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The boyfriend of missing British hiker Esther Dingley has dismissed claims by French police that he may have deliberately disappeared because he feared his nomadic lifestyle was about to end.
A spokesman for Daniel Colegate said “there is no indication that Esther is looking for a new life” when new CCTV footage of his girlfriend emerged in a supermarket before she disappeared.
Dingley, 37, was last seen three weeks ago on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees after going on a solo hike.
Despite a joint operation by the French and Spanish police, there are no leads to his whereabouts and heavy snowfalls have caused searches in the mountains to be canceled.
The boyfriend of missing British hiker Esther Dingley (pictured) has dismissed claims by French police that he may have deliberately disappeared because he feared his nomadic lifestyle was about to end.
A spokesperson for Daniel Colegate (pictured with Esther) said ‘there is no indication that Esther was looking for a new life’
This weekend, Gendarmerie Captain Jean-Marc Bordinaro, who is leading the French side of the investigation, said one theory was that the experienced hiker had deliberately disappeared.
He claimed that Colegate had wanted to return to the UK after tiring of his six-year motorhome trip through Europe.
Cpt Bordinaro said: ‘Esther Dingley wanted to continue her current lifestyle, trips in a motorhome and sports activities like hiking, while Daniel Colegate seems a bit tired of his nomadic life.
‘Did she want to go alone to live her life and organize her own disappearance? There is nothing that allows us to eliminate this theory of work. This situation caused some tensions in the couple, but nothing more ”.
But the theory was dismissed by Colegate, 38, and Ms Dingley’s family, who spoke through Lucie Blackman Trust Global, a charity that helps families of the missing abroad.
Grainy CCTV footage (pictured), Ms. Dingley’s latest recorded movements, show her apparently asking the store manager for the price of the seeds.
José Antonio Ballarin said that Esther discussed her route with him, and it was different from what she was believed to be planning.
Matthew Searle, CEO of LBT Global said: ‘We are working closely with the family and Daniel and there is no indication that Esther was looking for a new life. There is a lot of speculation about this case and this is useless and unfair for the family ”.
Colegate has been interviewed three times by French and Spanish police, but is not considered a suspect. Mrs. Dingley left Mr. Colegate in the French city of Gascony, where he looked after the house. On November 15, he drove the couple’s caravan across the border to the Spanish town of Benasque, where he left the vehicle to climb the mountain range.
The police investigation is now focused on Benasque and the motorhome has been forensically searched.
Ms. Dingley, an Oxford graduate like her boyfriend, stayed at the Angel Orus hostel on November 17, where the owner recalled seeing her in a “good mood.”
Two days later, she was seen buying chia seeds at a supermarket. Grainy CCTV footage, Ms. Dingley’s latest recorded movements, show her apparently asking the price of the seeds with the store manager.
This weekend, Gendarmerie Captain Jean-Marc Bordinaro, who is leading the French side of the investigation, said one theory was that the experienced hiker had deliberately disappeared. But the theory was dismissed by 38-year-old Colegate (pictured with Esther) and Ms Dingley’s family.
Then a British professor stepped in to act as a translator, explaining that the discounts were only available to people with store loyalty cards. Ms. Dingley bought the seeds and a buyer later described her as “sad and thoughtful.”
The last contact Ms. Dingley made with her partner was on November 22, when she posted photos of herself on Pic de Sauvegarde mountain, 9,000 feet above sea level. He was supposed to return to Gascony on November 25.
When she didn’t show up, Mr. Colegate raised the alarm.
Air and ground searches have found no traces of Ms. Dingley, and her family fears that she may have been abducted. Due to the weather, rescue efforts may not resume until spring.
Cpt Bordinaro said he does not believe Ms. Dingley was in an accident, eaten by a bear, or fell into a lake.
Dingley and Colegate began their European travels in 2014 after he nearly died from a carnivorous bacterial infection.
Despite the couple regularly blogging about their adventures, Cpt Bordinaro suggested that their lives were not as “idyllic as the images posted on social media suggest.”
