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French police say they will “probably” have to wait until spring to continue their search for a British hiker who disappeared in the Pyrenees last year.
Esther Dingley had been walking alone in the mountains near the Spanish and French border and was last seen on November 22.
French police captain Jean Marc Bordinaro told The Times that “all possible investigations” on French territory have been carried out “to no avail.”
“We have no indication that allows us to confirm Esther Dingley’s presence in France since she was last seen on the Spanish side of Pic de Sauvegarde,” he said.
“We will probably have to wait until spring for more searches.”
The 37-year-old woman’s partner, Daniel Colegate, who had been walking with her but was tending the house on a French farm on November 22, said earlier this month that he did not believe she had fallen or had any other type of accident.
She also rejected suggestions that she might have disappeared on purpose.
On Facebook, Colegate suggested that “someone else has been involved in Esther’s disappearance and against her will.”
“This is a scary prospect and I wish I could believe otherwise, but I can’t.”
The couple, who have been together for almost 19 years, met at Oxford University and lived in Durham before setting out on a tour of Europe in a caravan six years ago.