Local officials on the Greek island of Symi have confirmed that a body found this morning is that of missing TV doctor Michael Mosley, although formal identification has yet to take place.
A coroner is currently at the scene and the body will be transported to Rhodes for an autopsy examination.
Mosley, 67, disappeared after setting out on a coastal walk on the island.
“He has been found in the area of Ayia Marina,” the island’s deputy mayor, Nikitas Grillas, told the Guardian. “I can confirm that it is him.”
On the fifth day of an increasingly desperate search, Mosley was reportedly discovered by a camera operator from the state broadcaster ERT.
The body was located on rocky terrain near a fence, about 164 feet from a small resort only accessible by boat or foot, on the opposite side of the bay from where he had left his wife and friends earlier that day. The baseball cap he was wearing and the umbrella he carried for sun protection were found with him.
“It is clear from his watch and clothes that it is Dr. Mosley,” police spokesperson Konstantina Dimoglou said. It remains uncertain how long he had been deceased. “We don’t know that yet but what we do know is that he had walked a very long way, he was very close to his destination.”
A news camera crew noticed the body lying on the rocky terrain from a boat in the bay of Ayia Marina, zooming in on an image they captured.
“We located him [from a boat] when we went into the bay of Ayia Marina,” said ERT journalist Aristides Miaoulis, describing how the camera operator saw “something strange” near a fence about 164 feet from the sea. “Once we zoomed in, we saw it was this man because his watch was glinting [in the sun].”
Now, local officials on the Greek island of Symi have confirmed that the body is that of the TV doctor, ahead of the impending autopsy, Sky News reports.
The island’s mayor, who was with the media team, mentioned that despite 200 people having searched the site previously, Mosley had not been found. The Hellenic coastguard quickly responded to the area, which was subsequently taped off. The discovery came on the day search teams shifted their focus to a set of caves near Ayia Marina beach. Blurred images showed the remains on rocky land by a chain-link fence close to the beach resort.
Mosley, a father of four, was thought to be hiking from St. Nikolas beach to the port of Symi Town, where his holiday villa is located.
This week, Symi experienced extreme weather warnings, with temperatures soaring above 104F in the afternoon.
The body was found amid a massive air, land, and sea operation to find the TV presenter and health guru, known for popularizing intermittent fasting and creating the 5:2 diet. Mosley set off from St. Nikolas beach at 1:30PM local time on Wednesday, heading for the port town of Symi, but vanished near the seaside village of Pedi.
His wife, Dr. Clare Bailey, raised the alarm when he failed to return by 7:30PM. A search and rescue mission was launched, involving police, firefighters, specially trained dogs, and volunteers. Bailey was later joined by the couple’s adult children on the island.
Mosley, a columnist for the Daily Mail, produced numerous documentaries about diet and exercise, including the Channel 4 show Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat? He also featured in the BBC series Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.
For the BBC Four documentary Infested! Living With Parasites, Mosley lived with tapeworms in his gut for six weeks.
He is credited with popularizing the 5:2 diet, which involves fasting for two days a week for weight loss. In 1995, he was named Medical Journalist of the Year by the British Medical Association.
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