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

[PeggyHenry]

Perhaps he had no transport available... or was reliant on public transport.

 

[ZaZara]

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.

You would have lost an entire day and at the end of that day you would still have had to alert the police.

Remember that Esther left France when this was still possible, due to COVID regulations. Dan no longer had that option. If he had a vehicle at all.

 

[PeggyHenry]

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.

so glad you have brought this up.
I feel this is one of the most absurd things about the case. I don’t for one minute think that a member of the Spanish forensics team was unprofessional enough to take a sleep in the campervan. Also any examination of forensics would be done in working daylight hours. This was bizarre and I read a report in which it stated that whoever was in there had brown hair. When I went back the next day to retrieve and post the report it had vanished... the bit about the brown hair!
I believe that the Spanish police decided that it was better to remove the discussion about this from public domain and shut it down promptly. Did they want to see if the van was re-visited? Most odd. Again, the police are keeping everything close to their chest, understandably.
Who on earth was in the van ?

 

[Grouse]

Who on earth was in the van ?

A person of interest IMO

 

[RickshawFan]

Something to keep in the back of your minds when we talk about familiarity with routes- ED had done Benasque to port de benasque to pic de sauvegarde at least three times when she last spoke to DC, and the refuge really wasn’t that far from that path (to the point I’m slightly surprised she didn’t check it out the day before, knowing she was close to it and planned to stay the following night). The route on the French side is very much more familiar- there are several trips to Luchon on the blog where they did cycle routes and referenced having visited the area many times and had been to the hospice de France several times as well.

You can easily see the Refuge from the Pic as well. It's in full view. Plain as plain. ED would have seen it any time she went up to the Pic on a clear day.

 

[RickshawFan]

I'll add this for contrast: There was a woman who went missing in the desert in the States. She and her husband were older, and she went missing during the summer. The husband came up with what seemed like a very strange story -that someone had kidnapped her and taken her to...somewhere. Can't remember. But he was very specific. Now, he seemed from the beginning to be a less reliable witness for several reasons -he hadn't done the "re-tracing" of route like DC has; they hadn't been joined at the hip living this extraordinary lifestyle for the last many years, etc. In the end, it looks like she got disoriented or suffered some medical event and succumbed to the desert heat. Her body was found near where they were separated.

Snipped for focus and BBM
Since we don't know where ED went—she seems not to have gone to the Refuge where he spent 2 nights—we don't know that he retraced her route. In fact, it seems likely that he didn't.
I differ on thinking you can't ever get close to what goes on in someone's head. This is why women get so surprised when their husbands ask for a divorce out of the blue. It's horrible, and it happens a lot, in couples who've been together for 30-40-50 years. A total shock.

 

[RickshawFan]

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?

If the conditions had been worse, I believe SAR would have activated more quickly. They were acting on experience.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Snipped for focus and BBM
Since we don't know where ED went—she seems not to have gone to the Refuge where he spent 2 nights—we don't know that he retraced her route. In fact, it seems likely that he didn't.
I differ on thinking you can't ever get close to what goes on in someone's head. This is why women get so surprised when their husbands ask for a divorce out of the blue. It's horrible, and it happens a lot, in couples who've been together for 30-40-50 years. A total shock.

From what little we know of Dan, I would think he very methodically DID trace her intended route, more than once, on his own and with SAR.

Whether that was the correct route, remains to be seen of course.

 

[Irishwebsleuth]

When was this posted on his Instagram?

10th May 2020 his last post .

 

[RickshawFan]

From what little we know of Dan, I would think he very methodically DID trace her intended route, more than once, on his own and with SAR.

Whether that was the correct route, remains to be seen of course.

Yes, exactly what I was trying to say. Your version is much clearer. imo

 

[Irishwebsleuth]

The fact the authorities were very quick to state that they don’t believe she is on the mountain makes me strongly believe that Esther did not go missing as a result of an accident .

 

[otto]

The fact the authorities were very quick to state that they don’t believe she is on the mountain makes me strongly believe that Esther did not go missing as a result of an accident .

Authorities have updated their position since the day she was reported missing. The latest from Spain is accident, the latest from France is accident, voluntary disappearance, 3rd party involved (doesn't mean criminal event).

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Isn’t it strange and unsettling to realise we don’t even know which country Esther is in.

 

[Irishwebsleuth]

Isn’t it strange and unsettling to realise we don’t even know which country Esther is in.

Very unsettling , from watching lots of her videos on YouTube and reading all her blogs from her adventures it feels like I knew Esther , that’s why she has been on mind ever since I read about her going missing.

 

[Irishwebsleuth]

,

 

[CocoChanel]

REMINDER - IT IS A VIOLATION OF TOS TO SLEUTH THE SOCIAL MEDIA OF SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT BEEN NAMED A SUSPECT.

 

[Grouse]

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

I might be rambling here but this whole dip into France thing seems odd. Seems obvious her planned route all along was a tad more than a "dip" into France, yet the wording seems like an attempt to play it down because of the lockdown, like they were expecting it to be read by others. But it was just a private message between the two of them! Why phrase it so cautiously as if you expected someone else to be reading it later?

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I might be rambling here but this whole dip into France thing seems odd. Seems obvious her planned route all along was a tad more than a "dip" into France, yet the wording seems like an attempt to play it down because of the lockdown, like they were expecting it to be read by others. But it was just a private message between the two of them! Why phrase it so cautiously as if you expected someone else to be reading it later?

Personally, I think by that she meant she might visit a town or village in France. Dip into it properly. There are no marked borders in the mountains so it probably feels like neutral space until some sort of civilisation is reached. Just a thought.

 

[Hatty]

W

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

He probably didn’t have a vehicle. She had the van.

 

[stmarysmead]

Just wanted to bring the “selected messages” here...because they do sound odd to me too. Perhaps it’s because they have been “selected” and would make perfect sense if we saw the complete chain of both Dan and Esther’s communications.



10:07 – Leaves the motorhome - “Now going to try hitching”
10:08 – Sends Dan photographs of her map to specify the area she will be hiking in.
10:35 – “2 hitches so far – halfway!”
13:11 – Reaches the top of Pic de Sauvegarde.
“So happy....think I can see you”
“That’s bagneres and super bagneres”
“Love you so much thank you for encouraging me and giving me this confidence...Really appreciated all the msgs to get me on my way this morning”
Evening – Spends the night alone at Cabana de la Besurtas on the Spanish side (Esther had no phone signal once she left the peak, but she confirmed this the following day when she returned to Pic de Sauvegarde).
22nd November
15:29 – Returns to Pic de Sauvegarde
15:31 – “Not much signal in this area sorry”
“I’m on a col/peak so can’t stop for too long but wanted you to know. Can’t wait to read all your messages. Thank you .
“Love you very much having a really good time.”
15:41 – Sends 2 selfies.
16:04: “I’m heading off now...Maybe have signal but not sure. Sorry. I think I can see you !!!”
16:06: “Still in the same area. Tomorrow heading for Port de le Glere or something spelt like that. Might dip into France. Hoping Refuge Venasque has a winter room. Keep you posted when can xx”
“Love you ”
16:07 – Video Call with Dan lasting for 1:36


So there’s around thirty minutes...15:31 to 16:04. unaccounted for.

Did she read all his unread messages (that she alludes to) in that time? She mentions “all the messages” she got from him the day before ...before starting out. Then references that there are more messages today she has yet to read.

I wonder which one of them initiated the video call?

Sounds like she told him she was leaving...he texted something. She answered that no, she hadn’t left she was “heading off now.”

Then maybe he made the video call about whatever might have been concerning him.