A major TV star has gone missing on the small Greek island of Symi.
The news has shaken both fans and fellow TV personalities alike.
Reacting to the ‘shocking news’, Michael Mosley’s co-star Dr Saleyha Ahsan said she is ‘praying he is found safe’ and she feels ‘sick with worry’, per the BBC.
Presenter Jeremy Vine adds: “I’m praying this lovely man is found and thinking of Claire and the whole Mosley family.”
Money expert Martin Lewis has also shared his concern, writing on X: “Feeling disturbed about the news about Dr Michael Mosley. I hope he’s ok.”
Initially trained as a doctor, Mosley transitioned to a career in television, working with the BBC for many years.
He is well-known for producing and presenting numerous documentaries and series that make complex scientific concepts accessible to a broad audience.
One of his popular shows is Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, where Mosley and other doctors investigate health-related questions and provide evidence-based advice.
He studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at New College, Oxford, UK, before switching to medicine and later joining the Royal Free Hospital Medical School.
But this week, Mosely has been at the centre of a truly bizarre story…
His agent reported that Mosley, known for his work as a columnist and presenter, has been missing since Wednesday, when he went for a coastal hike on the Greek island of Symi.
It was extremely hot in Symi that day, with the National Observatory of Athens reporting temperatures reaching over 40C (104F) at 15:00 local time.
Symi is part of Greece’s Dodecanese island group and sits about 12 miles (19km) northwest of Rhodes.
In the 2021 census, it had a population of approximately 2,600 people.
A search is underway for the 67-year-old.
Mosley was last seen hiking along St Nicholas beach at 1:30 pm local time (11:30 BST).
His wife, Dr. Clare Bailey, alerted authorities after he failed to return by 7:30 pm, but overnight efforts to locate him were unsuccessful.
A local Facebook group has shared a post appealing to anyone on the island who may have seen Mosley.
The post mentions that a search and rescue team from Athens, equipped with drones and other sophisticated equipment, is extending the search.
It reads: “Have you seen this man? He set off to walk back from St Nick’s at about 13:30 and failed to make it home. His friends are concerned as it is 6 hours since they last saw him. His name is Dr. Mike Mosley and he is a familiar face for many British people.”
Greek police informed the Guardian that a helicopter and specially trained dogs were joining the massive search on the remote Aegean isle.
The police chief overseeing the operation, speaking anonymously, said, “We’ve got every service possible out there looking for him.”
The search includes police, firemen, and volunteers, with the Hellenic coastguard patrolling the island’s rugged coast.
Authorities are considering various possibilities, including the effects of heat, a snake bite, or a potential fall.
A senior security official involved in the mission compared the search to ‘a thriller’, noting that Mosley was being hosted by friends on the island where distances are short, yet there had been no sightings.
“It’s crazy, it makes no sense,” he says.
“How can somebody just disappear in broad daylight, in the middle of the day? If something had happened to him we would have found him on, or near, the path he was walking along on his way back to the port where he was staying with friends. And, yet, all these hours later there’s nothing.”
Rumours of a sighting near a bus stop in the resort of Pedi were dismissed after checking CCTV footage.
The search is expected to expand further with additional police squads and fire brigade-trained dogs arriving from Rhodes.
The island’s mayor, Eleftherios Papakalodoukas, said firefighters carrying out the search told him they believed it was ‘impossible Mosley was still there.
“It is a very small, controlled area, full of people. So if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now,” he tells BBC News.
Mr Papakalodoukas says he believes it’s likely Mosley either ‘followed another path’ or had fallen into the sea.
