Firefighters searching cave called 'The Abyss' for Dr Michael Mosley as volunteer army assembles to find him in Greece
8 June 2024, 23:39 | Updated: 10 June 2024, 09:41
Firefighters searching for missing TV doctor Michael Mosley are looking in caves known as The Abyss - as a volunteer army scours the Greek island on which he was last seen.
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Missing Dr Michael Mosley, 67, disappeared four days ago during a trek on the Greek island of Simi.
Firefighters have been combined the mountain including caves known as "The Abyss" locally - and were seen entering the network on Saturday afternoon.
The rocky terrain is now the centre of the search after all sea searches were stood down on Saturday - seeming to discount theories that the celebrity doctor had fallen into the sea.
A waiter at a nearby beach told The Telegraph: “It’s like a deep system of tunnels, but it is full of water and can spread for kilometres.
"If there is a hole and you fall, you lose your sense of balance and drown there.
“There is a reason they call it 'The ‘Abyss. There is something very strange going on.”
It comes after fresh CCTV showed Dr Mosley walking towards the hills on a Greek island before his disappearance.
In a statement, Michael's wife Dr Clare Bailey said: "It has been three days since Michael left the beach to go for a walk. The longest and most unbearable days for myself and my children.
"The search is ongoing and our family are so incredibly grateful to the people of Symi, the Greek authorities and the British Consulate who are working tirelessly to help find Michael.
"We will not lose hope."
The footage appears to show one of the last-known sightings of Dr Mosley walking with an umbrella next to the marina in the village of Pedi on Wednesday.
He was heading towards the rocky hills northeast of the village.
"The man looks in good form and was walking steadily with no signs of disorientation," a local police officer told the BBC.
It comes after Dr Mosley's brother, Arthur, expressed his "hope that there's a good outcome".
Rescuers in a desperate search for the TV doctor fear he took a wrong turn along a three-hour long mountain path.
"We are very shocked and perplexed by what has happened to him," Arthur Mosley told the Telegraph.
"We know as much as what the police and media has reported, but we are closely following the situation, and hope that there's a good outcome."
"Unfortunately, when you get to my age or his age, accidents like this can happen."
He added: "The family are naturally hoping for a good outcome."
TV doctor Michael Mosley goes missing while on holiday in Greece
Police are working on the assumption that the 67-year-old took a wrong turn while on the way back to his friends' home.
Daphne Tolis, a journalist based in the Greek capital Athens, told LBC News: “It's like a mystery for the police authorities. He’s kind of been swallowed off the face of the earth.
"It's as if he has left the island. Tourists are there all the time. it's a very popular destination with so many tourists going there for sailing, vacation, hiking, swimming. You know, it's idyllic. Small island, picturesque.
“Its population is around 2500 people, so it's very peaceful and there's very low crime rate and generally Greece is safe apart from like petty crime, you know, pickpocketing that kind of stuff.
"So, this is something that he obviously hasn't encountered before. That's why it's even harder to understand what has happened.”
Previously released CCTV images showed Dr Mosley half an hour after he left a beach and disappeared.
They show the 67-year-old in a dark t-shirt, pair of shorts, and cap, whilst carrying an umbrella.
He and his wife 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
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.
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."
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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.
