Search called off for Brit who went missing while hiking in French Pyrenees
12 August 2024, 11:06 | Updated: 12 August 2024, 11:23
The search has been called off for a 67-year-old British man who went missing while hiking in the French Pyrenees.
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Tom Doherty, from St Albans, was last heard from on Tuesday when he sent a message telling his family he had fallen and couldn't move.
French authorities recovered his car but abandoned the hunt after 5 days, saying his phone data couldn't locate him in the steep terrain.
He sent two WhatsApp messages telling his family ‘help’ and ‘I’ve fallen and cannot move’ - after thick cloud rolled in over the French mountains.
His wife said: “We panicked. When I arrived in France, I hoped that they had found him and that we would be in the hospital.
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“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.”
He had been hiking in the Ariège region near France’s border with Spain and Andorra, where there have been thunderstorms in recent days.
He set out last Saturday on a four-day solo walking and camping trip from the family’s second home near Bergerac, 280 miles to the north.
His family believe that he had been camping somewhere in the Col d’Escots area - where searches were conducted.
His car, a grey Renault Clio, was found near Pouech de Gèrac, a few miles from the Chalet de Beauregard. He was last seen at 12.30pm on Tuesday.
