Missing Blogger Esther Dingley

[PeggyHenry]

Hi JudgeJohn Deed
Why do you think DC seems dodgy? In a nutshell ... I do but it is very much an instinctive feeling. I guess I think some of his reactions seem at odds with reactions I have witnessed from others who are going through a similar trauma

 

[Reverend]

Some of the dumbest people I've met have degrees/masters etc.


Excuse my 'dumb' typos

Yes, and some of my past academic colleagues have doctorates etc. but you have to give them a 'Janet and John' guide for academic regulations as they don't understand how they work, not matter how many times you have to explain to them.

 

[judgejohndeed]

Hi JudgeJohn Deed
Why do you think DC seems dodgy? In a nutshell ... I do but it is very much an instinctive feeling. I guess I think some of his reactions seem at odds with reactions I have witnessed from others who are going through a similar trauma

Yes I agree it feels like a ‘wrong vibe’ for me too. There seem to be many gaps where him being involved makes a lot of sense. I find it suspicious that he doesn’t have a proper alibi when Esther has behaved out of the norm going up the mountain so late. I’m also concerned by the poems and the language he used when he spoke about her in the book, I know someone said when they had a rough patch they felt the same, but to publish it? That’s next level. Public humiliation for her, surely. I find that concerning. And he seems to be very involved in everything, writing stuff on Facebook etc. The one thing I remember from my criminology module many years ago now was that perps of crimes insert themselves into crime investigations in a way that innocent suspects don’t. He felt he knew better to go off looking for her alone, something about that sits badly with me.

I can totally see why others think he’s not involved, she could very easily have fallen off the mountain, been attacked by a stranger, etc. For me though there are just too many holes and too many out of the ordinary facts here, where him being involved in some way would complete the picture. In the back of my head I am still hoping she chose to leave him, he seemed very controlling from the videos posted here, and maybe she knew that was the only way she could escape. But then that still doesn’t explain going up the mountain so late etc.

 

[PeggyHenry]

Yes I agree it feels like a ‘wrong vibe’ for me too. There seem to be many gaps where him being involved makes a lot of sense. I find it suspicious that he doesn’t have a proper alibi when Esther has behaved out of the norm going up the mountain so late. I’m also concerned by the poems and the language he used when he spoke about her in the book, I know someone said when they had a rough patch they felt the same, but to publish it? That’s next level. Public humiliation for her, surely. I find that concerning. And he seems to be very involved in everything, writing stuff on Facebook etc. The one thing I remember from my criminology module many years ago now was that perps of crimes insert themselves into crime investigations in a way that innocent suspects don’t. He felt he knew better to go off looking for her alone, something about that sits badly with me.

I can totally see why others think he’s not involved, she could very easily have fallen off the mountain, been attacked by a stranger, etc. For me though there are just too many holes and too many out of the ordinary facts here, where him being involved in some way would complete the picture. In the back of my head I am still hoping she chose to leave him, he seemed very controlling from the videos posted here, and maybe she knew that was the only way she could escape. But then that still doesn’t explain going up the mountain so late etc.

Thanks! The point about 'perps of crimes insert themselves into crime investigations in a way that innocent suspects don’t' is really interesting. I always find people who find themselves in the position that DC is in, or similar, are extremely vulnerable - often barely able to function at that time and totally reliant on being supported by police / authorities. Vulnerability is the key word for me - everything has been taken out of them - they are weakened, humble in spirit ... it always seems odd if they appear 'strong' or able to 'function properly'.

 

[petitspois]

Not sure where you got this info from but this is not remotely true! The only stable jobs in academia are teaching, and even then the pressure is high because you still need to publish to obtain a promotion yet you have no time factored into your work hours in which to do that research. If pursuing the research route it most certainly is a rat race. Two year temp contracts with no guarantee of work after each one. Academia is most certainly not relaxed! There is also a view that if you leave academia you have ‘failed’, I know this as I myself left it to go into practice. So I imagine even if he chose to leave as opposed to being quietly elbowed out if he couldn’t keep up that would cause a huge amount of resentment, anger, and sense of failure as you said. Some people find it really hard to let it go even if they don’t want to do it anymore, it can be a really toxic culture.

Just sat and read this whole thread, absolutely loving Johara’s posts! Not 100% sure what I think yet, the partner seems dodgy - seems like too many ‘coincidences’ for me - but equally I can see how she could’ve fallen or something too.


If you post quite soon after your last post and nobody else has posted in between, they merge into one post unfortunately. If a certain time period has elapsed they will appear as separate posts but I don’t know exactly how long it is.

