This Morning star Michael Mosley
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Body found in search for This Morning star Dr Michael Mosley

He was last seen on Wednesday after heading off for a hike

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A body has been found in the search for This Morning star Dr Michael Mosley after he went missing in Greece on Wednesday (June 5).

His wife, Dr Clare Bailey, raised the alarm after he failed to return to their holiday home – six hours after leaving for his hike along the beach.

Michael Mosley speaking on This Morning
Police investigated several theories over Michael’s disappearance (Credit: ITV)

Michael Mosley missing: Body found

A body has been found in the search for the TV doctor, who went missing on a Greek island, police and the deputy mayor of Symi Lefteris Papakalodoukas have confirmed on June 9.

The body was found close to a cave complex beside Agia Marina on Symi, around 10 metres from the sea, and did not appear to show any signs of injury, the mayor told Sky News.

Meanwhile, a police spokesman said the body was found on a rocky coast by a private boat and that formal identification was pending.

Here’s a full timeline on his disappearance.

June 4 – arrival on Symi

Dr Mosley and his wife arrived on the 25-square-mile island on Tuesday. They were due to stay for a week with a couple who have a house in Symi Town.

June 5, 1.30pm – Dr Michael Mosley heads off on hike

The two couples took a boat taxi from Symi Port up the coast on Wednesday morning. They stopped at St Nikolas beach. Here, the diet doctor, a father of four, went for a swim in the sea before deciding to walk the 2.2 miles back home.

At 1.30pm, Dr Michael Mosley was last seen leaving Saint Nikolas beach. He is believed to have been heading off on the coastal path back to nearby Pedi.

He was wearing a pair of shorts, a blue polo shirt, a blue baseball cap and sunglasses. Reports claim that he accidentally left his mobile phone on the beach.

Michael Mosley speaking on Loose Women
Michael’s wife raised the alarm of his disappearance (Credit: ITV)

June 5, 2.30pm – seen in the town?

An hour later, it was claimed that witnesses saw Dr Mosley talking to an elderly man in the town. However, after checking CCTV, investigators reportedly ruled out that the sighting was of Dr Mosley.

Temperatures are said to have climbed to 40C during the afternoon. Police fear he may have fainted as a result of the extreme heat. It was also claimed that he may have “fallen from height”.

June 5, 7.30pm – Dr Michael Mosley’s wife calls police

Dr Clare Bailey, concerned for her husband’s safety, alerts police that her husband is missing after he fails to return home.

Overnight, local authorities start tracing his route. Locals claim it’s “impossible” to get lost on the coastal path thought to have been taken by Dr Mosley.

June 6, 10.30am – missing persons report filed and search gets underway

Police file a missing persons report and the search for Dr Michael Mosley gets underway.

At 11am, an appeal about his disappearance is posted on local Facebook group Friends of Symi. It described the doctor and asked locals to look for him, saying: “Have you seen this man? He set off to walk back from St Nick’s at about 13.30 and failed to make it home. His friends are concerned as it is six hours since they last saw him. His name is Dr Mike Mosley and he is a familiar face for many British people.”

At midday, Greek authorities are seen scouring the coast. They then extend the search area from the immediate vicinity of his disappearance.

June 6, 1pm – first reports of Dr Mosley’s disappearance surface

Dr Mosley’s disappearance is first reported in the UK press.

At 2pm, six local firefighters, a vehicle and a drone team are seen arriving on the island of Symi from neighbouring Rhodes.

Michael Mosley
Sniffer dogs and a dive team have joined the search (Credit: Channel 5)

June 6, 7pm – helicopter deployed

The search took to the air on Thursday evening, with a helicopter taking off from the capital Athens to join the search.

Volunteers, police officers, a drone and a police dog are also seen assisting in the search. CCTV footage is also reviewed for any sign of the missing medic.

Dr Mosley’s The One Show colleague Alex Jones shares her heartbreak over his disappearance.

Overnight, police announce that the search operation will pause for the night. However, they shared that it would resume with “more men” on Friday morning.

June 7, 10am – disappearance addressed on This Morning

Vanessa Feltz, Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary address Dr Mosley’s disappearance at the start of the show.

He’s a regular on the series, with Vanessa admitting that he lights up whatever room he enters. “I couldn’t love him more,” she tells the hosts.

Meanwhile, the search resumed in Greece, with temperatures in Symi set to reach 48C.

June 7 – sniffer dogs and dive team join search

A sniffer dog is brought in from Athens to retrace Dr Michael’s last-known steps.

Divers also join the search for the missing doctor. It’s claimed they’re seen “looking into the water” with the help of the Hellenic Coast Guard.

