Esther Dingley search: Spanish police broaden search for missing hiker further to surrounding mountains

 British woman Esther Dingley takes a selfie before being reported as missing, in Pico Tuca Salbaguardia

Credit: ESTHER & DAN /REUTERS

Police searching for missing British hiker Esther Dingley said on Thursday they had widened the search in the Pyrenees.

Spanish and French authorities have been trying to track down the 37-year-old from Durham for over a week.   

The Spanish Civil Guard said they were scouring mountains surrounding the Pic de Sauvegarde where she was last seen on November 22 when she sent her partner Dan Colegate a picture via Whatsapp.

From there she planned to walk between Port de la Gléré and Port de Venasque — a route of some eight miles — before hiking down from the mountains on November 25.

When she was not seen for two days, Mr Colegate reported her missing on November 24, starting a huge search.

Esther Dingley with her partner Dan Colegate

Credit: Facebook

A Spanish Civil Guard spokeswoman said: “We have broadened our search to mountains around the Pic de Sauvegarde mountain to other valleys, hills and refuges in the region. We have also enlisted the help of more searchers.”

Spanish police refused to confirm or deny media reports that they were seeking a man who gave the solo hiker a lift.

Ms Dingley revealed the existence of the man in a Facebook post on November 19, saying they met by chance at the peak of a mountain, before hiking down together.

Mr Colegate wrote on the couple’s Facebook page on Wednesday: “I wanted to say thank you once more for all of you leaving king messages. It means a lot to me and also that so many of you are holding positive thoughts for Esther. I believe it is important."

The couple, who left Britain in 2014 to tour Europe in a campervan after a health scare, had parted ways while Ms Dingley hiked alone in the Pyrenees and her partner stayed in a farmhouse in Gascony in France.