That’s where I work now and it’s like that if you choose to go for Prof but not otherwise. I guess we go by our own experiences

 

[Johara]

Not sure where you got this info from but this is not remotely true! The only stable jobs in academia are teaching, and even then the pressure is high because you still need to publish to obtain a promotion yet you have no time factored into your work hours in which to do that research. If pursuing the research route it most certainly is a rat race. Two year temp contracts with no guarantee of work after each one. Academia is most certainly not relaxed! There is also a view that if you leave academia you have ‘failed’, I know this as I myself left it to go into practice. So I imagine even if he chose to leave as opposed to being quietly elbowed out if he couldn’t keep up that would cause a huge amount of resentment, anger, and sense of failure as you said. Some people find it really hard to let it go even if they don’t want to do it anymore, it can be a really toxic culture.

Just sat and read this whole thread, absolutely loving Johara’s posts! Not 100% sure what I think yet, the partner seems dodgy - seems like too many ‘coincidences’ for me - but equally I can see how she could’ve fallen or something too.


If you post quite soon after your last post and nobody else has posted in between, they merge into one post unfortunately. If a certain time period has elapsed they will appear as separate posts but I don’t know exactly how long it is.

Thank you judgejohndeed!

Enjoying your posts too & thanks for the tip about bunching of posts.

 

[Johara]

Thanks! The point about 'perps of crimes insert themselves into crime investigations in a way that innocent suspects don’t' is really interesting. I always find people who find themselves in the position that DC is in, or similar, are extremely vulnerable - often barely able to function at that time and totally reliant on being supported by police / authorities. Vulnerability is the key word for me - everything has been taken out of them - they are weakened, humble in spirit ... it always seems odd if they appear 'strong' or able to 'function properly'.

Yes v useful info Judgejohn gave us.
Nice to know it is a trait of perpetrators - helps us spot odd behaviour.

Reminds me of Robert Murat's behaviour in the Madeleine McCann case.

 

[TwooTwooTwitTwitTwoo]

Yes v useful info Judgejohn gave us.
Nice to know it is a trait of perpetrators - helps us spot odd behaviour.

Reminds me of Robert Murat's behaviour in the Madeleine McCann case.

Ian Huntley is a particularly good example of such behaviour.

 

[Johara]

Ian Huntley is a particularly good example of such behaviour.

What did he do?

 

[Pinkblush]

What did he do?

Caretaker of a school who murdered two schoolgirls

 

[Johara]

Brilliant article on this subject of Criminal Profiling now called Behavioural Analysis by the FBI.

The Importance of Behavioral Analysis in Murder Investigations - Edge

Police use behavioral analysis to identify the most likely characteristics of an offender, based on actions he/she took while committing the crime.

inpublicsafety.com

"by analyzing the actions taken during a crime, behavioral analysts (also known as criminal profilers) may be able to determine what type of person committed the crime."

 

[judgejohndeed]

What did he do?

He joined the search parties - knowing he had killed the girls - and did press interviews etc. He was just the caretaker at the school so was weird. He very nearly got away with it too.

 

[Johara]

"Behavioral analysis seeks to understand offender motivation (the “why” of a crime), and modus operandi (the “how”) by examining verbal and non-verbal actions and clues from a crime scene. Though behavioral analysis is useful for various types of crimes, it is particularly applicable to murder, which is the focus of this article."

 

[Basicbasic]

It's a totally bizarre case. I hope she's found!

 

[judgejohndeed]

"Behavioral analysis seeks to understand offender motivation (the “why” of a crime), and modus operandi (the “how”) by examining verbal and non-verbal actions and clues from a crime scene. Though behavioral analysis is useful for various types of crimes, it is particularly applicable to murder, which is the focus of this article."

Yes it’s fascinating isn’t it! I’m sure I read they always put the main suspect on TV as well to see how they react and I’m pretty sure that’s how they found another murderer although I’m afraid which one it was escapes me at the moment. Their body language on screen often gives it away.

 

[Johara]

Yes it’s fascinating isn’t it! I’m sure I read they always put the main suspect on TV as well to see how they react and I’m pretty sure that’s how they found another murderer although I’m afraid which one it was escapes me at the moment. Their body language on screen often gives it away.

Very much.

There are great Youtube TedTalk videos by a female criminal profiler.

I learned lots from her. To watch perps' eye blinks, if they touch their faces while talking, if they smirk slightly.

Awful stuff but this is part of the world we live in & have to know about.

If this is a murder, I find this info from the article very helpful.

I think the article is saying this gives the police a lot of info about a perp's psychology i.e they would look for a controlling individual. No crime of passion iow.

