Major search for TV doctor Michael Mosley missing on Greek island (2024)

BBC presenter Dr Michael Mosley has gone missing while on a coastal walk on holiday on the Greek island of Symi.

The 67-year-old former medical doctor is known for appearing on television programmes like This Morning and The One Show, and presenting Trust Me I’m a Doctor on BBC Two.

Senior Greek police spokesperson Constantina Dimoglidou confirmed searches for the star began early on Thursday morning, with no trace yet found.

He went missing after he set off hiking along St Nicholas Beach on Wednesday lunchtime."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," the spokesperson said.

"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.”

She added that emergency services were exploring “every potential scenario”.

"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,” Ms Dimoglidou said.

“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's wife, Dr Claire Bailey Mosley, reportedly raised the alarm when he failed to return from the hike.

Police, firefighters, civil protection personnel and volunteers were participating in the search on Thursday, along with at least one sniffer dog, drones and a helicopter.

The Hellenic coast guard was searching the sea around the island.A post on a localFacebookgroup earlier said search and rescue teams from Athens were headed to the island to join the search in the afternoon.

The appeal read: "A search and rescue team is coming from Athens with drones and other more sophisticated equipment to extend the search.

The post, which included a picture of the medic wearing a pair of shorts, a blue polo shirt and baseball cap said: "Have you seen this man? He set off to walk back from St Nick's at about 13.30 and failed to make it home.

“His friends are concerned as it is 6 hours since they last saw him. His name is Dr Mike Mosley and he is a familiar face for many British people."

The rescue operation was said to be focusing on the Pedi area of the island after a woman reported seeing him there on Wednesday.

Mayor of Symi Eleftherios Papakalodoukas said firefighters had told him they believed it was "impossible" Mr Mosley was still there.

He told the BBC: "It is a very small, controlled area, full of people. So, if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now."

A woman who gave her name only as Irini, and who works at Kamares coffee shop on Pedi Beach, told the PA news agency: "They came, the police, with the coast police and firemen, and the rescue team, to carry out the investigation, but I don't think that anything has been found yet."

Another woman in the area said Mosley's disappearance was "strange" as the path he was thought to be on is "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."

A friend of the person Mosley was staying with said she was struggling to understand how anyone could 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."

Mosley is well known for his diet and exercise documentaries, including Channel 4’s Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat?

He also lived with tapeworms in his guts for six weeks for the documentary Infested! Living With Parasites on BBC Four.

The TV personality is also known for advocating for intermittent fasting through the 5:2 diet and The Fast 800 diet. He is also a columnist for the Daily Mail.

He has been given an Emmy nod for BBC science documentary The Human Face, presented by John Cleese and featuring a raft of human faces including Elizabeth Hurley, Pierce Brosnan and David Attenborough.

Mosley has four children with his wife, also a doctor, author and health columnist, who wrote the recipe book Fast 800 Easy.

The couple recently attended the Hay Festival where Mosley presented a special edition of his BBC Radio 4 podcast Just One Thing.