Missing Blogger Esther Dingley

[SvenS]

SvenS, I have very much appreciated your comments on here. Because I straddle between the two theories, and a lot of what you have written re the accident theory makes sense to me. Plus you helped me get clearer in my mind that she probably went West and never did go East. Maybe she always went West and could possibly have had the accident that night.

Thanks. I've learnt a lot from this thread, and you made me wonder if she did make that snap decision to go 'off-piste' from the top of P du Salv.

There are a lot of unknowns. It's possible that she made it to the refuge and there was an unknown stranger there. Maybe the partner managed a midnight dash. But they just seem like outliers to me, particularly the possibility of a 100 mile nightime journey when France was locked down. The chances of being pulled over by the police would be so high. She was so far from her intended route and there are plenty of closer places that would have been suitable for framing an accident; would a potential attacker really go so much further than necessary? Towards a pass where there might have been other hikers and give her a chance to shout/call for help? As for the tent, it's ultralight, the material is very thin and it's more like a tarp with a fly screen. I think it would have ripped and fallen to shreds if you tried to carry a body in it.

 

[judgejohndeed]

As I've said before, I still think he is responsible but I think he will 'get away with it' as it will be impossible to prove beyond reasonable doubt.

I agree with this too but I’m just hoping beyond hope he gets cocky, slips up and gives it away. There are way too many coincidences here and red flags about him for this to be an accident. I cannot stop thinking about the fact this man has written a book saying he hates this woman and now she’s dead.

 

[Resting Rage Face]

"fell"

 

[chartilbury]

I thought this yesterday when I watched him talking about seeing the mountain rescue teams. It was like he saw the opportunity there, knew people would go looking, just after the BBC piece about their travels…

Either he coerced her into ‘disappearing’ and she had an accident, or something happened and she wanted to call it off, they argued, he was close by and then something happened.

He does seem quite controlling so perhaps he did coerce her and then she tried to back out so they had a row and it all went a bit wrong

 

[BroccoliTreetops]

Thanks. I've learnt a lot from this thread, and you made me wonder if she did make that snap decision to go 'off-piste' from the top of P du Salv.

There are a lot of unknowns. It's possible that she made it to the refuge and there was an unknown stranger there. Maybe the partner managed a midnight dash. But they just seem like outliers to me, particularly the possibility of a 100 mile nightime journey when France was locked down. The chances of being pulled over by the police would be so high. She was so far from her intended route and there are plenty of closer places that would have been suitable for framing an accident; would a potential attacker really go so much further than necessary? Towards a pass where there might have been other hikers and give her a chance to shout/call for help? As for the tent, it's ultralight, the material is very thin and it's more like a tarp with a fly screen. I think it would have ripped and fallen to shreds if you tried to carry a body in it.

Yes the whole thing does seem quite far fetched really. Personally I can't be bothered to get off the sofa to kill someone, even if I really hated them and didn't have an issue with murder. But he loves hiking, running and cycling and felt held back by her when he did those things, meaning he wanted to go even faster and alone. If you look at his behaviour since the murder, he just loves moving all the time. Even in the winter when he couldn't hike the Pyrenees he kept going for walks in Britain, just constantly walking. (I think I read this somewhere, can't remember now).

 

[AriaAria]

What if it was something like this:

They had a blazing row during the final WhatsApp call. He said unspeakable things to her in a fit of rage. Slammed the phone down. He's now boiling with rage and she's completely discombobulated, upset, flustered, crying, feeling like she's worth nothing, almost to the point of self harm (therefore not so careful with where she goes next). She goes off walking, westbound, in this state, and because she's not being careful or sensible. She climbs something she shouldn't have, almost reckless in her abandon, has a horrible accident and dies.

During all of this he is at home in France, boiling with rage, doesn't care if he hears from her or not. Could THIS be the reason he waited 3 days to call the police? Maybe he needed to calm down and for his rational brain to kick back in again before he saw sense?

Could this be the reason for his shifty behaviour with all the red flags, plus his need to control the narrative etc?

Doesn't explain the "loved" comment, the wrong search direction or him miraculously finding the body, mind you. Each one of these can be explained away, but all 3 together make it dubious imho.

We all know it doesn't add up, hence the massive interest in this case. We just don't know "why". Sadly I doubt we will ever know what truly happened.

 

[Passive_Aggressive_Lemon]

What's the deal with all the new posters in this thread that only ever look and comment/react on this thread, and never any others?

Are they Dan, or employees of LBT Global, getting ready to steer the narrative?

I think they’ve come from Websleuths. Right at the beginning of the thread a prolific poster explained they had come here from WS and had told others to do the same.

The tone of posts is very different from the usual tattle ones but very interesting all the same.

 

[kev1974]

I think they’ve come from Websleuths. Right at the beginning of the thread a prolific poster explained they had come here from WS and had told others to do the same.

The tone of posts is very different from the usual tattle ones but very interesting all the same.

ok that's cool. I'm hyper aware of how social media *and forums* can be heavily manipulated these days, and I'm pretty suspicious of the true motives of this "LBT Global" organisation, is all.