Speaking with The Sun, the security officer leading search and rescue operations said: “We’ll retrace his footsteps, we’ll scour the entire area. The arrival of the dog, trained by police for exactly this kind of situation, is crucial.”

A team of five Rhodes-based investigators are also due to arrive on the tiny isle to take witness statements and expand the probe.

The security officer continued: “People will be brought in for questioning as we go into the next phase of the investigation.”

June 7, 2pm – authorities looking into possibility he ‘fell off cliff and into sea’

According to The Express, officials conducting the search are now said to be looking into a new, more “complex” scenario into the doctor’s disappearance.

George Evgenidis, anchor of Greece’s Star TV channel, claimed: “When the story broke, we were surprised, but it is not uncommon in Greece that accidents occur with tourists during summertime. However, when we realised that the person missing was a well-known British dietitian, then the story took another dimension. I think this is why there is great zeal and diligence in the search and rescue operations of the authorities.

“There is no official information or update on the course of the search. However, according to information, a scenario that is being examined is that he fell off a rock and then into the sea. This means that the search and rescue operations will be more complex than if he had an accident on the ground.”

He then added: “As far as I understand, the authorities are looking more into the scenario that he fell off the cliff and then into the sea.”

CCTV images of Dr Michael Mosley
CCTV images of Dr Michael Mosley have been released by police (Credit: BBC)

June 7, 4.30pm – CCTV images released

Late afternoon on Friday, police in Greece shared CCTV images of a man matching Dr Mosley’s description.

Two CCTV stills were released that show Dr Mosley resting an umbrella on his shoulder while dressed in the same blue shirt and shorts he had on earlier. They’re the last known images of the TV doctor.

They are time-stamped 1.52pm – 22 minutes after he set off for his hike.

They were taken from the Blue Corner in Pedi, a fishing village a 15-minute walk from St Nicholas. It’s around a quarter of the way through the walk back to his holiday home.

CCTV images of Dr Michael Mosley
The images show that he made it to the town of Pedi (Credit: BBC)

Last pictures of missing Dr Michael Mosley

The CCTV video clip released then shows him walking towards the marina part of Pedi. From there he could have taken a boat back to Symi or carried on over the peninsula along rugged terrain with no shelter from the searing heat.

Police told The Sun: “We know now that he crossed the path, that he made it to the other side and got to Pedi. Now we have to look at all the possible paths he could have taken from there.”

June 7 – reports Dr Mosley was ‘feeling unwell’

Greek journalist Ionna Niaoti claimed in an interview with Talk TV that the TV doctor had told his wife that he “was not feeling very well” and “wanted to return home”.

Ionna alleged: “It is understood that about 1.30pm local time, he said he was not feeling very well and he wanted to return home. So he went to a coastal path reaching the closest the village of Pedi, and this was the last time somebody saw him in Pedi.”

June 8 – brother of missing Dr Michael Mosley breaks silence

On Saturday (June 8), Arthur Mosley, brother of Dr Michael, broke his silence on the disappearance.

He said: “We are very shocked and perplexed by what has happened. His children have now all gone to Greece and are walking the path trying to find him. We know as much as what the police and the media has reported, and hope there’s a good outcome.”

He then added: “Unfortunately, when you get to Michael’s age, accidents like this can happen.”

Arthur added that his brother had been in “good spirits” before he went on holiday.

New CCTV images: ‘First solid lead’

Also on June 8 it was reported that further images not shared with the media are said to show Dr Mosley later walking up a treacherous mountainous path from the town at about 2pm on the day he disappeared.

After the sighting, officers turned their attentions to a mountainous strip of land between the port of Pedi and the holiday home he was staying at.

Two rescue workers claimed it’s very easy to get lost along the trail as it goes inland and doesn’t follow the sea. The path is a three-hour route back to Symi Town, where Dr Mosley was staying.

A police official said: “It is the first solid lead we have. The entire weight of the search is now shifting to that area. 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.”

Rescuers also said they faced a “race against time” to find the TV doctor.

June 8 – 12.30pm: Dr Clare Bailey – wife of missing Michael Mosley – shares statement

Dr Clare Bailey broke her silence on Saturday afternoon (June 8) as the search for her husband entered its third day.

In a statement, she said the family “will not lose hope” they find her husband alive and well.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, she said: “It has been three days since Michael left the beach to go for a walk. The longest and most unbearable days for myself and my children. The search is ongoing and our family are so incredibly grateful to the people of Symi, the Greek authorities and the British Consulate who are working tirelessly to help find Michael. We will not lose hope.”

Read more: 7 theories being investigated by police over Michael Mosley

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor