The search has been called off for British hiker Tom Doherty who went missing while hiking in the Pyrenees, French prosecutors said on Monday.
Doherty, 67, lost contact with his family on Tuesday last week while hiking on the Col d’Escots near the ski resort of Guzet, the prosecutor’s office in the southern town of Foix said.
According to his family, the retired doctor from St Albans was on the final leg of a solo hiking and camping expedition when he sent a flurry of panicked Whatsapp messages, one of which read: ‘Help, I’ve fallen and cannot move.’
Mr Doherty’s wife Anne Lyons and daughter Rachel tried desperately to contact him, responding with various texts and calls of their own, but were unable to get through.
‘After five days, we haven’t managed to find him,’ a representative of Foix prosecutor’s office said, adding that an investigation into the man’s disappearance would continue.
Mr Doherty (right, with his wife Anne Lyons) 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)
Mr Doherty told his family he had fallen and could not move before disappearing
The family shared a photo taken by Mr Doherty that he took on Saturday, before vanishing
Mr Doherty was hiking and camping near Col d’Escots when his family lost contact with him on Tuesday
Police had been sweeping the area with the help of sniffer dogs and a helicopter between Wednesday and Sunday, but the search was hampered by a thick blanket of fog that descended on the region last week.
Mr Doherty’s car was located in a parking area not far from Guzet the day after he disappeared.
But an examination of the geolocation data on the hiker’s phone proved unhelpful, as he had ventured into an area of steep terrain where telephone reception is unreliable.
Describing the moment the family received his message pleading for help last week, wife Anne 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.’
The couple own a home in south-west France where they had spent a large part of their retirement over the last decade.
The house was often used as a base for various trips and excursions, and Ms Lyons said her husband was avid and experienced walker.
She said the solo walking and camping trip in the Pyrenees began last Saturday and was set to last four days, meaning Mr Doherty disappeared on the final leg of his trip.
Ms Lyons also said she believed that her husband, a renowned tropical and infectious disease specialist, ‘did not have the complete and necessary equipment’ for hiking alone in the perilous mountain range.
Tom (right) and his wife Anne (left). The family are appealing for any information that could help find him
Mr Doherty, a grandfather of one who has been described as an avid and experienced walker, set off on a four-day solo walking and camping trip in the Pyrenees on Saturday (pictured: Mr Doherty with grandaughter Martha)
Speaking on her husband’s disappearance, Ms Lyons said last week: ‘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 Lyons arrived in France from the UK on Wednesday, along with her daughter, Rachel, to help in the search.
She 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 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 Gérac 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.’
His daughter said he had sent pictures of the local scenery before going missing, with clouds coming over a mountain and the caption ‘bugger’
Neil Stone, a friend and infectious disease doctor, described Mr Doherty as a ‘legend in the world of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases’
Mr Doherty’s photographs sent into the family WhatsApp chat have helped provide some clues on his whereabouts.
One looked down on the Chalet de Beauregard, which is believed to be an hour’s uphill walk from the refuge, a woman who works there said. It is not clear how far he walked before the accident.
Rachel says her father had ‘always loved and adventure and had been very independent’.
Neil Stone, a friend and infectious disease doctor, posted on X: ‘Dr Tom Doherty is a legend in the world of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases and inspired me to go into the field Desperately hope he is found safe and sound.’
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.’