Inside the four-day hunt for Michael Mosley
Five days after the disappearance of the doctor and television presenter his body was discovered on Sunday just 80 metres from the sea, which he had so often hailed for its restorative powers.
Michael Mosley was so tantalisingly close to the gentle waves of the Aegean when he collapsed and died.
Five days after the disappearance of the doctor and television presenter his body was discovered on Sunday just 80 metres from the sea, which he had so often hailed for its restorative powers.
It seems particularly cruel that the presenter loved by so many millions of viewers around the world should die alone so close to safety on the Greek island of Symi.
His wife, Clare Bailey, 62, said after his death was confirmed: “We’re taking comfort in the fact that he so very nearly made it.”
Her husband’s body was found by chance in the shade of a low wall topped with a chain-link fence around the beach resort of Agia Marina by the bar manager and a small group of British journalists, including from The Times, who were visiting the area.
On the other side of the fence is a bar, restaurant and sun loungers where dozens of holiday-makers were resting as the journalists made the distressing discovery. Mosley, 67, appeared to have been scrambling down a steep rocky incline to the sea or to the gate leading to the resort.
Security camera footage showed him at 3.44pm on Wednesday last week walking across the top of the mountain above the resort and then turning down towards the sea. He then appeared to stumble and disappear from view behind the wall.
It took Mosley more than two hours to walk across rugged terrain to reach the resort — a journey which normally takes about 30 minutes — signalling that he had become lost or disorientated.
The closed purple umbrella he had carried was a few inches above Mosley’s body when it was found. A black rucksack was about 6m further up the slope, suggesting that he may have abandoned it as he struggled to reach safety.
The Hellenic National Meteorological Service had issued an extreme heat alert earlier that day as temperatures passed 40C (104F). The sight of the crystal clear, azure sea is likely to have driven Mosley forward.
“I love swimming in the sea,” he wrote in a newspaper column in 2019. “Apart from the pleasure of being in the sea, regularly dousing yourself in cold water, whether it is a brisk swim or a cold shower, can boost your mood and bolster your immune system.”
The Mosleys arrived on Symi on Tuesday last week to stay with friends at a villa near the island’s port. The following day they took a water taxi to the beach of St Nicholas with another couple.
They spent the morning swimming in the sea and resting in the shade of pine trees. At 1.30pm Mosley announced that he was returning to the villa. He did not have a mobile phone. The assumption was that he would walk along the coastal path to the village of Pedi and take a bus or taxi the rest of the way. His wife said that he had a bottle of water.
Other visitors at the beach recalled Mosley was carrying a purple umbrella to shade himself from the sun as he climbed the steep set of steps to the coastal path to the village of Pedi. When he failed to reach the villa, his wife called the emergency services at 7pm.
Searches focused initially on the coastal path, which involved a 12-minute walk through the heady aroma from thyme bushes and the occasional hazardous rock or scree.
When no trace of Mosley was found, police began investigating security camera footage from the village. The distinctive umbrella carried by Mosley meant that he could be traced as he walked about the bay to the foot of a mountain pass on the other side.
The police and local authorities were mystified. Why would a 67-year-old man with little water walk up through a mountain pass during the hottest part of the day?
Almost all visitors to Agia Marina arrive by water taxi. The poorly-marked path along the coast rises to 55m and has hazards, including venomous snakes and loose rocks. Few locals use the path. By the time Mosley reached the summit above Agia Marina, he had already walked at least four miles in ferocious heat.
The path goes down to the beach resort or up across the crescent of a hill with a further 90-minute walk to the port where Mosley was staying. He did not take the path to the resort and its neighbouring 15th-century chapel, but appears to have become disorientated and instead followed its fence towards the sea.
On Saturday his wife issued a statement saying “we will not lose hope” and later that day his four children walked the same path. They paused at the resort for drinks before taking the route to the port. They were unaware that as they left the resort, 35m further down the slope, their father lay hidden beside the wall.
Three firefighters spent 40 minutes on Saturday searching the area just yards from the body while a rescue helicopter repeatedly flew over the area.
A small group of British newspaper journalists arrived at the resort by water taxi shortly after 10am on Sunday. The visit was prompted by Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas, the island’s mayor, who said that searches would resume at the neighbouring rocky coastal area known as “the abyss” — which has hidden caves and underground tunnels.
The mayor accompanied the journalists from Pedi and as he returned on the boat with a Greek television crew, a cameraman spotted something “unusual” on the edge of the resort. The mayor called the resort’s owner, who then contacted Ilias Tsavaris, the bar manager.
Tsavaris approached the wall where the object was seen and from a distance noticed the reflected sun from what turned out to be a wristwatch. British journalists who were already in the area accompanied Tsavaris to the fence and the body was found. The blue cap, polo top and shorts matched those that Mosley was photographed wearing at St Nicholas Beach.
Before even seeing the body, Tsavaris, 38, said that his other senses suggested that he had likely found Mosley. He said: “When I walked up, I saw something like a body to make sure … And then I saw what I saw. You don’t see a dead body everyday, it is not a war zone. It’s summer, you are supposed to have fun and swimming.”
The police arrived by boat about 20 minutes later. Tourist boats carrying dozens of people continued to arrive. Guests lounged on sunbeds as officers began examining the body.
Sindy Seenarine, 50, an insurance industry worker, from Surbiton, Surrey, was sunbathing at the resort where the body was found. She said: “The tragedy is he was so close to shelter, maybe he was desperately trying to get here?”
Coroners officers arrived from the nearby island of Rhodes before the body could be removed. Emergency service workers placed the body on a stretcher and covered it with a sheet. There was silence across the resort as the body was carried down to a boat, which left the island at 2.50pm as a waiting coastguard vessel sounded its horn in respect.
Petros Vassilaki, the head of police for Symi, said that a preliminary examination identified the body as Mosley. He was identified by his clothing and wristwatch.
Shortly afterwards, Mosley’s wife said in a statement: “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. We’re also very grateful to the press who have dealt with us with great respect.”
Her announcement was devastating for friends and colleagues. Alice Roberts, the academic and broadcaster who worked with Mosley on the 2009 television series Human Journey, wrote: “The fragility of life is so shocking … I can’t believe he’s gone.”
Saleyha Ahsan, co-presenter on the BBC series Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, described him as a “national treasure” and a “hugely talented” man. Jamie Oliver, the celebrity chef and healthy eating campaigner, praised Mosley’s work for public health with his broadcasting and research. “He was a curious investigator, producer and presenter and often changed the conversation around many public health issues for the better,” he wrote.
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest, the former deputy leader of the Labour Party, described Mosley, who was known for popularising the 5:2 diet, as a “hero”. “Through courageous, science-based journalism, Michael Mosley has helped thousands of people get well and healthy. I’m one of them,” he wrote.
In a recent interview with Kerry Parnell, a freelance journalist, Mosley told how his father died at the age of 74, from complications of diabetes and he added: “I had seen what had happened to my father, he hadn’t seen his grandkids grow up. I thought that’s not a road I want to go down.” Parnell wrote in The Daily Telegraph that Mosley had also told her that neither nor his wife had “any intention of giving up work” and that he intended to keep working “until they tell me to stop”.
It was Mosley’s diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, at the same age as his father’s, that inspired him to discover how diet could help to reverse it, subsequently changing both his health and the course of his professional life. “That is what led me to write a book and pretty well everything that’s happened since,” he said.
The Times
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