The family of a British doctor who disappeared while hiking in the Pyrenees believe his Apple account could hold clues to finding him, 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 sending him a flurry of WhatsApp messages. One of them read: ‘Help, I’ve fallen and can’t move.’
There were fears that he had encountered bad weather during his walk after another message, sent two and a half hours earlier, depicted clouds over a mountain range.
Mr Doherty was reportedly walking in the Ariege region, near France’s border with Spain and Andorra, where thunderstorms have been raging in recent days.
While he was messaging his family before his disappearance, Mr Doherty did not reveal his exact location. But his loved ones have now appealed for help to get into his Apple account, as they believe this will reveal this information.
A desperate search is now underway with dogs and helicopters, but visibility is poor, causing great concern among his family, including his wife Anne Lyons, who has admitted that he ‘doesn’t know the mountain well’.
She also believed he “did not have the complete and necessary equipment” to hike alone through the dangerous mountain terrain.
Mr Doherty (right, with his wife Anne Lyons) was last heard from on Tuesday evening while walking in France
Searches in the region are being hampered by poor visibility (pictured: gendarmes with a dog in the area)
The family shared a photo Mr Doherty took on Saturday before he disappeared
Mr Doherty’s family have now appealed for help in gaining access to his Apple account, as they believe this information will be revealed (pictured left to right: Tom Doherty, his wife Anne, son-in-law Tim Hughes and daughter Rachel Doherty)
Mr Doherty told his family he fell and was unable to move before he disappeared
In a social media post, a woman who said Doherty was her uncle wrote: “We urgently need to gain access to his Mac laptop which is locked because we have tried his passwords too many times. We need to get in… so we can see the last location of his last photos on iCloud and try to get into his Find My.”
Mr Doherty and his wife own a house in south-west France, where the esteemed tropical physician has spent much of his retirement over the past decade.
Mrs Lyons, who is now 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 12.30pm, a few kilometres away, near Etang de la Plede.
Describing the moment the family received his message, she said: ‘We panicked. When I got to France I hoped they had found him and that we would be in hospital.
‘But in the afternoon, with the fog, we lost confidence, especially for a 67-year-old man who was spending his second night alone in these conditions.
“We are very concerned, but we have not lost hope. That is why we are appealing for witnesses. If anyone has seen him, if anyone knows which campsite he has pitched his tent at, please alert the police.”
Mr Doherty, a grandfather of one who has been described as a keen and experienced hiker, set off on a four-day solo hiking and camping trip in the Pyrenees on Saturday. He has three daughters and a son.
His family suspects he was camping somewhere in the Col d’Escots area at the time of his disappearance on Tuesday.
Mrs Lyons said she knew her husband was also in Ax-les-Thermes, a ski resort in the Ariège department, near Andorra, earlier this week.
Mr Doherty was hiking and camping near Col d’Escots when his family lost contact with him on Tuesday
Tom (right) and his wife Anne (left). The family is appealing for any information that could help find him.
Mr Doherty, the grandfather of someone described as a keen and experienced hiker, set off on a four-day solo hiking and camping trip in the Pyrenees on Saturday (pictured: Mr Doherty with granddaughter Martha)
Rachel (left) says her father (right) ‘always loved adventure and was very independent’
“We know this because he went hiking and camping,” she said. “Every day we received pictures and messages.
‘And then on Tuesday, around 8pm, while we were in England, everyone was getting messages saying, ‘Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t move.’ And then nothing.’
Mrs Lyons arrived in France from the UK on Wednesday, along with her daughter Rachel, to help with the search.
She said: ‘We have not had any contact with him since Tuesday. He is not receiving messages. He is not replying. That is why we have launched the alert from England.
‘Since Wednesday, dogs and helicopters have been searching the mountains, but there was fog, which made the operation difficult.
‘My daughter and I took a flight to arrive very early on Wednesday morning. We went to the Col d’Escots in Ustou and found his car.
“We know he is camping somewhere nearby, but not exactly where. During the day, someone saw him at the parking lot of the pond of Aubé, near the circle of Gérarc.
“He was tired, but he wanted to continue. Later he probably got injured in an accident. Now we don’t know where he is.”
His daughter said he had sent photos of the local landscape before he disappeared, showing clouds coming over a mountain and the caption “bastard”
Neil Stone, a friend and infectious disease doctor, described Mr Doherty as a ‘legend in the world of tropical medicine and infectious diseases’
The photos Mr Doherty sent to the WhatsApp chat have provided clues to his whereabouts.
One looked down on the Chalet de Beauregard, which is believed to be an hour’s walk uphill from the refuge, a woman who works there said. It’s not clear how far he walked before the accident.
Rachel says her father “always loved adventure and was very independent.”
Neil Stone, a friend and infectious disease physician, 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. I fervently hope he is found safe and well.”
A spokesman for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has gone missing in France and are in contact with local authorities.”
His disappearance follows a series of high-profile disappearances in mountain ranges.
Teenager Jay Slater fell into a ravine in Tenerife in June as he tried to walk home from a night out on holiday, while TV presenter Michael Mosley died earlier that month after taking a wrong turn on the Greek island of Symi.