Dr Michael Mosley’s four children have flown to Greece to retrace his last known steps as the desperate search for the Mail’s health guru moves to the mountains.
Arthur Mosley, Dr Mosley’s brother, said on Friday that the health guru’s three adult sons and one daughter had flown to Greece to join efforts along his route on the island of Symi currently being retraced by police.
‘We are very shocked and perplexed by what has happened to him,’ Arthur told The Telegraph. ‘We know as much as what the police and the media has reported, but we are closely following the situation, and hope that there’s a good outcome.
‘Unfortunately, when you get to my age or his age, accidents like this can happen.’
A search coordinator confirmed early this morning that they had resumed rescue efforts for Dr Mosley, 67, over a mountainous area surrounded by sea as the search entered its fourth day.
Manolis Tsimpoukas, who organises searches for missing people on the Dodecanese Islands, said there has been ‘nothing, nothing’ to narrow the search yet, and that if anything is discovered they will find him within an hour.
It is understood Dr Mosley was last seen by CCTV by a grey-stoned house beside a harbour on the tiny holiday island before vanishing on Wednesday, prompting wide searches by air, land and sea.
Rescuers are currently exploring the possibility Dr Mosley may have walked along a steep uphill concrete road before disappearing.
CCTV footage showed Dr Mosley entering the path at the far end of Pedi – northeast of the island – around 2pm on Wednesday, according to The Telegraph.
At the end of the street, a small rocky path leads into the rocky landscape which has little vegetation beyond thistles and dry grass.
Search coordinator Manolis Tsimpoukas said the area was ‘very dangerous’.
Firefighters nonetheless continued with their frantic coverage of the 6.5km radius from 6am this morning.
One rescuer said the search was becoming a ‘race against time’ as it entered a fourth day.
Another, asked what he thought happened to Dr Mosley, told : ‘What do I think? I think maybe the heat got to him at some stage between the beach and Symi Town.
‘I think he was hot, he was tired and he had some sort of episode and went into the sea to cool off and then he had a heart attack. I’m sure that in a few days we will know more. It could be very sad for his family.
‘I don’t think anything strange has happened to him. This is Symi: it’s a very small island and people just don’t disappear. There is always hope.’
Arthur Mosley, speaking to The Telegraph, said the family are ‘naturally hoping for a good outcome’.
He added that when he last spoke to his brother he was on his way to Symi in ‘good spirits’.
Alexander, Jack, Daniel and Katherine – Dr Mosley’s children – flew out to Greece on Thursday to join the search.
One rescue worker said the search was becoming a ‘race against time’ as it entered a fourth day.
The search moved back to land yesterday after divers, coastguards and fishermen were called upon to help scour the sea for clues.
Greek police are now working on the assumption that the 67-year-old diet guru took a disastrous wrong turn as he walked back to his friends’ home on the tiny holiday island of Symi.
It is believed he may have been embarking upon a three-hour hike to the town of Symi or Gialos from Saint Nicholas’ Beach.
CCTV footage previously showed him passing through Pedi around 1:50pm on Wednesday, some 20 minutes after leaving the beach.
Authorities believe Dr Mosley may have continued north instead of taking the western path towards Symi town, the main town of the island.
The mystery of what has happened to the father-of-four, familiar to millions through his newspaper column, TV work and books, deepened yesterday as CCTV showed him wandering through a port town after leaving his wife, Dr Clare Bailey, and friends at a beach.
Dr Mosley was seen dressed in a blue shirt and shorts resting a purple umbrella on his shoulder to shield himself from sun as he strolled past a café in Pedi less than half an hour after telling Dr Bailey he would walk back to their accommodation.
The confirmed sighting suggested he had made it away from the coastal path making it less likely he had fallen into the water.
Later on, after another possible sighting, officers turned their attentions to a mountainous strip of land between the port of Pedi and the holiday home he was staying at in Symi town.
‘It is the first solid lead we have and the entire weight of the search is now shifting to that area,’ a police official said.
‘He probably lost his way and ended up in this windy, uncharted path that links the two regions of Pedi and [Symi town], winding through a craggy mountain.’
Dr Mosley and his wife landed on the 25-square-mile island on Tuesday and were due to stay for a week with a couple who have a holiday home there.
The following day, the group got a boat-taxi to Saint Nicholas Beach.
Dr Mosley had a swim before setting off in 37C (98F) heat along a well-trodden coastal path to Pedi at around 1.30pm.
Police understood he planned to take a bus from the small port town back home – but he never made it.
Officers have retraced his steps, going door to door and speaking to businesses and homes along the path he’d taken.
They managed to recover CCTV pinpointing Dr Mosley at Kamares Cafe in Pedi around 1:45pm.
Dr Bailey confirmed it was her husband and officers used the distinctive description to match another sighting at nearby Blue Corner café at 1.52pm.
But the trail ran dry with search teams trying to determine if Dr Mosley could have taken a bus, a boat or continued on foot.
Officials then received a possible sighting that placed Dr Mosley heading towards a treacherous path at the edge of Pedi’s small marina at 2pm and scrambled search crews to the area yesterday evening.
It appeared instead of turning off down the main road to Symi town, he may have instead mistakenly followed Pedi marina round and out towards the sea before trying to cut across the peninsula taking a dangerous, craggy route.
‘Even a mountain goat wouldn’t get up there,’ a senior police source told the Mail.
One of the rescuers said any decision to follow the path was ‘inexplicable’.
She said it would have taken a fit young person three hours to walk to his destination. ‘The path is not easy to follow, if he took a wrong turn, he would be lost,’ she said, adding: ‘He could be anywhere. It is a race against time.’
The search was called off at 8pm Greek time as dusk fell and will resume this morning.
Police were last night searching for more CCTV along the marina with some seen making inquires as far out as Agia Marina – right on the sea. It is feared he may have ‘slipped, tripped, fallen’ or even been bitten by a snake.
Locals on Symi have been left stunned at the disappearance.
‘The place is very small,’ Antonis, who has lived on Symi all his life, said. ‘A little kid can’t get lost here. How does a man get lost?’
Firefighters, police, drone and search dogs joined the hunt with Mika Papakalodouka, 20, whose father, Eleftherios, is the mayor of Symi, saying teams were ‘out all night’.
She added that lots of residents had been joining the search using their own boats.