Found Deceased Spain - Esther Dingley, from UK, missing in the Pyrenees, November 2020 #6

[Mel79]

She took a selfie on top of the mountain around 4PM, right? On November 22, the approximate time of sunset would have been shortly after 6pm. Temps would have begun falling pretty quickly within the hour after she took the photo, especially on any parts of her path in the shadows.

A fall caused by her haste to get down from what she intended as a side excursion? Or haste to get to a place where she could set up camp for the night?

ETA: is there new info that her tent is definitely missing? Else, it doesn't make much sense. At least some of her other gear was found near her body, and it seems *very* unlikely she set the tent up.

The selfie was not taken close though to when or where she died - it was another day's hike away.

 

[Owlpellet]

It makes a difference because if it is missing, it suggests that she fell, was alive and used the tent for protection. The piece of skull makes me think she did not survive the fall.

Although it’s possible the severe damage to the skull was caused later. They do seem to believe it was moved by wildlife so could have been dropped from a height. Or equally it could have detached from her body and fallen further down the slope.

 

[otto]

What kind of accident is this???

From your quote (below), that seems unusual that they were separate, but if the backpack was higher up, and bones were lower down, then it's conceivable that the bones separated from the backpack - although it's odd that the bones would not be in the clothing. Hypothermia perhaps? Got cold and stripped?

Was she caught in a storm so she found a place to get out of the weather and became too cold?

"French investigators said items recovered by Mr Colgate included Ms Dingley's brightly coloured clothes, a yellow sleeping mat and her backpack, which was found several meters from her body."​

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I think there is a lot of confusing reporting exacerbated by language and translation issues, and some crappy tabloid hacks cutting and pasting any old bit of news to create a story.

 

[Grouse]

French police admit ‘failure’ in not finding Esther Dingley’s body

After months of searching, Dan Colegate, her boyfriend, discovered her remains and walking equipment on Tuesday (* Monday!) in a "natural hideaway" not far from her route, French investigators said.

The "skeletal remains" were found near the Pic de la Glere, a remote peak that is difficult to access and close to where a portion of Ms Dingley's skull was discovered two weeks ago.

On Wednesday, French investigators said items recovered by Mr Colgate included Ms Dingley's brightly coloured clothes, a yellow sleeping mat and her backpack, which was found several meters from her body.

.....

On Wednesday, French investigators told The Telegraph that one of the items recovered by Mr Colgate was Ms Dingley's backpack.

Eyewitnesses had previously said they saw a woman, strongly suspected to have been Ms Dingley, walking through the mountains "very heavily loaded with a very big backpack". The whereabouts of her tent remain unclear.

Military personnel have been drafted in to assist criminal investigation technicians from Toulouse and high mountain police from nearby Luchon due to the "extremely difficult" terrain where Ms Dingley was found. The area is hard to navigate, and accidents have been known to happen there.


BBM

Hmm "items recovered by Mr Colgate" doesn't sound right. Maybe they mean "discovered"?

 

[touch]

it's odd that the bones would not be in the clothing. Hypothermia perhaps? Got cold and stripped?

I don't think she was wearing brightly coloured clothes? At least, not in the selfie but I suppose she could have changed the next day. The brightly coloured clothes might just be clothes she had inside her backpack and not necessarily the clothes she was wearing at the time?

 

[pineapple23]

Hmm "items recovered by Mr Colgate" doesn't sound right. Maybe they mean "discovered"?

Agreed. See #642

 

[Hope4More]

I think there is a lot of confusing reporting exacerbated by language and translation issues, and a some crappy tabloid hacks cutting and pasting any old bit of news to create a story.

Agree. Especially misleading & in poor taste to suggest specifically criminal investigators were on the scene when that just wasn't so.

 

[Ruthbullock]

No one replied- so I’m going to try again as I have no idea. How long would it take to walk from pic de s to the precipice above pic de glare? Was this possible the same day to see an amazing sunset?
ETA We know she had a couple of hours left of daylight and that she walked faster than average.

