Thinking today about Esther. It seems clear her relationship with Dan was dysfunctional and unhappy / difficult and had been for some time. We’ve learnt that from reading their social media and from other hikers snd police media reports. It seems that at age 37/38 Esther takes a break from it snd has probably reached an age where she realised that they don’t HAVE to be together and that if she wants to change things then a period of separation and reflection is required. She takes off snd spends her first night not far away from Dan in a lay-by.
Over the next weeks she extends her time away on a number of occasions. It must be both hard for Esther snd refreshing at the same time. I’d imagine DC started to feel a loss of control the longer she stayed away. He probably started feeling anxious/agitated/ scared that she might gain too much independence and confidence resulting in her not coming back. He appears to send lots of messages and she seems to try hard to keep him happy yet be suitably vague to retain her independence.
the publicity for their van life comes out around 21 st or 20th Nov… why then? Does Dan organise it for that date to try and get Esther to come back? Or maybe just a coincidence. Either way Esther stays away and probably this aggravated DC. Esther goes quiet on social media updates.
esther climbs pic de Sauvegarde on 21st snd posts pic on Instagram. She then. Limbs it again the next day setting out very late in the day snd asking for an apple going up the ascent. She calls DC from the pic at around 4pm. He definitely knows where she is exactly at 4 pm. She’s already over the last few days made a point of saying she thinks she can see him. I think she knows very well he might come and try to meet her to See what exactly is going on and to persuade her that the bbc publicity requires them to be together.