"
Signs of an Organized Criminal

Crime scenes indicative of an organized offender usually display evidence of premeditation and planning that can include:

• Bringing a weapon to the scene
• Physical restraint and successful control of the victim
• Absence of biological evidence (such as DNA, fingerprints or hair) or other forensic evidence (such as fibers) that link directly to the offender
• Successful concealment of the body

Thanks! The point about 'perps of crimes insert themselves into crime investigations in a way that innocent suspects don’t' is really interesting. I always find people who find themselves in the position that DC is in, or similar, are extremely vulnerable - often barely able to function at that time and totally reliant on being supported by police / authorities. Vulnerability is the key word for me - everything has been taken out of them - they are weakened, humble in spirit ... it always seems odd if they appear 'strong' or able to 'function properly'.

Peggy, another interesting tip about the perp if this is a murder:

"When it’s determined that an offender attempted to clean up or mask the crime scene, investigators should immediately consider people who have the closest known connection to the victim or to the location where the crime took place. This is because only killers who perceive an obvious connection between themselves and the scene and/or victim clean up after committing the murder. It is extremely rare for a murderer who has a negligible connection to the scene or victim to stay to clean a crime scene; the risk is not worth the extra effort."

I highlight this because before snow fell the dogs could not scent her tracks.

Logically then a potential perp spread her scent via clothing in different directions to confuse the dogs?

Otherwise the dogs would have tracked her route.

The dogs give us huge info by not being able to trace her.

To become untrackable by scent, either ED:
- fell off a cliff
- fell into water
- OR her body was moved/hidden.

If it's the latter then expert Criminal Profilers know this:

"the act of moving a dead body is nearly always carried out by someone who was living with the decedent.

They also explain it requires a perp with immense self control to handle a corpse due to blood etc.

Links go to the article filled with FBI tips at

The Importance of Behavioral Analysis in Murder Investigations - Edge

Police use behavioral analysis to identify the most likely characteristics of an offender, based on actions he/she took while committing the crime.

inpublicsafety.com

 

[TwooTwooTwitTwitTwoo]

What did he do?

He inserted himself in the middle of all the media interest in Jessica Holly's disappearance and gave interviews to the press stating his partner might have been the last one to see the girls and how devastated he was. He also organised various search teams etc. He was on the news a lot and that behaviour (along with other stuff) flagged him up the end to investigators.

Yes it’s fascinating isn’t it! I’m sure I read they always put the main suspect on TV as well to see how they react and I’m pretty sure that’s how they found another murderer although I’m afraid which one it was escapes me at the moment. Their body language on screen often gives it away.

This is a very common investigative technique and there will always be a body language expert on hand when a family of a missing person does a televised appeal. The Tia Sharp case is one example where this was helpful in identifying a suspect, as is the case of the six children who died in a fire in Derby.

 

[Johara]

As we all know I'm very curious about DC.

His birth defect means we have to feel compassion for the guy. He narrates the tragic ways he had to deal with accidents here. https://www.eric.org.uk/Blogs/blog/my-bowel-incontinence-journey-from-hiding-to-sharing

A living hell from birth.

I was surprised to see on his Twitter that he describes himself as a long distance runner.

So no cars really needed then. He gets around just fine as a super fit, athletic person.

He calls himself both a hill runner on his website & a long distance runner on his blog.

Reminds me of Oscar Pistorius. Both running off depression, anger and the stress of their birth defects.

POST BREAK

PART 2:

From the same blog post.

He shares the awful psychological side effects of having lived with his defect since birth.

"After almost three decades of hiding, I finally feel able to... start noticing and addressing the emotional and psychological effect so much denial, deception and lying (to myself and others) has had on me over the years.

His blog post is heartrending and puzzling.

He says he hid his struggles with his daily accidents from both his parents and doctor.

Why?

Poor kid did not feel emotionally safe or supported?

Pride? Dignity? A feeling of being alone with his curse?

Thus the simmering fury? I.e the poem about "we say we want love but are addicted to hate"?

In Oscar's case we know his mum told him to view himself as normal. Very tough on a young kid who wasn't normal!

Oscar wasn't cradled from physical harm. He was told to cope as well as he could. He was loved, but had to fend for himself.

Lots of tragic similarities here i.e DC would hide his difficulties from his own parents.

NEW POST BREAK

DEPRESSION

When Esther first went missing the media told us she had suffered major depression.

But I discovered that actually DC is the one who has on and off major depression.

ED may have had some incidence of it but it's actually DC who suffers more.

Here's the article:

Sorry. Phone posted that before I located the article. They both were diagnosed with depression but the article said DC has more of an ongoing recurrence of major depression.

I'll find the article from November shortly.

