Carol - Suggestions

Re above suggestion - I have a lot of experience getting people to events, and the key factor is something in the hand believe me! Worth a thought at least.

And bump again!

Bump

Might it be possible for local tourist information centres to be supplied with tiny flier versions of the poster, so that these could be handed out to visitors with the request that, while they are out and about exploring the area, they look out for the car, or for any evidence that a car might have left the road?

Local forums, media, UK TV, radio 74, national, French and UK local papers carrying articles about Carol. Any new forums that will listen, please do add a link on the Updates thread and confirm you have sent them a message. Thanks very much.

Like others on here I am suspecting some sort of accident. We have driven in that area quite often as DS had a holiday apartment in Chatel until very recently. In the torrential rain that frequently falls the very steep mountain roads are scary with loose gravel and a lot of water run-off. There are hairpin bends with steep drops at the side of the roads and I can quite imagine the scenario others have described. We drove through such a storm in summer and it was a white knuckle ride so I can't imagine it being less so in autumn.

Fiona has just been in touch - moving house today, but she is maintaining contact and her family are updating her.

All those issues addressed grabagran. Hunters, ski/piste followers, cyclists, walkers, tourists etc etc all included. Carol chatted to hunters some of whom will remember her - their associations/communes have her info.

If Carol could have got to any working phone / internet access I am confident she would be in contact withe her daughter and family in NZ. She was so pleased about the house move taking place this weekend that she would be wanting to talk to her about it. I cannot conceive that she would ever be 'too busy' to contact home.

I am a newbie on this forum but have known Carol via other forums for a number of years.

The major problem is that no one knows where Carol was heading, therefor to say that the gendarmes need to look for skid marks is asking the impossible.

The only hope is that a walker or a hunter comes across the car or indeed Carol.

Perhaps more concentration on forums/ websites/newsmedia and facebook pages in the department where Carol lived.

If someone is out walking/hunting they will just assume, if they see a car parked, that it is a fellow walker/ hunter.

The message needs to go out on the ground,flyers distributed in supermarket car parks, petrol stations,tourist information offices, chasse offices.

Perhaps the granddaughters were ill advised not to come to the area. They could have occupied their time by distributing flyers ,because I doubt if the gendarmes are doing that.

Perhaps Swissie? or someone else, being a French speaker, can search the internet for relevant French forums.

Here is one to get started.
www.chassepassion.net/le-forum

I have read all the threads now (unless I have overlooked one) and I see that her phone was last used on the saturday, and that police are presumably looking into somehow tracking its last location.

ChippingIn and I are wondering if the British phone company have been informed? We understand that she had two phones, uk and french. Sorry if it has already been mentioned, I really have read as much as I can find.

I have to say that, in the absence of the car, this is exactly the conclusion that I have reluctantly drawn. I really do think that (unless it has been stolen) the car would have been sighted somewhere on a road or lane.

The police and others on the ground need to be looking for evidence of a skid - tyre tracks etc.

Let us hope they will pursue this line as quickly as possible.

Yes, Carol hasn't exaggerated the things she has going on in her life. She is pro-active and gregarious, but loves her own company and solitude, too. She's also such a dare-devil and I blanched several times when she showed me where she has traversed a stretch of mountain walk with room for tips of toes and sheer drop beneath!

granjura, That's exactly what I've been thinking. Even a confident and experienced driver with the right tyres for the conditions can have an accident.

Reading how Carol loves living where she does, how she enjoys a very civilised lifestyle in a beautiful place and also her wonderful holidays snorkelling in the Red(?) Sea, cruising down the Rhine or was it the Moselle? Added to that her pride in her grandchildren, her delight in Fiona's new house with the possibility in the future of a granny annexe there - I think she epitomises the perfect retirement lifestyle. Praying that her zest for life has not led to tragedy. I am tending towards granjura's thoughts though regarding wet roads, hairpin bends and deep woods.

Elegran she would be amused about that. No men lurking, just the attraction of her beloved mountains.

As the car cannot be found in local area, it seems, must say I am increasingly thinking 'hairpin bends, wet slippery leaves' and will suggest so to police when I call tomorrow for update. Between hairpin bends going up to Habère, areas are densely forested. A black car, in dark leaves and bark would not be easily spotted.

Did I hear someone say that she "had never been happier" when it was suggested that she was depressed? Why was that? Could it possible have been that she had met a man with whom she could contemplate sharing a bathroom? Really out to left-field, that.

Police do have a timeline of her sightings, phone calls and online activity. Checking bank details and sightings on traffic cameras will fill in gaps. They do know a lot now.

Psammy thanks for liaising on Mumset - a few of us are also visiting there, but it's hectic behind the scenes. Yes, police know all about her phone activity. If you ask Mumsnetters to check back on Gransnet threads first, we can cut time answering repeat questions. Thanks.

If there is this 24 hour disparity between her last communications and being seen by her neighbour driving off, then could he possibly be mistaken or even lying?

Please read the threads going way back, folks. These questions have been addressed. Carol has those special tyres on, yes.

I have posted in the wrong thread, doesnt take much to confuse me.

I have sent off another batch of tweets to the organisations I sent to previously, and emailed Sky News.

I'm still unsure about the timeline of events leading up to this ie last phone call/internet activity/sighting etc.

I was thinking that if it was raining when Carol went out, maybe she didn't go straight to a beauty spot/walking area? Maybe she decided to stop off somewhere on the way while waiting to see if the weather cleared. I am thinking of something like a farm shop/garden centre/somewhere under cover. Obviously those posters who know her well will have an idea of what might have interested her.