Missing British health journalist found dead on Greek island: police | National

British health guru and television personality Michael Mosley was found dead on the Greek island of Symi on Sunday, days after he went missing, police said.

“People on a boat saw a body near the rocky coast,” Petros Vassilakis, police chief of the southern Aegean region, told AFP.

The lifeless body was spotted by a television crew from Greek public broadcaster ERT, which was filming the area where the 67-year-old disappeared on Wednesday after setting off alone for a coastal walk in the heat.

“It is devastating to have lost Michael, my wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband,” his wife, Clare Bailey, said in a statement confirming his death.

“It made an incredible climb, took the wrong path and collapsed where it couldn't be easily seen by the search team,” she said.

Bailey Mosley thanked the “extraordinary” people in Symi who worked “tirelessly” to help her find her husband, some working “from dawn to dusk without being asked”.

ERT journalist Aristide Miaoulis said on air that one of the team's cameramen “saw something strange near the fence, 50 meters (164 feet) from the sea.”

“We found out it was this man… He was lying (on his back).”

Symi Mayor Lefteris Papakalodoukas was also part of the crew and confirmed that they had found Mosley, who was vacationing on the island with his wife.

“It is the body of the journalist that we have been looking for for several days,” he told ERT.

Papakalodoukas said Symi was living in “unbearable heat” and that the area where Mosley was last seen was “difficult because it is very rocky.”

– 'Brilliant scientific broadcaster' –

Coroner Despina Nathena told ERT Mosley that Mosley's death did not appear to be the result of foul play.

But the network said Nathena could not “determine the exact cause of death” due to the delay in finding his body.

Much of Greece saw record temperatures for the first week of June, reaching 39.3 degrees Celsius (103 degrees Fahrenheit) in Symi, close to Rhodes and western Turkey.

Greek authorities announced Friday they were intensifying the search for Mosley, who worked as an investment banker before earning his medical degree and then becoming a presenter, documentarian, journalist and best-selling author.

He has made science and historical documentaries and carved out a niche as an on-camera health guru and author of best-selling diet books.

Credited with popularizing the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet, he was known for his British television programs including “Trust Me, I'm a Doctor” and his BBC radio podcast “Just One Thing.”

He appeared regularly on the BBC's “The One Show” and ITV's “This Morning” and was a columnist for the tabloid newspaper Daily Mail.

Tom Watson, a former deputy leader of Britain's main opposition Labor Party who lost weight thanks to one of Mosley's books, paid tribute to a “hero” who produced “courageous and scientific journalism”.

Saleyha Ahsan, Mosley's co-presenter on “Trust Me, I'm A Doctor”, told BBC News she has a passion for making science “accessible to everyone”.

Charlotte Moore, head of content at the BBC, said: “He was a brilliant broadcaster and creator of science programmes, able to simplify the most complex subjects… (and) inspiring us all to live healthier and healthier lives. more fulfilled.”

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