A body has been found in the search for missing British TV presenter Dr Michael Mosley, the BBC reported on Sunday citing a rescue worker. Mosley, 67, vanished on Wednesday while on holiday on the Greek island of Symi. Authorities had been concentrating their search efforts in a remote mountainous area.
The body, yet to be identified, was discovered on a small cliffside on a rocky hill northeast of the village of Pedi found during a coastline search using cameras. Police sources told BBC News that the deceased likely perished “several days ago”.
Mosley, a familiar face in British broadcasting, was known for his television programs and the BBC Radio 4 podcast “Just One Thing.” He also popularised the 5:2 diet which endorses intermittent fasting.
Mosley’s disappearance was reported to authorities by his wife on Thursday after he failed to return from a coastal walk alone. A search operation involving police, the coast guard, and the fire brigade was launched on the small Aegean island.
Mosley set out on a stroll in searing temperatures along a rocky coastal path from Agios Nikolaos beach to the village of Pedi. He did not have his mobile phone with him when he went missing, which hindered efforts to trace him.
However, CCTV footage helped sketch out what authorities believed was the route Mosley took during his walk. Symi Mayor Lefteris Papakalodoukas said Mosley chose paths which were “very difficult to walk” in the scorching heat.
“Cameras show that he did not take the expected way back home,” Papakalodoukas said.
In a statement to British tabloid the Daily Mail, Mosley’s wife Dr Claire Bailey Mosley said the days since her husband disappeared had been “the longest and most unbearable days for myself and my children”.
“We will not lose hope,” she said.