HOPES faded further for missing hiker Esther Dingley yesterday as two witnesses revealed they saw her on her last trek. Spanish Olympic skier Marti Vigo del Arco said she asked him for fruit an hour before her last contact with anyone. He said she was going up 8,976ft Pico Salvaguardia in the Pyrenees on November […]
HOPES faded further for missing hiker Esther Dingley yesterday as two witnesses revealed they saw her on her last trek.
Spanish Olympic skier Marti Vigo del Arco said she asked him for fruit an hour before her last contact with anyone.
He said she was going up 8,976ft Pico Salvaguardia in the Pyrenees on November 22 as everyone was coming down.
“She was carrying a very large rucksack. We stopped and she asked if we had a piece of fruit or something refreshing but we didn’t have anything left.
“She carried on heading up the mountain, the temperature was good and it was sunny. There was very little snow on the peak.”
Another witness said she appeared happy and relaxed at his mountain refuge days earlier.
Esther, 37, of Durham, sent a selfie at the summit to partner Dan Colegate, 38, who was 100 miles away.
She is feared to have fallen to her death in a remote spot.
Spanish Civil Guard officers say thick snow may make a full search impossible until spring.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said: “No search is taking place today in the mountains because of the large amount of snow, but reconnaissance expeditions have not been ruled out.”
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