Found Deceased Spain - Esther Dingley, from UK, missing in the Pyrenees, November 2020 #3

[fridaybaker]

Good post. But if he knew her so well...knew her proclivity for frequent interactions with him...knew that it wouldn’t take three days to reach cell service SOMEPLACE...why did he wait so long to call the authorities?

Any guesses?

Dan describes this cautious, experienced athlete who kept him up to date on everything. They had been together to the French side several times. So he certainly knew there would be cell service there.

Did he really believe that in three whole days she would never pass thru ANY area with cell service? Or that she wouldn’t try her cell occasionally to at least text?

If she “dipped in’ to France..he certainly knew the availability of cell service there from their previous trips.

So what was he telling himself in those three long days? She had the chargers. Did he imagine that no where on any route in Spain was cell service available? Or that Esther, so otherwise predictable, had suddenly become adverse or carefree as to checking in with anybody?

Some people have an incredibly deep "normalcy bias". It's that concept that no matter what you see in front of you, you try to reconcile it with normality. Tell yourself that nothing's terribly wrong. Head goes in the sand.

So, "Well, Esther hasn't called in for a long time now, maybe her battery is dead; maybe she lost her charger; maybe she's having such a good time, every time she's in a good signal area, she's hesitant to stop because it's such a great trail she's on....." I think pulling the trigger on what would likely be a massive, expensive, international, public, epic search might have one second-guessing a situation where at another time/place, etc. one would be on it pronto. Such as, "Esther left for the store this morning and it's evening and she hasn't come home". Okay, pull the trigger: Get into the car, go search for her; ask at the local stores, hospitals, with local police, etc. ]

He knows that it's either Esther has lost her charger/run out of battery or some such thing, or he's triggering a massive operation.

Also, some people function better "within the moment" than others: Hindsight, though, is usually 20/20. I'm sure DC truly wishes he'd done something earlier.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

He probably did what every parent does when an adult child fails to get in touch within an expected timeline - worry and hope for the best. There are many reasons to explain being out of touch.

Even if he had reported that she was out of touch sooner, I doubt SAR would start the search until she was overdue.

It’s a horrible feeling isn’t it, when you get that first nagging worry. I imagine he was going a bit out of his mind by Tuesday afternoon. He’d have been able to tell her phone hadn’t connected (via WhatsApp or FindMyPhone or whatever) and tried to justify it, but that sickening feeling will have just got stronger as the hours ticked by.

I am sure his phone records show that he was checking for contact and messaging other people she knew. It would have been a big step to report her missing knowing that SAR would be scrambled, and during a lockdown and all that entails too.

 

[fridaybaker]

He probably did what every parent does when an adult child fails to get in touch within an expected timeline - worry and hope for the best. There are many reasons to explain being out of touch.

Even if he had reported that she was out of touch sooner, I doubt SAR would start the search until she was overdue.

BBM: Good point.

 

[stmarysmead]

He probably did what every parent does when an adult child fails to get in touch within an expected timeline - worry and hope for the best. There are many reasons to explain being out of touch.

Even if he had reported that she was out of touch sooner, I doubt SAR would start the search until she was overdue.

Yes, I will admit that some parents and loved 0nes would wait three days. But the thought that she was alone and might be injured, suffering somewhere, would have made that impossible for some others...including me. I’m thinking of the case, posted earlier, where the woman was rescued from the crevasse even after several days had passed.

Good point about SAR...but would they not have even done a modified check of the short route Dan believed she had been on? Just in case she was hurt but alive?

 

[fridaybaker]

Good point about SAR...but would they not have even done a modified check of the short route Dan believed she had been on? Just in case she was hurt but alive?

I can't believe that this is ever done, but I'd love to know for sure. Anyone know if there would be some sort of "check" that a SAR team might do?

 

[ZaZara]

I can't believe that this is ever done, but I'd love to know for sure. Anyone know if there would be some sort of "check" that a SAR team might do?

First check of LE would be the campervan. To see if it is still there and if someone was home.

