Esther Dingley: Missing hiker's partner 'in a world without sense'

Esther Dingley and Dan Colegate had always been keen travellers

The partner of a hiker missing for more than a month in the Pyrenees says he is "living in a world that no longer makes sense".

Esther Dingley, 37, failed to return from a solo trek as planned on 25 November, and Spanish and French search teams have found no trace of her.

Dan Colegate described the pain of not knowing what happened as "crippling".

He said she was an experienced hiker and the route she was taking was well within her capabilities.

French police have said there were three categories her going missing could fall under; accident, voluntary disappearance, or someone else being involved.

Esther Dingley sent this photo of herself at the top of a mountain on 22 November

The pair, originally from Durham, had been touring Europe in a camper van for the past six years.

Mr Colegate said: "Every aspect of my life and the future I dream of includes Esther.

"We have built a life that focuses on being a team, where 'home' is wherever we are together, and where nothing matters as long as we have each other.

"Spending occasional times apart, to pursue separate goals, recharge and intensify the pleasure of being together, is part of that for us.

"I never imagined that one day she would not come home."

He added: "Since Esther went missing I have been lost in a world that no longer makes sense to me."