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

[otto]

Have you got the elevations of the pic and the port to hand, please Otto? Just the numbers.

Thank you! I corrected the elevation of the pic.
If anyone has other interpretations of the body location, feel free to markup this map.

The original map

OpenTopoMap - Topographische Karten aus OpenStreetMap

 

[searancke]

Until there's more info, I'm assuming this is the body location.

View attachment 308563

Yes, she could have fallen from the Pic or the trail just below the porte.... If the Pic then she could be anywhere in the Oval, if the porte the one side only.... but we may never know where she was walking.

 

[otto]

Suppose she ascended the Port de la Glere from Spain. Suppose the map she used showed two lakes, and that she should follow on the left side (left side based on photo) of the second lake to find the Port. That's the correct path.

What if she got mixed up, thought these were the two lakes, and ascended to the Pic by accident. The smaller lake is 60 meters at the widest. She did have some issues with maps and trails a few days prior to disappearance.

 

[otto]

Something like this

 

[searancke]

Until there's more info, I'm assuming this is the body location.

View attachment 308563

The yellow oval approximates @otto 's red oval on the contour map....I have added a green line as I think it must be to the right in order for the skull to end up on the red cross....which I think we are all agreed is the correct location - on the trail at 2200m

 

[Ruthbullock]

I keep wondering about murder, just because DC thought it. Is it still possible someone could have been violent at Sauvegarde and then hidden the body (after an 8 min drive) at Port de la Gléré-ish (as no-one was around, and nothing know about her disappearance for the first few days)? And then weather/animals etc meant it was skeletal by the time the remains were found? Her body might not be as the result of a fall in that case, so much as drop? Sorry if that's sick. Just trying to weigh possibilities up....

You wouldn’t need much violence if you were stood in a vulnerable place. Likelihood is misplaced footing, however she could have been startled either by an animal or someone else and fallen- I’m not sure we will ever know the full story.

 

[StillDiggin]

MEDIA ADVISORY - ESTHER DINGLEY

Contrary to an erroneous report, LBT Global would like to confirm that Daniel Colegate has not been 'quizzed at length' by police. As he found Esther’s body, he will give a statement, as is standard procedure, but has not yet done so. Media are urged again to check such information with LBT Global before publication. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those media that have clarified facts with us in order to ensure accurate reporting.

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[The_Investigator]

BBM

I agree @The_Investigator. I have watched that video several times, studying the verbal and non-verbal behavior of both DC and ED. What I see from ED is a faraway look - a 10,000-foot stare - and a meek response to the story telling. Is that look exhaustion? Is it depression? Is it fear? Is it malnutrition?

We'll never know. But I always found that video very haunting. Thanks for bring it to the forefront again, @CoverMeCagney.

I think she looked scared.

 

[Ruthbullock]

I don't think she committed suicide.
Suicide usually takes meticulous planning after much rumination.
If she were going to commit suicide, why take all the heavy gear up with her? Backpack etc? Unless she wanted to 'fake her own suicide', and spare her loved ones the guilt.
It's rare that a person commits suicide on a whim.

I think she fell.

JMO

I had a friend who left her house in the early hours of the morning, left her husband and two children- woke up, walked out in the night in the middle of winter and went and sat by a tree in some fields until the cold took her away from depression, and sadly her family and young children. It’s not always what you think suicide. She was found the following afternoon.

 

[The_Investigator]

To me, she often looks like that: she seems just gone.

I wonder if she was uncomfortable with the encounter with the rescue team. Dan seemed elated, especially about the dogs and was babbling on very happily. It’s the only video, and I’ve watched them all,.. where she wasn’t managing the camera or wasn’t the main conversationalist. Almost like she was put on a back foot, about the rescue team. Perhaps she was already planning a mountain suicide and was inwardly feeling guilty. I’m the same, I go blank if my thoughts are at odds with the sudden unexpected situation or encounter with someone I’ve done wrong against, or was planning to in the future. I.e. problem neighbour etc.

 

[Ruthbullock]

I do wonder if there maybe new witnesses appear- who didn’t connect the dots of where ED would be found.

