'Race against time': Rescuers fear missing Michael Mosley took wrong turn on 3-hour trek along dangerous mountain path
8 June 2024, 07:10 | Updated: 8 June 2024, 07:14
Rescuers in a desperate search for missing TV doctor Michael Mosley fear he took a wrong turn along a three-hour long mountain path.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Police are working on the assumption that the 67-year-old took a wrong turn while on the way back to his friends' home on the Greek island of Simi.
It comes after new CCTV images showed Dr Mosley half an hour after he left a beach and disappeared.
He and his wife Dr Clare Bailey were on holiday with another couple when he was reported missing on Wednesday afternoon.
The group were travelling by boat and had gone for a swim at Saint Nicolas Beach, but Dr Mosley decided to return by foot at 1.30pm, according to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini.
According to one of the rescuers, this decision was "inexplicable".
The rescuer said: "The path is not easy to follow, if he took a wrong turn, he would be lost," the Telegraph reported.
"He could be anywhere; it is a race against time."
Read more: Mystery deepens as fresh CCTV shows last sighting of missing TV doctor Michael Mosley
CCTV images showing the TV doctor's last movements before disappearing were taken by a restaurant at approximately 2pm local time, according to police.
They show the 67-year-old in a dark t-shirt, pair of shorts, and cap, whilst carrying an umbrella.
Further images which are yet to be shared are said to show him walking up a mountain path at about 2pm.
Two rescue workers told The Sun it is very easy to get lost along the three-hour trail, which takes trekkers back to Symi Town.
TV doctor Michael Mosley goes missing while on holiday in Greece
Earlier on Friday, the children of Michael Mosley flew out to Symi as the search continued.
Alexander, Jack, Daniel and Katherine are understood to be planning to retrace his last known steps in a bid to help discover what happened.
There are concerns the TV and radio presenter may have "fallen from a height" after he set off on a hike in the Pedi area at around 1.30pm on Wednesday.
His wife raised the alarm after he failed to return back to their accommodation hours after he set off for the hike along St Nicholas Beach.
Divers, drones, sniffer dogs, helicopters and emergency services are looking for the 67-year-old in the Pedi area.
It comes after Eleftherios Papakalodoukas, the mayor of Symi, told LBC that Dr Mosley may have fainted and fallen off a cliff due to high temperatures.
Mr Papakalodoukas said the hike would have been dangerous, as temperatures reached 35C on Wednesday.
A yellow weather warning is in place for the region, adding to concerns.
The risk would have been heightened if he did not have any water with him, and he may have suffered dehydration.He said there were “very high cliffs” and rocky terrain on the route from St Nicholas Beach to Pedi.
"We have looked everywhere but we can’t find him," he said.
He added that the search and rescue operation would continue for five days, after which they will have to give up on efforts to find Dr Mosley unless they receive more support from the Greek or British authorities.
Mr Papakalodoukas also said that it would be "impossible" for Dr Mosley to still be in the same area of Symi."It is a very small, controlled area, full of people.
So if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now," he said.An FCDO spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Addressing the TV doctor's disappearance, Senior Police Spokesman Constantina Dimoglidou said: "He was at the beach of Ag. Nikolas with another couple when he decided to go back to his home in the area of Pedi of Symi.
"It was around 1.30pm and he forgot his phone at the beach. Any and every attempt to track him down has not produced any result."We have now asked the fire brigade to assist in the operation in the case that he may have slipped, tripped, fallen, even bitten by a snake, remaining injured somewhere.
"There is just no trace of him. None whatsoever and that means that for us at least, every potential scenario is open and being investigated."
Dr Mosley is credited with raising the popularity of the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet, where people are encouraged to fast for two days per week.
Broadcaster Jeremy Vine sent a message of support to the doctor's family. He wrote: "I'm praying this lovely man is found and thinking of Claire [sic] and the whole Mosley family."
Read more: 'Every minute is a gift': Throat cancer survivor scoops £1million lottery jackpot
Symi is part of the Dodecanese island group and sits about 12 miles north-west of Rhodes.
It has a population of approximately 2,600 people.
The majority of its beaches are remote and people are advised to take boats to visit them.
