The wife of TV doctor and columnist Michael Mosley has confirmed that her “wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband” has been found dead on the Greek island of Symi.
Police launched a major search for the 67-year-oldThis Morning star after he was reported missing by his wife Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, having failed to return from a coastal walk in searing heat and without his mobile phone on Wednesday.
A body was found on Sunday in a rocky area close to Agia Marina, near a cave complex known to locals as “the abyss”.
“It’s devastating to have lost Michael, my wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband,” said Dr Bailey Mosley.
“We had an incredibly lucky life together. We loved each other very much and were so happy together. I am incredibly proud of our children, their resilience and support over the past days.
“My family and I have been hugely comforted by the outpouring of love from people from around the world. It’s clear that Michael meant a huge amount to so many of you. We’re taking comfort in the fact that he so very nearly made it. He did an incredible climb, took the wrong route and collapsed where he couldn’t be easily seen by the extensive search team.
“Michael was an adventurous man, it’s part of what made him so special. We are so grateful to the extraordinary people on Symi who have worked tirelessly to help find him. Some of these people on the island, who hadn’t even heard of Michael, worked from dawn till dusk unasked.”
“I feel so lucky to have our children and my amazing friends,” Dr Bailey Mosley added. “Most of all, I feel so lucky to have had this life with Michael.”
Dr Mosley was with his wife and friends at Agios Nikolaos beach before setting off for a walk at around 1.30pm local time, with the alarm raised at 7.30pm and a major search and rescue operation launched, involving local residents, emergency service officials and a helicopter from nearby Rhodes.
CCTV footage showed Mosley had arrived safely in the fishing village Pedi, some 20 minutes from where he first set off. But he is then believed to have taken a more difficult hilly route in severe heat, without his mobile phone.
The mayor said the area where Mosley is believed to have travelled through is “difficult to pass” and is “only rocks”, and is also populated by “loads” of snakes.
British journalists and a hospitality worker were the first to see the body, which was discovered close to the coastline beneath a fence built around the bar on Agia Marina beach, which is surrounded by hilly and rocky terrain that runs down to the sea.
The bar’s manager, Ilias Tsavaris, said he first saw the body after the island’s mayor “saw something” by the fence of the bar and alerted staff. “They saw it with the boat,” he said. “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.
“He came from Pedi okay, and he walked not through the restaurant. If he had walked through there we would have checked the cameras”, said the 38-year-old, adding that “rescuers had searched that area everyday with helicopters”.
The BBC quoted Symi’s mayor as saying: “During our search, as we approached a cave next to the Agia Marina beach, we were shooting along the coastline with cameras. We saw an object next to a fence on the beach and when we zoomed in, we realised it was Michael Mosley’s body.
“He probably fell from a short cliff of around 10 metres high.”
A leather bag was also found next to the body, said Antonios Mystiloglou, a cameraman with state TV ERT, who was on the boat. “I wish we had better news for the family” he tearfully told Sky News, describing how they had found the body.
Dr Mosley is known for being a columnist for the Daily Mail and has made a number of films about diet and exercise.
The broadcaster fronted the Channel 4 show Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat? and was part of the BBC series Trust Me, I’m A Doctor.
He also lived with tapeworms in his gut for six weeks for the documentary Infested! Living With Parasites on BBC Four, and has promoted ketogenic dieting in his work.
Mosley received an Emmy nod for BBC science documentary The Human Face, presented by John Cleese and featuring a raft of famous faces, including Elizabeth Hurley, Pierce Brosnan and Sir David Attenborough.
Mosley has four children with his wife Clare Bailey Mosley, also a doctor, author and health columnist, who wrote the recipe book Fast 800 Easy.
The couple, who have hosted theatre show tours together, recently attended the Hay Festival, where Mosley presented a special edition of his Radio 4 series and podcast Just One Thing.
More follows on this breaking news story