 

[The_Investigator]

Something like this

View attachment 308570

Excellent deduction, I’ve done something similar myself once,… thought the lake was another lake and went completely down another ajoining valley, following a sheep trail and stream,.. thing they were the path…. Hours later turned up 10 miles down the wrong pass,.. it was only in the Lake District, so at least I could get a bus back to Keswick at 8pm thank god !

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I think she looked scared.

I think she looked calm.

Depends how you want the narrative to fit, doesn’t it?

 

[CoverMeCagney]

MEDIA ADVISORY - ESTHER DINGLEY

Contrary to an erroneous report, LBT Global would like to confirm that Daniel Colegate has not been 'quizzed at length' by police. As he found Esther’s body, he will give a statement, as is standard procedure, but has not yet done so. Media are urged again to check such information with LBT Global before publication. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those media that have clarified facts with us in order to ensure accurate reporting.

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I didn’t know there were reports Dan had been quizzed by police. Where was that?

EDIT just googled and the only place I can find mention of it is The Sun, which says:

An investigating source told The Sun:

“As the person who discovered the corpse of a missing person, he was questioned again at length.It was routine. There is so far zero evidence of a crime.”

 

[Hope4More]

I think she looked scared.

Lol. The different interpretations here of what ED might have been feeling in that video remind me:

1. Why our jury system is such a marvel: 12 peeps with 12 interpretations of the evidence, having to arrive at a consensus.

2. The unreliability of eyewitness testimony.

(Fwiw, I saw someone who might have been a bit tired, but who was fully aware & there, often with a little smile on her face, who kept having to restrain herself from piping up, but for whatever reason had chosen to give him the floor).

 

[Hatty]

TBH, while no expert on police procedure, personally I'd be amazed and think it a lack of due diligence if a criminal investigation team was not consulted at this point when a body has just been discovered. Normal protocol surely?

Yes indeed. CID would be informed and would investigate and prepare a file for the Coroner. Their involvement does not necessarily mean there has been any criminal activity but the Coroner needs the best possible explanation as to how and why a person died in order to determine a cause of death.

 

[RickshawFan]

I've added the elevation of the Port and the Pic for those who, like me, can't read tiny font.

This is based on:

• skull was found near trail at 2200 meters
• body was found at an elevation above Port, beneath Pic
• body was 100 meters from skull

Body could be anywhere within dashed lines

View attachment 308552

Very helpful. The apex of the triangle is likely lower than the Pic. However, the contours might make the base of the triangle (="skull zone") in the same spot you have.
Now for some advanced contour-reading skills....

 

[Hatty]

TBH, while no expert on police procedure, personally I'd be amazed and think it a lack of due diligence if a criminal investigation team was not consulted at this point when a body has just been discovered. Normal protocol surely?

Yes indeed. CID would be informed and would investigate and prepare a file for the Coroner. Their involvement does not necessarily mean there has been any criminal activity but the Coroner needs the best possible explanation as to how and why a person died in order to determine a cause of death.

I didn’t know there were reports Dan had been quizzed by police. Where was that?

EDIT just googled and the only place I can find mention of it is The Sun, which says:

An investigating source told The Sun:

“As the person who discovered the corpse of a missing person, he was questioned again at length.It was routine. There is so far zero evidence of a crime.”

Exactly. Anyone finding a dead body would be asked questions surrounding the discovery and would have to provide a statement for the Coroner. If the police suspected DC was involved, he’d have been nicked. Poor man. The media are determined to try and make him seem culpable when he was ruled out from almost day one.

 

[moonriverfarm]

Was her entire body found - with supplies?

 

[IrisElizabeth]

MEDIA ADVISORY - ESTHER DINGLEY

Contrary to an erroneous report, LBT Global would like to confirm that Daniel Colegate has not been 'quizzed at length' by police. As he found Esther’s body, he will give a statement, as is standard procedure, but has not yet done so. Media are urged again to check such information with LBT Global before publication. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those media that have clarified facts with us in order to ensure accurate reporting.

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I’m sorry but this is really bizarre, why this constant need to control the narrative? I’ve not seen any new reports that actually accuse DC of being involved. Yes speculation in the comments sections but that’s not what this statement is addressing. This just seems to be drawing attention to speculation which most people would not have even seen. Whoever is advising him should be let go - just let poor Esther rest in peace now, this story doesn’t need to be kept active in the media.