ESTHER Dingley’s boyfriend has insisted she has not run away and has blasted cops for their “baffling lies” about the couple’s relationship.
Daniel Colegate, 38, was upset after comments by police suggested his girlfriend may have gone off in search of a “new life”.
Esther, 37, has been missing in the Pyrenees since November 22.
Her boyfriend has spoken out after speculation across media and social media sites that the woman may have deliberately disappeared.
Daniel, who has been Esther’s partner for 19 years, said: “We spoke every day, the time apart worked as we expected and we were very joyful when we spoke. We were missing each other.
“The hike she went missing on was to be her last hike before driving back.
“Our last conversation was totally loving and all smiles. She was so happy and we were excited to see each other.
“Why the police who spoke to a journalist implied ‘things weren’t as happy as they looked’ baffles me. I have never spoken to the person quoted.
“All the police I have spoken to just nodded and said things like ‘totally normal then’.”
Daniel has also responded to reports claiming he had been “quizzed” by police over Esther’s disappearance.
He said: “The French criminal investigation team visited me at the house on Monday, December 7. I have not been ‘quizzed’ three times.
“I have given a statement to all the various different units involved in this case, including conversations with UK police.
“I think people imagine there is one set of police who keep hauling me in to go over my statement again like on TV. In reality, there are just lots of different people who need to go through the motions.
“I have cooperated fully with each one, going through my electronic data, social media, providing bank details, passwords etc.
“My only goal is to help them do what they need to do as quickly as possible.”
The travel blogger’s mum Ria has admitted she is “utterly distraught” at her unsolved disappearance.
She admitted: “It is utterly out of character for her to be out of contact for this length of time and we are missing her desperately.
“Esther values family above everything and on all her trips we are always in regular contact, sharing the day to day small details of life. We communicated several times every day.
“We are utterly distraught not knowing where Esther is or what has happened to her and would implore anyone who may know anything, however seemingly insignificant, to come forward with that information.
“We are desperate to see our beloved girl again so thank you for anything you can do to help us find her.”
She added: “Esther is an open book. She openly shared some of the difficult decisions that she and Dan would be facing soon, primarily linked to Brexit and the impact that would have on their itinerant lifestyle, but that didn’t dampen her joy for the life they both were living.”
The search for Esther started on November 26 and focused initially around 8,976ft Pico Salvaguardia near Spain’s border with France where she last made contact with her partner around 4pm on November 22.
Sergeant Jorge Lopez Ramos, whose Greim elite mountain search and rescue team led the eight-day search for Esther before it was halted because of the bad weather, said: “Esther told her partner she was planning to spend the night in a nearby refuge on the French side of the border called Venasque before doing a long half-circle to re-enter Spain through a mountain pass called Puerto de la Glera and heading back down to Llanos del Hospital.
“It would have been a long day’s walk or she could have spent the night somewhere and finished the following day.
“We don’t know if she reached Venasque that night. It’s shut at the moment and only an emergency part of it is open for people to sleep in and consume any food they have with them.”
French police chief Jean Marc Bordinaro has admitted the possibility Durham-born Esther, 37, suffered a mountain accident is a “strong” one.
But he said that with the mountain search suspended because of bad weather, they are focusing on the other two theories which are that her disappearance is linked to a crime or she wanted to vanish.
He was quoted last week as saying there was “some tension” in her relationship with Mr Colegate, 38, and she had wanted to carry on with their nomadic lifestyle despite his desire to settle down.
Esther’s partner has denied there were any problems and insisted they have always been a normal couple.
Spain’s Civil Guard have only admitted publicly “all options are open” but have said privately they feel the mountain accident hypothesis is the “most likely.”
