfort zone" and "pushing your limits" that is very dangerous and might very well have put ED in harm's way.

I use the word hill loosely as in hillwalking when this often used to describe quite mountainous terrain, but I get your drift.

That's a fair point about starting altitude, my bad. Benasque is 1140m and Pic de Sauvegarde is 2738 so, without knowing her exact route , that's roughly about 1600m of ascent. Ben Nevis via the route we did was 1345m, so possibly her climb was less than I estimated, but still a fair old climb.

The witness described the backpack as large and it looks fairly big in photos I've seen, maybe 65L , but as you say could be full of ultra lightweight gear.

Hard to judge really from our armchair view what her level of expertise and fitness would be but I thought there did seem to be some harsh criticism building on here (even suggesting she was recklessly following bear tracks for goodness sake!) and felt myself wanting to try to take the balanced view.

 

[Satchie]

I find this phrasing very interesting. There has been no sign of life. Hmm..

I would consider that standard phrasing by a Search and Rescue official, as a reason to give up the search for someone missing on an outdoor expedition. These are different scenarios than someone who goes missing from their home or urban setting.

In the case of people missing on a serious mountain hike (not a stroll through a wooded park), the overwhelming presumption by Search and Rescue is accidental death. IMO it is only because she is female that this whole sexual predator scenario comes up. A 37 year old man missing in the same circumstances would be presumed to have had an accident, and after two weeks SAR would call off the search because there was no signs he was alive: no tracks, no signs of a campsite, no attempts to signal to rescuers, no cellphone use, and no indication of leaving the mountain such as taking things from the vehicle, or using a credit card or bank withdrawl. A person cannot survive for weeks in the mountains in cold weather, with no food, they will die.

We're asked not to draw comparisons to other cases, but here in Western Canada/Pacific Northwest, this happens regularly. The person is presumed dead, authorities do not continue to search and even the family gives up the search when the weather gets too bad. People hope the remains are eventually discovered by another hiker.

IMO there is an assumption that every female is the target of a sexual predator or a hostile spouse, which puts pressure on police to intensively investigate that angle beyond what the evidence indicates.