More officers join search for missing Michael Mosley on Greek island of Symi

More police officers are expected to join the search for missing doctor and television columnist Michael Mosley on the Greek island of Symi on Friday.

Police called in firefighters to help with the search operation and used drones to scour the island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain and about 25 miles north of Rhodes.

A helicopter was also deployed to assist in the search on Thursday at around 7 p.m. local time (5 p.m. BST).

Local police said Thursday evening that the search had been called off for the night but that “more men would arrive” Friday morning.

Mosley, known for popularizing the 5:2 diet and for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, is believed to have disappeared after leaving for a walk to the center of the island on Wednesday.

A statement from local police, which was translated, said officers were informed on Wednesday of the “disappearance of the 67-year-old British national on the island”.

Police then requested help from the Greek Fire Brigade, with six firefighters, a vehicle and a drone team arriving from Rhodes around 2pm (midnight BST) on Thursday.

The rescue operation is said to be focusing on the Pedi area of ​​the island after a woman reported seeing him there on Wednesday.

Symi Mayor Eleftherios Papakalodoukas said firefighters told him they thought it was “impossible” that Mosley was still there.

He told the BBC: “It’s a very small, controlled area, full of people. So if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now.

A woman called Irini, who works at the Kamares cafe on Pedi beach, told the PA news agency on Thursday: “They came, the police, with the coastal police and the fire brigade, and the team rescue, to transport the investigation, but I don't think anything has been discovered yet.

Another local woman said Mosley's disappearance was “strange” because the path he was on was “clear.”

She said: “It's a quiet place… if you see the map of the area it's a clear path, there's nothing dangerous, lots of people go there every day, every few minutes, that's why it's very strange because it's a clear path.

A friend of the person Mosley was staying with said she had a hard time understanding how someone could get lost on the part of the island where they were supposed to be.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Drive programme, she said: “It's a road that goes sort of up the side of a mountain but it's been recently widened and there's only one route, it It is therefore not possible to get lost.

“So it's probably a 20-minute walk down the side of the mountain, but it's not too rugged or anything that might seem too dangerous, it's something tourists do every day in the summer.

“I have a hard time understanding how you could have gotten lost.”

A local Facebook group said Mosley went for a walk from Saint Nikolas beach around 1:30 p.m. Greek time on Wednesday.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man missing in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities. »

Mosley is known for being a columnist for the Daily Mail and has made a number of films on diet and exercise.

The broadcaster presented Channel 4's Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat? and was part of the BBC series Trust Me, I'm A Doctor.

He also lived with tapeworms in his intestine for six weeks for the documentary Infested! Living with Parasites on BBC Four.

Mosley received an Emmy nomination for the BBC science documentary The Human Face, presented by John Cleese and starring many famous faces including Elizabeth Hurley, Pierce Brosnan and Sir David Attenborough.

He also advocated intermittent fasting through the 5:2 diet and The Fast 800 diet.

Trust Me I'm A Doctor star Saleyha Ahsan wrote on social media that the news was “shocking” and that she hoped Mosley would be “found safe”.

“I literally feel worried sick,” Ahsan added. “I don’t even know what to say.”

Jeremy Vine, Radio 2 presenter and Channel 5 talk show host, wrote in a message on social media: “I am praying that this lovely man is found and thinking of Claire and all the Mosley family. »

MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis wrote on X: “I feel disturbed by the news regarding Dr. Michael Mosley. I hope he is well.

Mosley has four children with his wife Clare Bailey Mosley, also a physician, author and health columnist, who wrote the cookbook Fast 800 Easy.

The couple, who have toured theater shows together, recently attended the Hay Festival, where Mosley presented a special edition of his Radio 4 series and podcast Just One Thing.