 

[Grouse]

Agreed. See #642

Ah ok sorry, missed your post making the self same point.

 

[Hope4More]

From your quote (below), that seems unusual that they were separate, but if the backpack was higher up, and bones were lower down, then it's conceivable that the bones separated from the backpack - although it's odd that the bones would not be in the clothing. Hypothermia perhaps? Got cold and stripped?

Was she caught in a storm so she found a place to get out of the weather and became too cold?

"French investigators said items recovered by Mr Colgate included Ms Dingley's brightly coloured clothes, a yellow sleeping mat and her backpack, which was found several meters from her body."​

Thinking it's impossible to do anything but guess at any of the specifics. Too many unknowns, including a full list of what she was packing, exactly what & where each thing was found, and just how her remains were positioned. (I agree translations probably are part of the problem).

 

[Ruthbullock]

Agree. Especially misleading & in poor taste to suggest specifically criminal investigators were on the scene when that just wasn't so.

Body of British hiker Esther Dingley found by partner in Pyrenees
But they did send forensic teams???? Why wouldn’t they in a high profile multi country investigation!

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Hmm "items recovered by Mr Colgate" doesn't sound right. Maybe they mean "discovered"?

I think it might stem from the French verb retrouver. Which can mean to find, or recover etc.

 

[RickshawFan]

She took a selfie on top of the mountain around 4PM, right? On November 22, the approximate time of sunset would have been shortly after 6pm. Temps would have begun falling pretty quickly within the hour after she took the photo, especially on any parts of her path in the shadows.

A fall caused by her haste to get down from what she intended as a side excursion? Or haste to get to a place where she could set up camp for the night?

ETA: is there new info that her tent is definitely missing? Else, it doesn't make much sense. At least some of her other gear was found near her body, and it seems *very* unlikely she set the tent up.

The easiest way for ED to get to the PortdelaG from the PicdeS was to go back down to the Cabane de Besurtas. She'd already done that trail 3 times. She'd be able to zoom back down it, and she did have a basic headlamp if she got caught in darkness towards the bottom. No problem for her to get to the Cabane. The next day, she'd ascend to the PortdelaG, perhaps arriving in late afternoon. Evidently, the pathway up the PicdelaG is evident at the PortdelaG.
Upthread, I posted a blog entry detailing exactly that ascent from the Cabane, with photos. It's in Spanish.
This would explain why there are no phone pings. The phone pings still happen in airplane mode, but she was evidently in an area where she wasn't even ping-able evidently, or trackable by the geolocator on her phone (otherwise, they could have tracked her down). This was not true of the Hospice valley. We know there was no cell service at the Cabane, and there may not have been good satellite fixing in the heights of that valley, either.
My two cents:
-I don't understand why anything is being made of the tarptent and its presence or absence. It was with ED or not with ED. Why is it important which? She could've ditched it in town for all we know.
-There would be no reason at all to chase after a tarptent that would have provided very little weather protection anyway. This seems a very unlikely scenario. Note, it was not actually a tent, but more like summer "keep a light rain off" kind of thing; there was no fly; it's just a thin layer of fabric and a bunch of net. You'd let the thing blow away, for gosh sake, if it took off.
-The curiosity for me is why ED ventured up the PicdelaG. I seriously doubt she was peak-bagging. <modsnip - no link for statement of fact>
-IMO deliberate climb to say goodbye at sunset.....
-desperation could easily put you into an otherwise inaccessible place; if you've stopped caring about the world, why would you care if you fell catastrophically trying to get to a catastrophically-located ledge?

I have been in favor of accident this whole time since ED went missing. Up to now, my picture had it the accident occurred while descending, on the French side, from the PortdelaG. But I see no compunction to climb PicdelaG except to say goodbye to the world. And, as I look at the preceding days, the events that unfolded secure my opinion that this is what happened.

