The failure to find Dr Michael Mosley sooner has been branded "absurd" as questions grow over how rescuers missed him during a four-day search.
The TV doctor’s wife, Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, confirmed a body discovered on Sunday morning in a rocky area near Agia Marina beach on the Greek island of Symi was that of her husband, describing the loss as “devastating”.
The 67-year-old went missing after leaving his wife and friends at Agios Nikolaos beach on Wednesday.
His widow said he appeared to have undertaken an “incredible climb, took the wrong route and collapsed where he couldn’t be easily seen” by emergency search teams.
An anonymous, well-placed police source told The Sun: “We had everyone — every service, in every branch out there looking for him on this small island. It’s absurd we didn’t find him and questions will be asked."
An initial examination by a coroner has ruled out foul play but further tests are due to be carried out on the father-of-four in Rhodes to confirm a cause of death, the Daily Mail has reported.
On Saturday, an emergency services helicopter spent hours flying across the mountainous search site on Symi between Pedi bay and Agia Marina, and hovered over the spot where the body was later found.
Agia Marina bar manager Ilias Tsavaris, 38, first spotted the body just 100 metres from his property after the island’s mayor “saw something” by the fence of the bar and alerted staff.
The search effort had been widespread, operating in dangerous conditions and high temperatures, and included police, firefighters with drones, Greek Red Cross workers, divers, a search dog and a helicopter.
A police officer at the scene reportedly broke their leg after jumping from a wall near the body and had to be stretchered away.
A sniffer dog was also seen with burnt paws due to the scorching hot rocks, the Mirror reported.
Greek authorities shifted their focus on Saturday after CCTV footage from a house at the edge of a small marina in Pedi showed the presenter walking towards a mountainous path at about 2pm local time on Wednesday.
The broadcaster’s has sparked an outpouring of grief from his loved ones and fans of his science programmes and films, with friends and colleagues praising him for innovating the world of science and health broadcasting.
His co-presenter on BBC series Trust Me, I’m A Doctor Chris van Tulleken hailed him as “one of the most important broadcasters of the last few decades” as he paid tribute.
Mimi Spencer, who co-authored The Fast Diet with Dr Mosley, paid tribute to him as "immediately likeable, genuinely funny" and said she will "miss him terribly".
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, she said: "In person he was very much the sort of figure that you would see on television: immediately likeable, genuinely funny, enthusiastic, he had this innate enthusiasm about life and he was always very generous with his time.”
