Massive police search resumes for Michael Mosley after ‘strange’ disappearance from ‘safe path’ on Greek hols island
A MASSIVE police search for Michael Mosley has resumed today on a Greek island, with his disappearance branded “strange” by a local.
The BBC star, who went missing after leaving St Nicholas Beach to walk back to Pedi, was feared by cops to have “fallen from a height”.
TV doctor Michael Mosley disappeared from a Greek island on Wednesday eveningRex
FacebookDr Michael Mosley pictured before he went missing on the island of Symi[/caption]
Dr Mosley was on holiday with his wife Dr Clare Bailey when he vanishedRex
ReutersA helicopter takes part in massive search operations for the British broadcaster[/caption]
One woman in the area claimed the disappearance was particularly “strange” because Dr Mosley’s path back to where he was staying with his wife Dr Clare Bailey was “clear”.
She said: “It’s a quiet place … if you see the map of the area it’s a clear path, it’s nothing dangerous.
“Many people go every day, every few minutes, that’s the reason it’s very strange because it’s a clear path.”
The search for the missing TV doctor and columnist resumed today on the Greek island of Symi where he was last seen on Wednesday.
Police, firefighters, the coast guard, and volunteers have been searching for Dr Mosley, 67, on land and sea using a helicopter, drones, and a rescue dog – as temperatures soar to 40C.
More officers are set to join the already-massive hunt today, along with six more firefighters, a vehicle, and a drone team from Rhodes.
Dr Mosley’s wife Dr Bailey, 62, alerted cops on Wednesday evening when he failed to return home by 7.30pm from the 10-minute coastal walk.
Officers paused the search-and-rescue operation on Thursday night.
The mayor of Symi, Eleftherios Papakalodoukas, also said it was “strange” that the doctor could have disappeared while walking the route he was believed to have taken.
He told reporters: “It is very strange. You can’t disappear, you can’t get lost.”
The mayor said it was only a 10-minute walk from the beach to Pedi, and that it would take another 40 minutes to reach a main road.
Witnesses are set to be quizzed amid claims the doctor – known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his TV appearances – was spotted talking to people in the village of Pedi, halfway through his walk.
Mayor Papakalodoukas previously said firefighters searching for the doctor believed it was “impossible” he was there.
Papakalodoukas told BBC News: “It is a very small, controlled area, full of people.
“So if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now.”
The mayor said he thought Dr Mosley, who is a columnist for the Daily Mail, likely either “followed another path” or fell into the sea.
Police initially said the the doctor may have “fallen from a height” or lost consciousness on the short hike home along a rocky path from the Saint Nicholas Beach at about 1.30pm.
They also said the star could have suffered a heart attack due to Wednesday’s searing 37C heat or been bitten by a snake.
Senior police spokeswoman Constantina Dimoglidou initially told the Daily Mail that the doctor had “forgot his phone at the beach”, which made efforts to track him digitally difficult.
His device was later found at the accommodation where he was staying with his wife, a police spokesperson told the BBC.
A senior police official who declined to be named said: “So far, we don’t have evidence of what may have happened, whether it is an accident … or something else.”
The specific movements of Dr Mosley, his wife Dr Bailey, and another couple they were travelling with that day have not been completely clarified by police.
One woman who said she is a friend of someone Dr Mosley was staying with said she also could not understand how someone would get lost on the part of the island he was believed to be on.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Drive programme, she said: “It’s a road that sort of heads over the mountain side but it’s been recently widened and there is only one route, so it’s not possible to lose your way.
“So, it is probably a 20-minute walk down the side of the mountain, but it’s not overly rugged or something that would be seen to be too dangerous, it’s something that tourists do every day in the summer.
“I’m having trouble understanding how you could get lost.”
Timeline for Dr Mosley's disappearance
WEDNESDAY 6 MAY
1:30PM- Dr Mosley decides to walk home alone to his holiday home in the town of Symi after going for a swim at a beach
1:50PM- The walk home is said to take around 20 minutes from Saint Nikolaos Beach despite the doctor never making it back
AROUND 2:20PM- Witnesses claim to have seen Dr Mosley talking to an elderly man in the town with one other person present
7:30PM- Dr Mosley’s wife, Dr Clare Bailey, raises the alarm and calls cops
THURSDAY 7 MAY
10:30AM- Police file missing person report and the search gets underway
2PM- Six firefighters, a vehicle and a drone team were all seen arriving in Symi from Rhodes
7PM- Helicopters deployed over the island
FRIDAY 8 MAY
Extra police squadrons, coast guard officials, specially-trained sniffer dogs and military helicopters expected to help in the search
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