We’ve done all we can, say police hunting for Esther
FRENCH police investigating the disappearance of British hiker Esther Dingley say they have done ‘all they can’ to find her.
The mass search operation for Miss Dingley, 37, who vanished on a solo trek in the Pyrenees near the SpanishFrench border in November, has been unsuccessful so far.
Detectives in the Spanish city of Huesca near Benasque, where Miss Dingley was based before going missing, have refused to go into any detail about their probe into possible foul play.
French police last night said they had done everything possible so far to determine why the Oxford University graduate had vanished – but were still none the wiser.
Gendarmerie captain Jean-Marc Bordinaro said: ‘All possible investigations in French territory have been carried out without any result. We have no indication permitting us to confirm the presence of Miss Dingley in France since she was seen for the last time on the Spanish side of the Pic de Sauvegarde.’
He said that further searches were likely to be resumed in the spring.
Miss Dingley, who last made contact with her boyfriend on November 22 from the top of the 9,000ft peak, was expected to spend the night in an unmanned shelter on the French side but it is not known if she ever arrived.
Her partner, business development manager Dan Colegate, 38, previously said he did not think she had suffered an accident in the mountains.
He also ruled out a voluntary disappearance and rubbished claims they were having relationship difficulties. Mr Colegate, who embarked on a campervan adventure with Miss Dingley six years ago, said: ‘I believe somebody else has been involved in her disappearance and against her will.’
Spanish mountain rescue experts said earlier this month they hope to restart the search in April once the worst risk of avalanches had passed. But
‘No searches until spring’
they said it could take longer if there was heavy snow and further low temperatures.
Sergeant Jorge Lopez Ramos, head of the mountain rescue team in Benasque, said: ‘The time frame we’re working with is April to July.’
French police are understood to have reviewed CCTV cameras between the mountains on their side of the border and the town of Bagneres-de-Luchon. They have interviewed Mr Colegate twice as a witness and asked phone firms if Miss Dingley activated her mobile after crossing from Spain.
Last month hiker Laura Adomaityte, 27, said Miss Dingley had spoken to her about problems in the relationship with her boyfriend. Mr Colegate described such claims as ‘salacious nonsense’.