The family of a British doctor who disappeared while hiking in the Pyrenees believe his Apple account may contain clues to his search after his car was found abandoned in the mountains.
Tom Doherty, 67, from St Albans, was hiking and camping near the Col d’Escots when his family lost contact with him on Tuesday after he sent a flood of WhatsApp messages – one of which read: “Help, I’ve fallen and can’t move.”
Fears arose that he might have encountered bad weather during his hike after another message sent two and a half hours earlier showed clouds over a mountain range.
Mr Doherty was reportedly hiking in the Ariège region, near France’s border with Spain and Andorra, where thunderstorms had occurred in recent days.
When Mr Doherty messaged his family before he disappeared, he did not reveal his exact whereabouts, but his relatives have now asked for help to gain access to his Apple account, fearing this information would be exposed.
A desperate search is currently underway using dogs and helicopters, but is hampered by poor visibility, worrying the climber’s family, including his wife Anne Lyons, who admitted he “does not know the mountain well.”
She also believed that he did not have “the complete and necessary equipment” to hike alone in these dangerous mountains.
Mr Doherty (right, with his wife Anne Lyons) was last heard from on Tuesday evening while hiking in France
The search operations in the region were made difficult by the poor visibility (pictured: gendarmes with a dog in the area)
The family shared a photo of Mr Doherty taken on Saturday before he disappeared
In a social media post, a woman claiming Doherty was her uncle wrote: “We urgently need to access his Mac laptop which is locked because we have tried his passwords too many times. We need to access it… so we can look at the last location of his recent photos in iCloud and try to access his Find My.”
Mr Doherty and his wife own a house in southwest France, where the respected tropical medicine specialist has spent much of his retirement over the past decade.
Mrs Lyons, who is currently in France and is involved in the search for her husband, said they found his abandoned grey Renault Clio near Pouech de Gerac, a few kilometres from the Chalet de Beauregard.
He was reportedly last seen on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m., a few kilometers from this location, near the Etang de la Plede.
She described the moment the family received his news: “We panicked. When I arrived in France, I hoped they had found him and we were in the hospital.”
“But when it became foggy in the afternoon, we lost confidence, especially for a 67-year-old man who had to spend the second night alone in these conditions.”
“We are very worried, but we have not given up hope. That is why we are looking for witnesses. If anyone has seen him, if anyone knows which campsite he pitched his tent at, please contact the police.”
Mr Doherty, grandfather of one and described as a keen and experienced walker, set off on a four-day solo hiking and camping trip to the Pyrenees on Saturday. He has three daughters and a son.
His family believes he was camping somewhere in the Col d’Escot area.
Mrs Lyons said she knew her husband had been to Ax-les-Thermes, a ski resort in the Ariège department near Andorra, earlier in the week.
Tom (right) and his wife Anne (left). The family is asking for information that could help in the search for him.
Mr Doherty told his family he had fallen and was unable to move before he disappeared
“We know because he went hiking and camping,” she said. “Every day we got photos and messages.”
“And then, on Tuesday around 8pm, when we were in England, everyone got the message: ‘Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t move.’ And then nothing.”
Ms Lyons arrived in France from the UK on Wednesday with her daughter Rachel to help with the search.
She said: “We have had no contact with him since Tuesday. He is not receiving any messages. He is not responding. That is why we have issued an alert from England.”
“Search operations with dogs and helicopters have been carried out in the mountains since Wednesday, but fog set in, making the operation difficult.”
“My daughter and I took a flight to arrive very early on Wednesday morning. We drove to the Col d’Escots in Ustou and found his car.
“We know that he is camping somewhere in the area, but not exactly where. During the day, someone saw him near the car park of the Aubé pond, near the Gérarc roundabout.
“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 that before his disappearance he sent pictures of the local landscape showing clouds over a mountain and the caption “Shit”
The photos sent by Mr Doherty in the WhatsApp chat have provided some clues as to his whereabouts.
One was looking down at the Chalet de Beauregard, believed to be an hour’s uphill walk from the mountain refuge, said a woman who works there. It’s not clear how far he had walked before the accident.
Rachel says her father “always loved adventure and was very independent.”
A British Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British man missing in France and are in contact with local authorities.”
One user suggested that it could be a hiking trail called Pic de Serón et Vallé de Turguilla.
His disappearance follows a series of spectacular cases of disappearances in mountain ranges.
Teenager Jay Slater fell into a ravine and died in Tenerife in June while walking home after a boozy holiday. Earlier that month, TV presenter Michael Mosley died after taking a wrong turn on the Greek island of Symi.