 

[Lanie]

What if it was something like this:

They had a blazing row during the final WhatsApp call. He said unspeakable things to her in a fit of rage. Slammed the phone down. He's now boiling with rage and she's completely discombobulated, upset, flustered, crying, feeling like she's worth nothing, almost to the point of self harm (therefore not so careful with where she goes next). She goes off walking, westbound, in this state, and because she's not being careful or sensible. She climbs something she shouldn't have, almost reckless in her abandon, has a horrible accident and dies.

During all of this he is at home in France, boiling with rage, doesn't care if he hears from her or not. Could THIS be the reason he waited 3 days to call the police? Maybe he needed to calm down and for his rational brain to kick back in again before he saw sense?

Could this be the reason for his shifty behaviour with all the red flags, plus his need to control the narrative etc?

Doesn't explain the "loved" comment, the wrong search direction or him miraculously finding the body, mind you. Each one of these can be explained away, but all 3 together make it dubious imho.

We all know it doesn't add up, hence the massive interest in this case. We just don't know "why". Sadly I doubt we will ever know what truly happened.

This theory is completely possible, especially of the break/ breakup was on the cards perhaps she told him she needed more time/ decided to go on her own and he blew up. Hung up and then she in a fit of sadness, dispair and loneliness decided to carry on a bit longer, getting into difficulties and perhaps perishing.

Meanwhile he decided that he would ignore her for a few days and then try and make see" Sense" good theory i like it.

 

[BroccoliTreetops]

Organised Dan gave us the background to her disappearance (page 2 of the dossier)- I think it was jealous rage, he was sick of her after their long summer of hiking. They had a furious row and she went off in the motorhome to sleep in the layby. Then her popularity and extended hikes (while he is left at home with the dogs he doesn't like, feeling like a chump), rage building everytime she delays her return from a feeling of abandonment. Basically he took out his rage on her and regained control of her, leaving her "in the mountains", quite literally "in" a natural hiding spot which made him so happy.

 

[AriaAria]

Thanks. I've learnt a lot from this thread, and you made me wonder if she did make that snap decision to go 'off-piste' from the top of P du Salv.

There are a lot of unknowns. It's possible that she made it to the refuge and there was an unknown stranger there. Maybe the partner managed a midnight dash. But they just seem like outliers to me, particularly the possibility of a 100 mile nightime journey when France was locked down. The chances of being pulled over by the police would be so high. She was so far from her intended route and there are plenty of closer places that would have been suitable for framing an accident; would a potential attacker really go so much further than necessary? Towards a pass where there might have been other hikers and give her a chance to shout/call for help? As for the tent, it's ultralight, the material is very thin and it's more like a tarp with a fly screen. I think it would have ripped and fallen to shreds if you tried to carry a body in it.

Thanks for your thoughts here. I agree with them. I keep forgetting France was in a very rigid lockdown, hence why she was hiking on the Spanish side, so yes you're absolutely correct, he wouldn't have been able to drive there. I'm now leaning towards tragic accident shortly after a blazing row with him, hence his delay in calling for help & no more pings/info from her phone. I still have so many more questions that don't add up, but until we get more info, that's the best I can do for now.

 

[SvenS]

I keep forgetting France was in a very rigid lockdown, hence why she was hiking on the Spanish side, so yes you're absolutely correct, he wouldn't have been able to drive there.

I've just had a look at the lockdowns on wikipedia (not the best source, but probably correct) and there was an overnight curfew in force, where you were not allowed to leave your home between 9pm and 6am. The roads would have been utterly deserted. I think it would have been a very risky choice to drive there, being caught on the way back would be game up instantly. Also, he didn't have a car at the time, their only transport was the motorhome, so a further hurdle to overcome.

 

[AriaAria]

I've just had a look at the lockdowns on wikipedia (not the best source, but probably correct) and there was an overnight curfew in force, where you were not allowed to leave your home between 9pm and 6am. The roads would have been utterly deserted. I think it would have been a very risky choice to drive there, being caught on the way back would be game up instantly. Also, he didn't have a car at the time, their only transport was the motorhome, so a further hurdle to overcome.

Thanks for looking that up. Yes my friend was in France during the first lockdown and she wrote about it on Facebook because it was so stringent. They were only allowed out once per day for 1 hour, in a 1km circumference (if I remember those details correctly) and they had to have papers with them all the time, otherwise fined, with police everywhere. So yes, it would have made it impossible for him to go anywhere.

 

[sassmaster3000]

This theory is completely possible, especially of the break/ breakup was on the cards perhaps she told him she needed more time/ decided to go on her own and he blew up. Hung up and then she in a fit of sadness, dispair and loneliness decided to carry on a bit longer, getting into difficulties and perhaps perishing.

Meanwhile he decided that he would ignore her for a few days and then try and make see" Sense" good theory i like it.

