Missing hiker took a lift from mystery driver
A MYSTERY driver who gave a British hiker a lift in France shortly before she disappeared is being hunted by police.
Esther Dingley, 37, was trekking in the Pyrenees when she posted on Facebook that bad weather made her accept a ride from a fellow walker.
She last contacted boyfriend Dan Colegate, 38, when she sent him a selfie from the 8,983ft Pic de Sauvegarde mountain at 4pm on November 22.
In a post three days earlier, Esther wrote: “I had the option of staying at a great cabin, even had a mattress, but it was only 2pm or going down with my fellow hiker and getting a lift.
“He’d take me further up the valley so I could continue my planned tour to another refuge or back to the camper.”
Dan was due to meet Esther at
a farm where he was staying in Gascony 11 days ago but she failed to show up. He raised the alarm three days later.
Esther, an Oxford University graduate, is an experienced hiker who police initially assumed had been involved in an accident.
She had been planning to walk along the French/ Spanish border. But Dan has revealed that police are looking at “other options beyond a mountain accident” after a massive search operation found no trace.
Dan said: “They have gone over and over and over the trails in the area. They have used helicopters, dogs, a drone and lots of people.
“I’m very grateful effort they’ve put in sides of the border.”
The driver is thought to have dropped Esther off on the Spanish side of the mountain range where her van was found.
A source in Spain said: “This man would have had conversations with her and may know what she planned.
“They may have arranged to meet and hike another route. It is imperative that we find him.”
The couple, from Durham, have been together for 18 years. They have spent the past six travelling and blogging about their campervan adventures. for the on both