My point being that ED is not organically depressive. She's quite an upbeat person naturally.

Interesting bits of info in this article that I haven't read in others.

Eg it says he was eating bits of wedding cake... before they cancelled their wedding.

Here's the depression part:

"Dan, a business development manager, was treating himself for depression while Esther, who ran her own personal training company, struggled with chronic fatigue from her own mental health problems. So, Dan almost died."

So ED mainly had chronic fatigue and possibly PTSD (they go together) but not depression, as it is omitted in the interview.

‘Life started when I almost died’: the couple who left everything...

‘Life started when I almost died’: the couple who left everything...

alkhaleejtoday.co

Editing ability expired before I located the article. So I can't retract the mutual depression diagnoses I was imagining from memory/other msm.

This article does not say ED was ever diagnosed with depression.

Lots of other articles do, but did the journalists research this issue properly?

I find this article linked gives us details we didn't know eg the wedding cake.

 

[PeggyHenry]

As we all know I'm very curious about DC.

His birth defect means we have to feel compassion for the guy. He narrates the tragic ways he had to deal with accidents here. https://www.eric.org.uk/Blogs/blog/my-bowel-incontinence-journey-from-hiding-to-sharing

A living hell from birth.

I was surprised to see on his Twitter that he describes himself as a long distance runner.

So no cars really needed then. He gets around just fine as a super fit, athletic person.

He calls himself both a hill runner on his website & a long distance runner on his blog.

Reminds me of Oscar Pistorius. Both running off depression, anger and the stress of their birth defects.

POST BREAK

PART 2:

From the same blog post.

He shares the awful psychological side effects of having lived with his defect since birth.

"After almost three decades of hiding, I finally feel able to... start noticing and addressing the emotional and psychological effect so much denial, deception and lying (to myself and others) has had on me over the years.

His blog post is heartrending and puzzling.

He says he hid his struggles with his daily accidents from both his parents and doctor.

Why?

Poor kid did not feel emotionally safe or supported?

Pride? Dignity? A feeling of being alone with his curse?

Thus the simmering fury? I.e the poem about "we say we want love but are addicted to hate"?

In Oscar's case we know his mum told him to view himself as normal. Very tough on a young kid who wasn't normal!

Oscar wasn't cradled from physical harm. He was told to cope as well as he could. He was loved, but had to fend for himself.

Lots of tragic similarities here i.e DC would hide his difficulties from his own parents.

NEW POST BREAK

DEPRESSION

When Esther first went missing the media told us she had suffered major depression.

But I discovered that actually DC is the one who has on and off major depression.

ED may have had some incidence of it but it's actually DC who suffers more.

Here's the article:

Sorry. Phone posted that before I located the article. They both were diagnosed with depression but the article said DC has more of an ongoing recurrence of major depression.

I'll find the article from November shortly.

My point being that ED is not organically depressive. She's quite an upbeat person naturally.

Be good to know more about what type of depression he has e.g. Bipolar etc involves ongoing recurrence.
As you say, similarities with Oscar ... I'm guessing that DC could be a lovely guy at times (he comes across as very nice on some of their videos),
but at times he may have demonstrated evidence of a multitude of issues .JMO. iF SO, Esther would have been on a rollercoaster...and the good times kept her there.

If they have been on the road for 6 years then maybe both knew they could not lead a normal settled life for fear of exposing the bad bits. They were stuck in their bubble. Esther's posts referring to her fears and anxieties ..make me wonder . she doesn't elaborate on them... it soudns like she may been struggling.... .

 

[Johara]

Reminds me of Great Expectations. But in reverse.

DC as Pip but deciding to call it off. Instead of Mrs Haversham with her aftermath cake.

"after Dan’s operation, when he was lying on the couch eating pieces of discounted Christmas cake they had bought for the wedding. The nuptials had to be canceled because of the health scare, and even today they have not managed to get married."

Be good to know more about what type of depression he has e.g. Bipolar etc involves ongoing recurrence.
As you say, similarities with Oscar ... I'm guessing that DC could be a lovely guy at times (he comes across as very nice on some of their videos),
but at times he may have demonstrated evidence of a multitude of issues .JMO. iF SO, Esther would have been on a rollercoaster...and the good times kept her there.

If they have been on the road for 6 years then maybe both knew they could not lead a normal settled life for fear of exposing the bad bits. They were stuck in their bubble. Esther's posts referring to her fears and anxieties ..make me wonder . she doesn't elaborate on them... it soudns like she may been struggling.... .

Rollercoaster.
Chronic fatigue.
Living with an unstable person.
Could not lead a normal white picket fence life.

Yes.