The family of a British doctor who went missing while hiking in the Pyrenees believe his Apple account may hold the clues to finding him after his car was found abandoned in the mountains.
Tom Doherty, 67, from St Albans, was walking and camping near Col d’Escots when his family lost contact with him on Tuesday after he sent a series of WhatsApp messages, one of which read: “Help, I’ve fallen and can’t move.”
There were fears he may have been caught in bad weather during his walk after another message, sent two and a half hours earlier, showed clouds over a mountain range.
Doherty had reportedly been walking in the Ariège region, near France’s border with Spain and Andorra, where there have been thunderstorms in recent days.
When messaging her family before her disappearance, Doherty did not reveal her precise location. But her loved ones have now appealed for help in getting into her Apple account, which they believe will reveal this information.
A desperate search is now underway using dogs and helicopters but has been hampered by poor visibility, causing great concern for his family, including his wife Anne Lyons, who has admitted she “doesn’t know the mountain well”.
She also believed that he “did not have the complete and necessary equipment” to walk alone through the dangerous mountain range.
Doherty (right, with wife Anne Lyons) was last seen walking in France on Tuesday night.
Search operations in the region have been hampered by poor visibility (pictured: gendarmes with a dog in the area)
The family shared a photo taken by Mr Doherty on Saturday, before he went missing.
Doherty’s family have appealed for help to access his Apple account as they believe he will reveal this information (pictured, left to right: Tom Doherty, his wife Anne, his son-in-law Tim Hughes and his daughter Rachel Doherty)
Mr Doherty told his family he had fallen and was unable to move before disappearing.
In a social media post, a woman who said Doherty was her uncle wrote: “We desperately need 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 home in south-west France, where the esteemed tropical medicine consultant has spent much of his retirement over the past decade.
Ms Lyons, who is now in France and taking part in the search for her husband, said his grey Renault Clio had been found abandoned near Pouech de Gerac, a few miles from Chalet de Beauregard.
He was last reportedly seen at 12.30pm on Tuesday, a few miles from this location, near Etang de la Plede.
Describing the moment the family received the message, she said: “We panicked. When I arrived in France, I expected that he had been found and that we would be in 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.
“We are very worried, but we have not lost hope. That is why we are asking for witnesses. If anyone has seen him, if anyone knows which campsite he has set up his tent on, please notify the police.”
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. He has three daughters and a son.
His family believes he was camping somewhere in the Col d’Escots area at the time of his disappearance on Tuesday.
Ms Lyons said she knew her husband had also been to Ax-les-Thermes, a ski resort in the Ariège department near Andorra, earlier in the week.
Mr Doherty was walking 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 might help find him.
Mr Doherty, a grandfather of one who has been described as an avid and experienced walker, set out on a four-day solo walking and camping trip in the Pyrenees on Saturday (pictured: Mr Doherty with his granddaughter Martha)
Rachel (left) says her father (right) “had always loved adventure and been very independent”
“We know this because he was hiking and camping,” she said. “Every day we received photos 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 else.”
Ms Lyons arrived in France from the UK on Wednesday, along with her daughter, Rachel, to help with the search.
She said: ‘We have had no contact with him since Tuesday. He doesn’t receive any messages. He doesn’t respond. That’s why we launched the alert from England.
‘Searches were carried out on the mountain using dogs and helicopters since Wednesday, but fog made the operation difficult.
‘My daughter and I took a flight to arrive very early on Wednesday morning. We climbed the Col d’Escots in Ustou and found her car.
“We know he is camping somewhere in the area, but not exactly where. During the day, someone saw him near the Aubé pond car park, close to the Gérarc circle.
“He was tired, but he wanted to continue. Afterwards, he probably had an accident. Now we don’t know where he is.”
His daughter said he had sent photographs of the local landscape before he disappeared, with clouds covering a mountain and the caption “damn.”
Neil Stone, a friend and infectious disease doctor, described Mr Doherty as a “legend in the world of tropical medicine and infectious diseases”.
Photos of Doherty sent via WhatsApp chat have helped provide some clues to his whereabouts.
A woman who works there said one of the shelter’s occupants was at Chalet de Beauregard, believed to be about an hour’s hike uphill from the shelter. It’s unclear how far he walked before the accident.
Rachel says her father “had always been adventurous and 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 pursue this field. I desperately hope he is found safe and well.’
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a missing British man in France and are in contact with local authorities.”
Her disappearance comes after a series of high-profile disappearances in mountain ranges.
Teenager Jay Slater fell to his death into a ravine in Tenerife in June after trying to walk home after a night out on holiday, while TV presenter Michael Mosley died after taking a wrong turn on the Greek island of Symi earlier the same month.
