Body of missing British TV presenter Michael Mosley found on Greek island

ATHENS (AP) — The body of missing British television presenter Michael Mosley was found Sunday morning on a Greek island after a days-long search, his family said.

A police spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to an ongoing investigation, said a body had been found on a rocky coast by a private boat and official identification was in progress.

Mosley's wife said in a statement that her husband took the wrong route while hiking and collapsed where his body could not be easily seen. Mosley went missing on the island of Symi on Wednesday afternoon.

“Michael was an adventurous man, that’s part of what made him so special,” said Dr. Clare Bailey Mosley. “It’s devastating to have lost Michael, my wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband. We have had an incredibly lucky life together. We loved each other very much and were so happy together.

She thanked the residents of Symi Island who she said worked tirelessly to find him.

“Some of these people on the island, who hadn’t even heard of Michael, were working from dawn to dusk without being asked,” she said. “My family and I have been extremely heartened by the outpouring of love from people around the world. It is clear that Michael meant a lot to many of you.

Lefteris Papakalodoukas, the island's mayor, told The Associated Press that he was on the boat with media representatives when they saw a body about 20 meters above Agia Beach. Marina. “We zoomed in with the cameras and saw it was him,” he said.

The mayor said Mosley appeared to have fallen down a steep, rocky slope, stopping against a fence and lying face up with some rocks on top.

As police recovered Mosley's body, one of them fell down the slope and had to be carried on a stretcher, local media reported. The body will be transported to the neighboring island of Rhodes for an autopsy.

Mosley, 67, was well known in Britain for his regular appearances on television and radio and for his column in the Daily Mail newspaper. He was known outside the UK for his 2013 book “The Fast Diet”, which he co-wrote with journalist Mimi Spencer. The book proposed the so-called “5:2 diet,” which promised to help people lose weight quickly by minimizing their calorie intake two days a week while eating healthily the other five days.

He then introduced a rapid weight loss program and made a number of films on diet and exercise.

Mosley often pushed his body to extremes to see the effects of his diet and also lived with tapeworms in his guts for six weeks for the BBC documentary “Infested!” Living with parasites.

Mosley had four children with his wife Clare Bailey Mosley, who is also a physician, author and health columnist.

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Brian Melley contributed to this report from London.