 

[stmarysmead]

I doubt Dan KNEW she’d have phone signal on Monday. They had cycled in the area (ie on roads and through villages) but I have never seen any suggestion they had climbed in that area or been in the mountains there.


It’s a horrible feeling isn’t it, when you get that first nagging worry. I imagine he was going a bit out of his mind by Tuesday afternoon. He’d have been able to tell her phone hadn’t connected (via WhatsApp or FindMyPhone or whatever) and tried to justify it, but that sickening feeling will have just got stronger as the hours ticked by.

I am sure his phone records show that he was checking for contact and messaging other people she knew. It would have been a big step to report her missing knowing that SAR would be scrambled, and during a lockdown and all that entails too.

Question for those who have knowledge of this area: would it be a reasonable assumption that Esther would have been unable to make any form of contact in a 24 period? Then a 48 hour period...then a 72 hour period?

Is the lack of cell service pervasive for miles in all directions? Dan’s map of those areas didn’t seem to indicate that.

I’m asking this so that I can better understand his decision. It well may be that I am just not understanding that such a long period of no contact...would not be unusual to those who trek these mountains. Even first 36 hours would have set me off.

 

[stmarysmead]

Some people have an incredibly deep "normalcy bias". It's that concept that no matter what you see in front of you, you try to reconcile it with normality. Tell yourself that nothing's terribly wrong. Head goes in the sand.

So, "Well, Esther hasn't called in for a long time now, maybe her battery is dead; maybe she lost her charger; maybe she's having such a good time, every time she's in a good signal area, she's hesitant to stop because it's such a great trail she's on....." I think pulling the trigger on what would likely be a massive, expensive, international, public, epic search might have one second-guessing a situation where at another time/place, etc. one would be on it pronto. Such as, "Esther left for the store this morning and it's evening and she hasn't come home". Okay, pull the trigger: Get into the car, go search for her; ask at the local stores, hospitals, with local police, etc. ]

He knows that it's either Esther has lost her charger/run out of battery or some such thing, or he's triggering a massive operation.

Also, some people function better "within the moment" than others: Hindsight, though, is usually 20/20. I'm sure DC truly wishes he'd done something earlier.

Excellent post. And admittedly I’m at the other end of the “do something!’ spectrum.

 

[PeggyHenry]

Esther alerted the Spanish organisation that she would be hiking in a certain area for a few days... sorry but I can remember the exact details only that I read this somewhere. Surely the purpose of that was that they knew she was there and roughly where to look if a problem arose.
Not sure what point I’m trying to make except what exactly was the purpose of her doing that if it didn’t kick off a search somehow..
I’m also surprised that DC did not report her missing sooner. A lone female hiking in mountains.. if she had fallen and broken a leg then a search and rescue needed to take place ASAP.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Ok. This article says he reported Esther missing on Tuesday 24th. Some people here thought that was suspicious because she wasn’t due home until 25th,

She says the phone reception was patchy but she’d try and contact him Monday. He probably started worrying later that day. Maybe checked with her family. Debated in his head whether to call SAR as nightfall approached. Decided to wait until the next morning.

British blogger missing in Pyrenees NOT in mountains, say rescuers | Daily Mail Online

 

[stmarysmead]

Ok. This article says he reported Esther missing on Tuesday 24th. Some people here thought that was suspicious because she wasn’t due home until 25th,

She says the phone reception was patchy but she’d try and contact him Monday. He probably started worrying later that day. Maybe checked with her family. Debated in his head whether to call SAR as nightfall approached. Decided to wait until the next morning.

British blogger missing in Pyrenees NOT in mountains, say rescuers | Daily Mail Online

Later in the same article it says...Nov 25????

‘Ms Dingley started walking from Benasque, Spain, on November 21. French police said all trace of her was lost at 4pm on Sunday, November 22. No more phone messages were received after then.

Spanish authorities were alerted on November 25 of her disappearance and alerted their French counterparts the following morning. They found her vehicle on the Spanish side of the border.’

