Tributes have been paid to the British hiker Esther Dingley after human remains in the Pyrenees were confirmed as being hers. Dingley, 37, had been walking solo in the mountains near the border between Spain and France and was last seen on 22 November. Dingley’s family had initially held out hope that the experienced hiker would be found alive, but the initial search was called off due to bad weather and subsequent searches found no trace of her. The results of DNA testing carried out on a skull, which was discovered by a mountain runner last week near where the personal trainer went missing, confirmed on Friday that Dingley had died. In a statement, her family said the news was “devastating beyond words”. Her partner, Daniel Colegate, and her mother, Ria Bryant, said: “We are distraught to report that we have received DNA confirmation that one of the bones found last week belongs to Esther. “We have all known for many months that the chance we would get to hug our beloved Esther again, to feel her warm hand in ours, to see her beautiful smile and to watch the room light up again whenever she arrived was tiny, but with this confirmation that small hope has now faded. It is devastating beyond words. “At this stage, with just a single bone found and no sign of equipment or clothing in the immediate area (which has been closely searched again over several days), the details of what happened and where still remain unknown. “The search and rescue teams intend to continue their search on foot and with drones, particularly trying to find some sign of Esther’s equipment to understand how this tragedy occurred.” They expressed gratitude to police teams in France and Spain, the British consulate and the charity LBT Global, which provides overseas crisis support. Its chief executive, Matthew Searle, said: “This is the tragic end we have all feared. “This is devastating news for Esther’s loved ones – never before have I seen such incredible determination as that showed by Daniel in his relentless physical search of the mountains.” Colegate previously described Dingley, a former junior rower for Great Britain, as “the best person I’ve ever met”, adding that she was “kind, generous, compassionate, intelligent and creative”. “We can never finish a hike without her pockets bulging with litter she’s picked up, she won’t pass a stranger without smiling, and every decision Esther makes is governed by a powerful moral code,” he said in a statement shortly after her disappearance. The pair, who met at the University of Oxford and lived in County Durham before going travelling in 2014, wrote a popular travel blog and five short children’s books inspired by their dog Leela and her six puppies, who they rescued while in southern Spain. Before her disappearance, Dingley had left in a van for a month’s solo hiking while Colegate, her partner of nearly 19 years, remained in the Gers in south-west France, housesitting at a farmhouse. Her last communication was a selfie she took of herself on the summit of Pic de Sauvegarde, sent to Colegate on 22 November. Colegate previously said he believed she might have been taken “against her will” because she was a knowledgable hiker who was well prepared and would not have deliberately put others at risk by failing to check in. He also said he thought that if Dingley was injured she, or her equipment, would have been found by search teams. Hundreds of condolences have been posted online from friends, family and followers of the couple’s adventures. One read: “Heartbreaking, I know I don’t know either of you, but your journeys has [sic] been incredible, to read and see. Such a sad end to it all.”