The body of TV doctor Michael Mosley is believed to have been found.
Dr Michael Mosley went missing earlier this week
The 67-year-old British medic went missing when he went for a hike along St. Nikolas beach on the Greek island of Symi on Wednesday (05.06.24) afternoon, and rescuers have now found a body by a cave complex near the sea, which local deputy mayor Nikitas Grillas has stated is that of the 'Trust Me, I'm A Doctor' star.
The deputy mayor told The Guardian newspaper: “He has been found in the area of Ayia Marina.
“I can confirm that it is him.”
And Symi's mayor, Lefteris Papakalodoukas told Sky News the body - which was located around 10 metres from the sea - did not appear to show any injury. He explained he and members of the media had been in a boat on the way to search a cave when they saw something on the rocks above the beach.
They were filming as they went and when they studied the camera footage, they could see it was a body. An umbrella was found alongside the body.
Agia Marina bar manager Ilias Tsavaris, 38, was alerted to the discovery by the mayor.
He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “They saw it with the boat. The mayor came and saw something so that is when they called me and said ‘hey they saw something go and check there’.
“They called me, they said ‘you know what we saw something from far away can you go and check’ so I went there.
“So when I walked up I saw something like a body to make sure. You don’t see a dead body every day, it is not a warzone, it’s summer you are supposed to have fun and swimming.”
A police spokesman, who spoke to the outlet on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said formal identification was pending.
Michael's wife, Dr. Clare Bailey, raised the alarm at 7.30pm on Wednesday, six hours after she last saw him, when he failed to return from his walk and a huge search-and-rescue operation was launched involving police, firefighters, specially-trained dogs, a drone, and volunteers, with the group believed to be working on the theory that he may have been affected by the heat and fallen.
On Saturday (08.06.24), Clare - whose four children flew out to the island to join the search over the weekend - had vowed not to "lose hope" of finding her husband alive and well.
She 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 doctor and health guru was best known for popularising intermittent fasting and designing the 5:2 diet, which involves eating a significantly lower number of calories two days a week.
He made a number of documentaries about diet and exercise, including infamously living with tapeworms in his gut for six weeks for BBC Four's 'Infested! Living With Parasites'. He was also a columnist for the Daily Mail newspaper.
He was named medical journalist of the year by the British Medical Association in 1995.