Mystery over Michael Mosley’s final moments as backpack found 20ft further up hill from body – and 100 yards from help
DOCTOR Michael Mosley’s wife paid a heart-rending tribute to her husband of 37 years after a four-day search for him ended in tragedy.
Clare Bailey thanked rescue teams who scoured mountain paths in blistering heat after he apparently lost his bearings trying to walk from a beach to their holiday home on the Greek island of Symi.
The body of the 67-year-old TV favourite was finally found 100 yards from the safety of a restaurant — and 150 yards from a spot searched by their four grown-up children the day before.
Dr Bailey, 62, said: “I don’t know quite where to begin with this. It’s devastating to have lost Michael, my wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband.
“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.
“We’re also very grateful to the Press who have dealt with us with great respect.
“I feel so lucky to have our children and my amazing friends. Most of all, I feel so lucky to have had this life with Michael.”
The couple had arrived with two friends on the ten-mile wide island on Tuesday and visited St Nikolas beach on Wednesday.
At 1.30pm the health guru set off alone to walk back to their accommodation in Symi Town, where he had left his phone.
The journey should have taken around 20 minutes. CCTV showed him in the town of Pedi, walking with an umbrella to shelter from the baking sun.
He is believed to have then taken a wrong turn, clambering over a rocky two-mile trail towards Agia Marina, accessible only by foot or water taxi.
Dr Mosley, often seen on The One Show and This Morning, was reported missing at 7.30pm and a search involving up to 100 people was launched the next morning.
His children Alexander, Jack, Daniel and Katherine flew out to help.
Yesterday Symi mayor Eleftherios Papakalodoukas accompanied media to Agia Marina on a 15-minute water taxi but glanced back as they left for Pedi.
Spotting something suspicious, he called a beach restaurant and alerted staff.
'SADDEST STORY I'VE WORKED ON'
Early yesterday we headed to Agia Marina with British journalists to view the area known as the Abyss caves following fears Dr Michael Mosley may have fallen in there.
What we found was much worse than anything I could have ever imagined.
He had endured more than a two-hour walk in searing temperatures to get to this point.
Sun photographer Simon Jones and I wanted to film a piece explaining the latest development.
But we were interrupted by the bar’s manager who was indicating he had seen something on the other side of the barbed wire fence.
I peered over and saw the body of Dr Mosley, with a dropped umbrella nearby.
I froze. It was horrifying and incredibly overwhelming. I was hit by an intense shock and sadness. I felt sick and at several points I was on the verge of tears.
It is among the saddest stories I have worked on.
Immediately I dashed back to the restaurant area where everyone else was to help raise the alarm.
“There’s a body over there,” I said, as the bar manager got his colleague to phone the police.
It then became chaotic. I was still trying to process what I had just seen.
Staff were running around and trying to keep people away as tourists were coming up trying to see what was going on.
I was here to report on the search for Dr Michael Mosley.
The tragedy of this is that he was just yards from the beach resort where he could have sat and had water.
Search parties were looking so close to this area in the previous days without noticing his exposed body, and even a low-flying helicopter had scoured the terrain. But he was never found.
By Ed Southgate, in Symi
Sun journalist Ed Southgate and photographer Simon Jones were told what had been seen.
As the Sun team walked to the beach resort they saw shocked bar manager Ilias Tsavaris. One of his colleagues called police while tourists nearby were ushered away.
‘Very sad’
Mr Tsavaris, 38, said: “I feel very sad. You don’t see a dead body every day. It’s summer, you are supposed to have fun and swim.”
Dr Mosley’s body was away from a designated path lined by barbed wire.
His backpack was around 20ft further up the rocky hill.
A police officer at the scene suffered a suspected broken leg as he jumped from a wall close to the body and had to be carried away on a stretcher.
CCTV seen by The Sun showed Dr Mosley walking down the mountainous route towards Agia Marina.
He is seen descending towards a wall before disappearing from view. It is unclear if he sat down or stumbled.
He was seen on the camera at 3.44pm — two hours and 14 minutes after he left St Nikolas Beach, and around an hour and 45 minutes since walking through Pedi.
Last night there were theories Dr Mosley was either trying to get to the resort or had been heading to the sea hoping to cool down in 37C temperatures, then collapsed or slipped and banged his head.
It’s absurd we didn’t find him and questions will be asked
Police source
A coroner travelled to Symi yesterday from mainland Greece and ruled out anything suspicious.
Dr Mosley’s body was covered, placed on a stretcher and carried the short distance to a boat.
He was taken to Rhodes, around 25 miles away, where a full post-mortem will be conducted today.
His wife is understood to have accompanied Dr Mosley and will formally identify him.
Questions remained over why it took so long to find him, despite rescuers calling in a helicopter and drones.
A sniffer dog was also brought in from Athens — and was yesterday seen with burnt paws from the blisteringly hot rocks.
Greek authorities originally feared Dr Mosley had fallen into the sea or been bitten by one of the island’s venomous snakes.
But the search switched inland when CCTV images emerged on Friday afternoon showing him clutching the umbrella as he walked through Pedi town.
By Saturday the search was focused on the route to Agia Marina, with crews searching the rocky area above a perilous underwater cave system known to locals as the Abyss.
At one point teams appeared to be within around 50 yards from where the body was finally found.
One highly 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.
“The CCTV cameras should have been checked much sooner and more quickly.”
Dr Mosley was one of Britain’s best known medics, popularising the 5:2 diet and writing a string of best-selling books.
Timeline of Dr Mosley's disappearance
WEDNESDAY JUNE 5
- 1.30pm: Dr Mosley decides to walk home alone to his holiday home in the town of Symi after going for a swim at a beach
- 1.50pm: The walk home is said to take around 20 minutes from Saint Nikolaos beach despite the doctor never making it back
- 1.52pm: CCTV catches Dr Mosley walking past a shop in Pedi
- Approx 2.20pm: Witnesses claim to have seen Dr Mosley talking to an elderly man in the town with one other person present
- 2.30pm-5pm: Doc was last seen on a house camera on a treacherous path heading towards the Agia Marina
- 7.30pm: Dr Mosley’s wife, Dr Clare Bailey, raises the alarm and calls cops
THURSDAY JUNE 6
- 10.30am: Police file missing person report and the search gets underway
- 11am: Police appeal for any information
- 2pm: Six firefighters, a vehicle and a drone team were all seen arriving in Symi from Rhodes
- 7pm: Helicopters deployed over the island
- 8pm: First day of the search called off for the night
FRIDAY JUNE 7
- 7am Extra police squadrons, coast guard officials, specially-trained sniffer dogs and military helicopters helped in the search
- 5pm The first CCTV images are released of Dr Mosley with his umbrella near the Blue Corner bar
SATURDAY JUNE 8
- 7am Police launch a search of a new area of around 7km as they step up the hunt
- 10.50am: New CCTV is released showing Mosley leaving Pedi and heading towards mountainous path
- 11am Symi’s mayor says ‘no chance’ search will be called off until he is found
- 12pm Mosley’s wife Clare says the family will ‘not lose hope‘ but confesses the last few days have been ‘unbearable’
- 3pm A helicopter joins the search effort in the mountains
SUNDAY JUNE 9
- 10.50am Body found in the search close to caves known as ‘The Abyss’
- 11am Police say they believe the body to be that of Dr Mosley
- 2.50pm Body removed by boat from Symi
- 3.30pm Dr Clare Bailey confirms her ‘wonderful’ husband’s death