This would make sense to me too. It also explains (to me, at least) why he was so adamant that she was abducted right from the start…if there is a third party to blame, he could convince himself that it wasn’t his fault that she was out hiking in dangerous conditions etc.
His behaviour has been bizarre throughout the whole saga but it seems to me more like he is trying to convince himself that their relationship issues had nothing to do with how she ended up, otherwise the guilt would be just too much to deal with.
It’s like how people say “never go to bed angry with someone you love just in case it’s the last time you see them”.
If I were in his position (and didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance), I can imagine that I would also be out there searching for her every day and trying to convince myself that there was another explanation instead of her taking risks on the mountain because of her not being in the right headspace.
The lockdown measures mentioned make it seem implausible that he somehow managed to jog up a mountain, kill her, hide her body, then get back home without being seen by anyone, just in time to get some cell phone activity, to as not arouse suspicion. I also don’t think he’s the type to hire a third party - definitely too paranoid/narcissistic for that.
I think he’s just a bellend, but I don’t think he’s a killer.

 

[Lanie]

Could it be possible that an accident was had and perhaps she rang "him" for help and he did nothing. Pure speculation.

 

[Mustard]

Did Esther leave their house before the lockdown and curfew started?

 

[AriaAria]

This would make sense to me too. It also explains (to me, at least) why he was so adamant that she was abducted right from the start…if there is a third party to blame, he could convince himself that it wasn’t his fault that she was out hiking in dangerous conditions etc.
His behaviour has been bizarre throughout the whole saga but it seems to me more like he is trying to convince himself that their relationship issues had nothing to do with how she ended up, otherwise the guilt would be just too much to deal with.
It’s like how people say “never go to bed angry with someone you love just in case it’s the last time you see them”.
If I were in his position (and didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance), I can imagine that I would also be out there searching for her every day and trying to convince myself that there was another explanation instead of her taking risks on the mountain because of her not being in the right headspace.
The lockdown measures mentioned make it seem implausible that he somehow managed to jog up a mountain, kill her, hide her body, then get back home without being seen by anyone, just in time to get some cell phone activity, to as not arouse suspicion. I also don’t think he’s the type to hire a third party - definitely too paranoid/narcissistic for that.
I think he’s just a bellend, but I don’t think he’s a killer.

Thanks for your thoughts here. And this makes a lot of sense as to why he was trying to convince himself she was murdered by someone else - as you said, that would alleviate his guilt. Maybe that's why he wouldn't accept the police's explanation of the person in the van too. Maybe he really wanted to believe that person was the culprit?

I was thinking further about them concentrating their search in the wrong direction, because what if he wasn't really that sure of where she was going (other than what she texted him, saying it was someone else's suggestion). What if that last call was so rageful that her actual route plan didn't even get discussed so he genuinely had no idea what she was doing. So maybe him going east was his best guess at the time? I keep thinking he "must" have known where she was planning to go next and where she was going to sleep that night (meaning, wouldn't they have discussed that in the phonecall), but not at all if they were fighting. And it could have been a "do what you like, see if I care, slam-the-phone-down" type of ending to the call.

 

[SvenS]

My theory of her not realising the refuge was just a basic cabin prior to reaching the peak, is probably less likely. I've found a good photo that shows the refuge is clearly visible from the Pic du Salv. It does say in the dossier that she climbed this peak the day before. So I can't believe that she wouldn't have seen it and realised how small it was. It makes me think a bust up on the phone call a more likely reason to head west from the peak.

Alternatively, she may have made the refuge, but had a bad/cold night and decided to cut the loop short, by taking the westerly path from there. Maybe setting off very early, so not wanting to call/message at that time.

 

[sassmaster3000]

I don’t know much about tech - if they retrieve her phone, will they be able to see where she was when she phoned Dan? I know they have his phone so they should have access to how long/when their calls were.
No idea if it will make any difference to the case, but maybe it could give some insight as to her movements. (I understand these things are usually based off nearby satellites/cell towers, so maybe it’s impossible to get exact locations on a mountain).

 

[SvenS]

I don’t know much about tech - if they retrieve her phone, will they be able to see where she was when she phoned Dan? I know they have his phone so they should have access to how long/when their calls were.
No idea if it will make any difference to the case, but maybe it could give some insight as to her movements. (I understand these things are usually based off nearby satellites/cell towers, so maybe it’s impossible to get exact locations on a mountain).

The phone is likely to contain location information that is accurate (unless this has been explicitly disabled). Even in airplane mode, the GPS chip can log location, as it only needs to receive a signal.

(If you have an iphone, open the settings app, then Privacy>Location Services>(scroll right down)System Services>Significant Locations>Home - prepare to be horrified!!)

They will already have location data from the cell tower records - but this will be a very rough estimate in a rural area.

What is likely to be of interest too, is the movement data from the phone. Most phones will have an accelerometer to log your step count etc. If the phone was on, but in airplane mode, then this data will still have been captured. It could give them the exact time she stopped moving and provide strong evidence of her reaching the refuge if there is a period of no activity that would correlate with sleeping.