Wife of lacking British hiker says he ‘did not have correct package’
The wife of a retired British doctor lost in the French Pyrenees has said he ‘did not have the complete and necessary equipment’ for hiking alone in the perilous mountain range.
Tom Doherty, 67, from St Albans, was hiking and camping near Col d’Escots when his family lost contact with him on Tuesday after he sent a message reading: ‘Help, I’ve fallen and cannot move.’
A desperate search is now underway involving dogs and helicopters, but has been hampered by poor visibility – causing great concern for his family including wife Anne, who has admitted that he ‘doesn’t know the mountain well’.
The couple, from St Albans, Herts, own a home in south-west France where the esteemed tropical medicine consultant has spent a large part of his retirement over the last decade.
He was last in contact with his family at 7.07pm, telling them he had fallen and could not move via a WhatsApp group chat.
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Mr Doherty (right, with his wife) was last heard from on Tuesday evening while hiking in France
Search operations in the region have been hampered by poor visibility (pictured: gendarmes with a dog in the area)
One of the last pictures sent by Mr Doherty of his walk in the Pyrenees before he went missing on Tuesday
Mr Doherty told his family he had fallen and could not move before disappearing
Speaking to the FranceInfo outlet on Thursday, Ms Doherty said he regularly hiked alone, but only for ‘two to three-hour walks’, and ‘he doesn’t know the mountain well.’
She said: ‘He toured the Pyrenees 15 years ago,’ adding that he ‘did not have the complete and necessary equipment’ for long solo hikes.
Ms Doherty, who is now in France and involved in the search for her husband, said they had found his abandoned car.
Describing the moment the family received his message, she said: ‘We panicked. When I arrived in France, I hoped that they had found him and that we would be in the hospital.
‘But, in the afternoon with the fog, we lost confidence, especially for a 67-year-old man spending a second night alone in these conditions.
‘We have a lot of worries, but we have not lost hope. This is why we are appealing for witnesses. If anyone has seen him, if anyone knows in which campsite he has pitched his tent, please alert the police.’
Ms Doherty said she knows her husband was in Ax-les-Thermes, a ski resort in the Ariege department, close to Andorra, earlier in the week.
‘We know this because he went hiking and camping,’ she said.. ‘Every day we received photos and messages.
‘And then on Tuesday, around 8pm, while we were in England, everyone received messages saying: ‘Help, I’ve fallen and cannot move.’ And then nothing more.’
Ms Doherty arrived in France from the UK on Wednesday, along with her daughter, Rachel.
Ms Doherty said: ‘Since Tuesday, we have had no contact with him. He doesn’t receive any messages. He does not answer. We therefore launched the alert from England.
‘Since Wednesday, searches have been carried out in the mountains with dogs and helicopters, but fog appeared, which made the operation difficult.
‘My daughter and I took a flight to arrive very early on Wednesday morning. We went up to the Col d’Escots in Ustou and found his car.
‘We know he’s camping somewhere in the area, but not exactly where. During the day, someone saw him near the Aubé pond car park, near the Gérarc circle.
‘He was tired, but he wanted to continue. Later, he was probably injured in an accident. Now we don’t know where he is.’
Tom (right) and his wife Anne (left). The family are appealing for any information that could help find him
His daughter said he had sent pictures of the local scenery before going missing, with clouds coming over a mountain and the caption ‘bugger’.
The family shared a photo taken by Mr Doherty that he took on Saturday, before vanishing
Mr Doherty, a grandfather of one who has been described as an avid and experienced walker, set off in the Pyrenees on Saturday. He has three daughters and one son.
‘The last time we heard from him was Tuesday,’ Rachel told the PA news agency. She plans to head to France.
‘He told us he had fallen and couldn’t move. That’s all we’ve had since.
‘The search party have found a tent and his car. We’re obviously very worried and extremely concerned for his welfare.’
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British man missing in France and are in touch with the local authorities.’
Clare Carlile, a family friend, posted on the UKClimbing mountaineering website late Tuesday, asking for help in identifying a spot in the mountains Mr Doherty photographed on Saturday before going missing on Tuesday.
She said he was likely to be in Ariege, in the Occitanie region of France.
‘The image shared is from Saturday – we are trying to work out his direction of travel in case it gives some idea of where he may be now,’ she said.
‘He sent a message during the day saying he was ‘somewhere near Ax-Les-Thermes’.’
One user suggested it might be a hiking trail called Pic de Serón et Vallé de Turguilla.
His disappearance comes after a series of high profile disappearances in mountain ranges.
Teenager Jay Slater fell to his death in a ravine on Tenerife in June after trying to walk home from a night out on holiday, while TV presenter Michael Mosley died after taking a wrong turn on the Greek island of Symi earlier in the same month.