 

[Grouse]

He probably did what every parent does when an adult child fails to get in touch within an expected timeline - worry and hope for the best. There are many reasons to explain being out of touch.

I agree. I've seen quite a few cases where I've thought why didn't they report it sooner (eg. the boyfriend of Joanna Yeates in the UK, who waited until about midnight after returning home from a weekend away in the early evening to an empty flat, her phone and everything were there in the flat, and she'd not answered any of his messages all weekend) but I guess the reality often is that you just resist as long as possible and hope, as it's so scary to go down that road and make that call.

 

[Grouse]

Excellent post. And admittedly I’m at the other end of the “do something!’ spectrum.

I'm more at your end of that spectrum as well, I worry about the people I love.

ETA: not saying that the people at the less worrying end of the spectrum don't of course.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Later in the same article it says...Nov 25????

‘Ms Dingley started walking from Benasque, Spain, on November 21. French police said all trace of her was lost at 4pm on Sunday, November 22. No more phone messages were received after then.

Spanish authorities were alerted on November 25 of her disappearance and alerted their French counterparts the following morning. They found her vehicle on the Spanish side of the border.’

So we don’t know for sure either way. We have no idea who was called or when. Therefore no point wondering why Dan didn’t make the call for 3 days, when it could have been more like 24 hours since he expected to hear from her.

 

[The_Investigator]

Good post. But if he knew her so well...knew her proclivity for frequent interactions with him...knew that it wouldn’t take three days to reach cell service SOMEPLACE...why did he wait so long to call the authorities?

Any guesses,.....

Because they had argued ? Not all texts were in dossier, only police have all.

Dan describes this cautious, experienced athlete who kept him up to date on everything. They had been together to the French side several times. So he certainly knew there would be cell service there.

Did he really believe that in three whole days she would never pass thru ANY area with cell service? Or that she wouldn’t try her cell occasionally to at least text?

If she “dipped in’ to France..he certainly knew the availability of cell service there from their previous trips.

So what was he telling himself in those three long days? She had the chargers. Did he imagine that no where on any route in Spain was cell service available? Or that Esther, so otherwise predictable, had suddenly become adverse or carefree as to checking in with anybody?

 

[The_Investigator]

First check of LE would be the campervan. To see if it is still there and if someone was home.

If I was him, I would have driven to where the van was, in case she was ill inside. And then taken the same route to the refuge, if my partner was not in contact for a whole day when they rang constantly daily.

 

[ZaZara]

So we don’t know for sure either way. We have no idea who was called or when. Therefore no point wondering why Dan didn’t make the call for 3 days, when it could have been more like 24 hours since he expected to hear from her.

Dan first alerted the French police in Luchon, and they contacted their Spanish counterparts.
IMO this is the logical way to do this, first because 112 will lead you to the nearest alarm centre, in France in Dan's case, next because finding the right local numbers can be a hassle, especially if these are free numbers (I still have to figure out how to contact these from another country), and also because he probably speaks better French than Spanish.

 

[The_Investigator]

W

I'm more at your end of that spectrum as well, I worry about the people I love.

ETA: not saying that the people at the less worrying end of the spectrum don't of course.

hy didn’t he drive to the van the next day? I would have, I’d be worried.

 

[Grouse]

Sorry to return to an old theme on this case but my thoughts just keep on returning back to that person who was seen sleeping in the campervan. To me this seems to have been airbrushed over and forgotten/dismissed but if that was the campervan in which my partner had been living for the last month, I think I would be more than a little angry and suspicious to learn that someone, whether LE or not LE, had been sleeping in or on her bed. It just doesn't sit right with me.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Why didn’t he drive to the van the next day? I would have, I’d be worried.

I doubt he has a vehicle.
Is a couple of hours away.
Couldnt cross the border because of lockdown.
Wasn’t sure exactly where her van was parked.
Unfamiliar with town and area.
Doesn’t speak much Spanish.
Knew SAR would be needed to search properly.