Michael Mosley, a well-known TV doctor and columnist, has gone missing after going on a coastal walk on the Greek island of Symi. He was last seen hiking along St Nicholas beach and was reported missing by his wife when he didn’t return.
Authorities are searching for him, and a local Facebook group has shared a post appealing for information from anyone who may have seen him. It said:
“A search and rescue team is coming from Athens with drones and other more sophisticated equipment to extend the search.
“Have you seen this man? He set off to walk back from St Nick’s at about 13.30 and failed to make it home. His friends are concerned as it is 6 hours since they last saw him. His name is Dr Mike Mosley and he is a familiar face for many British people.”
Greek police told that a helicopter and specially trained dogs were due to join what has become a massive search for Mosley on the remote Aegean isle.
“We’ve got every service possible out there looking for him,” said a police chief overseeing the operation who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He was officially reported missing this morning and now there are police, firemen and volunteers involved in the search.”
In addition to the search efforts, a drone is being used, and the Hellenic coastguard has been instructed to patrol the island’s rugged coast in the search for Michael Mosley.
“We are working on the assumption that he might have been affected by the heat, that he might have slipped and fallen perhaps from a height. Right now nothing is being ruled out.”
A senior security official involved in the mission described the search for Michael Mosley as resembling “a thriller.”
Despite being hosted by friends on the island, where distances are short, there have been no sightings of him, adding to the mystery of his disappearance.
“It’s crazy, it makes no sense,” he said. “How can somebody just disappear in broad daylight, in the middle of the day? If something had happened to him we would have found him on, or near, the path he was walking along on his way back to the port where he was staying with friends. And, yet, all these hours later there’s nothing.”
Rumors of a sighting near a bus stop in the resort of Pedi were dismissed after checking CCTV footage, according to another police officer.
The search is set to be expanded with additional police squads from Rhodes and trained dogs from the fire brigade.
Michael Mosley is also credited for popularizing the 5:2 diet, where fasting for two days a week is advocated for weight loss. He has earned recognition, including being named “medical journalist of the year” by the British Medical Association.
