Missing Dr Michael Mosley’s wife will ‘not lose hope’ as search enters fifth day

Dr Mosley was last seen on CCTV cameras heading towards Symi from the nearby bay of Pedi, where he left his wife on the beach and planned to walk back to the house of friends with whom they were staying, it is believed.

Lucy Holden reports from Symi, Greece:

The mayor of Symi has vowed to continue the extensive search operation – which has involved police, firefighters with drones, Greek Red Cross workers, divers, a search dog and a helicopter operating in dangerous conditions and high temperatures – until Dr Michael Mosley is found.

Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas said the area where Mosley is believed to have travelled through is “difficult to pass” and is “only rocks”, as well as being populated by “loads” of snakes.

Speaking through a translator, the mayor of 22 years questioned how anyone could survive in the heat that topped 40C on the day Mosley disappeared.

Mr Papakaloudoukas said he hoped Mosley would be found “safe and alive”, adding: “All the community is so sad about this, (it has) never happened before.”

Dr Michael Mosley’s family have been urged not to give up their search for the missing TV presenter by the son of a man who similarly disappeared on a Greek island five years ago in a “cut and paste” case.

The 67-year-old health and wellness expert has been missing since Wednesday after taking a coastal walk in searing heat on the Dodecanese island of Symi, in a case that has baffled local residents and has sparked a major search operation.

The case bears eerie similarities to that of John Tossell, a 78-year-old man from Bridgend, south Wales, who went missing on the Greek island of Zakynthos five years ago this month.

“A lot of” island residents had joined the search using their own boats to find British national Michael Mosley, said the mayor’s daughter.

On Friday, Mika Papakalodouka, 20, told the PA news agency: “It is a small island, people talk. We’re good people actually here. Everybody is looking for him.

“It’s such a small island to get lost on. It’s so weird for us. Everybody is worried and looking for him.”

Firefighters started scouring a 6.5km (four-mile) radius over a mountainous area that is surrounded by sea on at 6am on Saturday.

The team of emergency workers were forced to split up to cover the vast expanses of steep rocky terrain on their own, as well as using a drone to search the area.

One uniformed worker said there were 10 of them searching multiple summits because it was too dangerous for large crews to work during the summer months.

Firefighter Stergos Giakoumakis said from near one of the peaks: “It’s not so easy to bring here 100 people, especially this period, because it’s the most dangerous period.

“Everything is dry and it is too dangerous for firemen to search.”

Firefighters were seen using umbrellas to protect themselves as there is no shade or path near the top of the hill that sits between Pedi bay and Agia Marina, where they suspect Mosley may have walked.

Dead grass juts out between rocks and large boulders, and the only living vegetation is a few small shrubs.

An emergency helicopter was seen flying over Pedi bay towards the mountainous terrain where the hunt for Mosley was being carried out around 3.20pm local time.

CCTV images appear to show missing TV doctor Michael Mosley less than half an hour after he left a beach to go on a walk while on a holiday on the Greek island of Symi.

The pictures suggest he walked to the village of Pedi after leaving the beach where he had been with his wife in sweltering temperatures.

A search operation continued on Saturday, involving divers and drones, but authorities are investigating whether he might have left the island altogether.

Lucy Holden reports from Symi, Greece:

On Wednesday afternoon, his wife Dr Clare Bailey raised the alarm when Dr Mosley failed to return to their hotel after going for a walk on the Dodecanese island of Symi.

Here’s a timeline of Dr Mosley’s disappearance:

Search efforts for missing TV doctor Michael Mosley have finished for another day on the Greek Island of Symi as his wife vows to “not lose hope”.

Volunteers and emergency workers continued to search a treacherous mountainous part of the island on Saturday after the 67-year-old TV personality disappeared during a walk on Wednesday.

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

Emergency crews called off the search on Saturday evening as night fell due to the mountainous area they have been searching being too dangerous to explore at night, but it is due to resume on Sunday morning.

Greek authorities shifted their focus to the area after CCTV footage from a house at the edge of a small marina in the village of Pedi showed the presenter walking towards a mountainous path at about 2pm local time on Wednesday.

New footage released on Saturday also appears to show Mosley walking unimpeded with an umbrella near to the marina.

Mosley’s four children have joined their mother on Symi to help with the search efforts.