Body found in search for missing TV doctor Michael Mosley on Greek island

A body has been found in the search for TV doctor and columnist Dr Michael Mosley after he disappeared on the Greek island of Symi.

Police had begun searching for the 67-year-oldThis Morning star after he was reported missing by his wife, having failed to return from a coastal walk on Wednesday.

Following an intensive search of the small island, it was reported on Sunday that a body had been found in a rocky area close to Agia Marina.

The body was found alongside an umbrella near cave complex known to locals as “the abyss”, according to The Sun newspaper. CCTV footage released on Saturday had appeared to show Dr Mosley walking with a black umbrella close to the marina.

Dr Mosley had set off from Saint Nikolas Beach at around 1.30pm local time without his mobile phone on Wednesday, with the alarm raised at 7.30pm and a major search and rescue operation launched.

Broadcaster Dr Michael Mosley was best known for popularising the 5:2 diet (Getty Images)

Local people from Symi, a helicopter from Rhodes and Greek officers, along with police drafted in from outside the island, searched the Pedi area and surroundings, the mayor’s office said.

Police had asked for assistance from the Greek fire service, with six firefighters, a vehicle and a drone team arriving from Rhodes at about 2pm (12pm BST) on Thursday.

CCTV footage showed Mosley had arrived safely in the fishing village Pedi, some 20 minutes from where he first set off. But he is then believed to have taken a more difficult hilly route in severe heat, without his mobile phone.

The mayor said the area where Mosley is believed to have travelled through is “difficult to pass” and is “only rocks”, and is also populated by “loads” of snakes.

Speaking on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation, a police spokesperson said on Sunday that the body had been found on a rocky coast by a private boat, with formal identification pending, the Associated Press reported.

British journalists and a hospitality worker were the first to see the body, which was discovered around 90 metres inland from the coastline beneath a fence built around the bar on Agia Marina beach, which is surrounded by hilly and rocky terrain that runs down to the sea.

The bar’s manager, Ilias Tsavaris, said he first saw the body after the island’s mayor “saw something” by the fence of the bar and alerted staff. “They saw it with the boat,” he said. “The mayor came and saw something so that is when they called me and said ‘hey they saw something go and check there’.

“They called me, they said ‘you know what we saw something from far away can you go and check’ so I went there. So when I walked up I saw something like a body to make sure. You don’t see a dead body everyday, it is not a warzone, it’s summer – you are supposed to [be having] fun and swimming.

“He came from Pedi okay, and he walked not through the restaurant. If he had walked through there we would have checked the cameras”, said the 38-year-old, adding that “rescuers had searched that area everyday with helicopters”.

The BBC quoted Symi’s mayor as saying: “During our search, as we approached a cave next to the Agia Marina beach, we were shooting along the coastline with cameras. We saw an object next to a fence on the beach and when we zoomed in, we realised it was Michael Mosley’s body.

“He probably fell from a short cliff of around 10 metres high.”

A leather bag was also found next to the body, said Antonis Mystiloglou, a cameraman with state TV ERT, who was on the boat.

While formal identification was still pending, deputy mayor Nikitas Grillis said: “It is certainly him.” A police official dismissed earlier reports that the body was found in a cave. Police were investigating the scene.

His wife, Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, said on Saturday that the days since he has been missing have been the “longest and most unbearable days” for her and her children.

A search and rescue operation has been ongoing on Symi for TV doctor and columnist Michael Mosley (Yui Mok/PA)

Dr Mosley is known for being a columnist for the Daily Mail and has made a number of films about diet and exercise.

The broadcaster fronted the Channel 4 show Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat? and was part of the BBC series Trust Me, I’m A Doctor.

He also lived with tapeworms in his gut for six weeks for the documentary Infested! Living With Parasites on BBC Four, and has promoted ketogenic dieting in his work.

Mosley received an Emmy nod for BBC science documentary The Human Face, presented by John Cleese and featuring a raft of famous faces, including Elizabeth Hurley, Pierce Brosnan and Sir David Attenborough.

Mosley has four children with his wife Clare Bailey Mosley, also a doctor, author and health columnist, who wrote the recipe book Fast 800 Easy.

The couple, who have hosted theatre show tours together, recently attended the Hay Festival, where Mosley presented a special edition of his Radio 4 series and podcast Just One Thing.

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