 

[Grouse]

No one replied- so I’m going to try again as I have no idea. How long would it take to walk from pic de s to the precipice above pic de glare? Was this possible the same day to see an amazing sunset?
ETA We know she had a couple of hours left of daylight and that she walked faster than average.

I've been trying to gauge that myself, but not managed to find much info at all on that ridge route. It's only about 2Km but potentially looks like a difficult route. That said, given where ED was found, if she did go that way it looks like she made it along the ridge section.

 

[Grouse]

The easiest way for ED to get to the PortdelaG from the PicdeS was to go back down to the Cabane de Besurtas. She'd already done that trail 3 times. She'd be able to zoom back down it, and she did have a basic headlamp if she got caught in darkness towards the bottom. No problem for her to get to the Cabane. The next day, she'd ascend to the PortdelaG, perhaps arriving in late afternoon. Evidently, the pathway up the PicdelaG is evident at the PortdelaG.
Upthread, I posted a blog entry detailing exactly that ascent from the Cabane, with photos. It's in Spanish.
This would explain why there are no phone pings. The phone pings still happen in airplane mode, but she was evidently in an area where she wasn't even ping-able evidently, or trackable by the geolocator on her phone (otherwise, they could have tracked her down). This was not true of the Hospice valley. We know there was no cell service at the Cabane, and there may not have been good satellite fixing in the heights of that valley, either.
My two cents:
-I don't understand why anything is being made of the tarptent and its presence or absence. It was with ED or not with ED. Why is it important which? She could've ditched it in town for all we know.
-There would be no reason at all to chase after a tarptent that would have provided very little weather protection anyway. This seems a very unlikely scenario. Note, it was not actually a tent, but more like summer "keep a light rain off" kind of thing; there was no fly; it's just a thin layer of fabric and a bunch of net. You'd let the thing blow away, for gosh sake, if it took off.
-The curiosity for me is why ED ventured up the PicdelaG. I seriously doubt she was peak-bagging. <modsnip - no link>
-IMO deliberate climb to say goodbye at sunset.....
-desperation could easily put you into an otherwise inaccessible place; if you've stopped caring about the world, why would you care if you fell catastrophically trying to get to a catastrophically-located ledge?

I have been in favor of accident this whole time since ED went missing. Up to now, my picture had it the accident occurred while descending, on the French side, from the PortdelaG. But I see no compunction to climb PicdelaG except to say goodbye to the world. And, as I look at the preceding days, the events that unfolded secure my opinion that this is what happened.

So, long story short, you think accident?

 

[Grouse]

I think it might stem from the French verb retrouver. Which can mean to find, or recover etc.

Thanks. That makes sense, all too easy to misread these things.

 

[pineapple23]

Body of British hiker Esther Dingley found by partner in Pyrenees
But they did send forensic teams???? Why wouldn’t they in a high profile multi country investigation!

I think it's good for all concerned that the area/evidence is examined throroughly and from all angles. The problem comes in the spin being put on it by certain media.
DM (sorry) article with interesting comments about the earlier searches refers to 'Criminal Investigation Technicians'
Police blame the WEATHER for not finding Esther Dingley's body in area they had already searched | Daily Mail Online
'On Wednesday, a team of Criminal Investigation Technicians (ICTs in French) from Toulouse was still up in the mountains...'
Sorry if this has already been posted. I'm losing track!

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Thanks. That makes sense, all too easy to misread these things.

Exactement!

 

[Ruthbullock]

I think the problem comes in the spin being put on it by certain media. Interesting DM (sorry) article with comments about the earlier searches refers to Criminal Investigation Technicians Police blame the WEATHER for not finding Esther Dingley's body in area they had already searched | Daily Mail Online
'On Wednesday, a team of Criminal Investigation Technicians (ICTs in French) from Toulouse was still up in the mountains, examining the place where Colegate found Esther's 'skeletal remains'.'
Sorry if this has already been posted. I'm losing track!

The guardian isn’t known for putting any spin on things and that is what they have reported happened and that her body was only retrieved this afternoon as reported by the bbc.