Drones aid search for clues to how Esther died
POLICE drones scoured the Pyrenees yesterday as officers investigated the mysterious death of British hiker Esther Dingley.
The 37- year- old Oxford graduate went missing on a solo walk in November.
Her only known remains – a skull with some of her hair still attached – were discovered last week by Spanish hikers just inside the French border.
French detectives confirmed they still did not know the cause of Ms Dingley’s death and said foul play had not been ruled out.
The hiker’s skull, identified as Esther’s by matching its DNA with that of her mother Ria Bryant, 74, was found in the mountains at an altitude of more than 7,200ft.
Drones are searching for other evidence such as Ms Dingley’s hiking equipment, including a yellow tent and red and grey rucksack.
A local prosecutor who is leading the inquiry said police believe wild animals may have carried the skull to the spot where it was found.
Brown bears and wolves roam freely in the Pyrenees, and birds of prey such as vultures are also a common sight.
‘This is the most plausible hypothesis,’ said Colonel Xavier Wargnier, one of the senior French officers involved in the search.
Col Wargnier said the skull could have been dislodged higher up by melting snow which would then have carried it down the mountain during the spring thaw.
French police chief Jean-Marc Bordinaro said: ‘Everything suggest s t hat t hese bones were recently moved by animals. They would not have been there a few days earlier.’
The search for Ms Dingley was called off in February because of worsening weather, before resuming in late April. She went missing in the Port de la Gléré area.
Her boyfriend of 19 years, Dan Colegate, 39, reported her missing on November 25, three days after she sent a message from the 8,947ft summit of Pic de Sauvegarde.
On Friday, Ms Bryant and Mr Colegate said the discovery of the remains was ‘devastating beyond words’, adding: ‘We are distraught to report we have received DNA confirmation that one of the bones found last week belongs to Esther.
‘ We have all known for many months the chance we would get to hug our beloved Esther again, to feel her warm hand in ours, to see her beautiful smile and watch the room light up again whenever she arrived was tiny, but with this confirmation that small hope has now faded.’