Michael Mosley. Photo: Anna-Karin Nilsson / EXP / TT NEWS AGENCY / TT News Agency via AFP
By Joe Inwood and Insaf Abbas, BBC News
New CCTV images appear to show missing TV presenter Dr Michael Mosley less than half an hour after he left a beach to go on a walk.
The footage suggests he completed a walk to the nearby village of Pedi after leaving Agios Nikolaos beach while on a holiday on the Greek island Symi.
The presenter, known for his TV programmes and his Just One Thing podcast which airs on BBC Radio 4, was reported to have left the beach on Wednesday at 1.30pm (local time).
The CCTV footage appears to capture the broadcaster in the village's main street holding an umbrella roughly 20 minutes later.
New CCTV images appear to show missing TV presenter Michael Mosley less than half an hour after he left a beach to go on a walk. Photo: Live News / Mega TV via BBC News
A search and rescue operation, involving divers, helicopters and drones, was called off at 8pm on Friday evening.
Emergency crews said it will be resumed on Saturday morning.
Officials are now understood to be excluding the possibility Mosley came to harm while walking between the beach and Pedi.
The search and rescue operation had previously been focused on a rocky coastal path between the beach and Pedi that Mosley was thought to have taken.
The BBC has seen a second piece of CCTV footage from a nearby premises showing a man wearing the same clothes and carrying the same umbrella which was time stamped at 13.50.
A woman said she had seen Mosley in Pedi on Wednesday, the island's deputy mayor Ilias Chaskas told BBC News.
Taking part in the search, Chaskas said they have "looked everywhere", and divers had been "looking into the water" with the help of the Hellenic Coast Guard.
Symi's coastguard said all patrol boats, private boats and commercial boats near the island had been searching for Mosley.
"Everybody is worried and looking for him," said Mika Papakalodouka, daughter of the mayor of Symi, Eleftherios Papakalodouka.
The search party currently consists of 25 people including police officers, divers, volunteers and firefighters.
Michael Mosley in 2019. Photo: Damien McFadden
Greek police said Mosley left his wife Clare on the beach before setting off on a walk to the centre of the island on Wednesday.
His phone was found where he was staying with his wife, who reported him missing, a police spokesperson told BBC News.
His three adult sons and one daughter have flown to the island to join the search, Mosley's brother Arthur told The Telegraph on Friday.
He said: "We are very shocked and perplexed by what has happened to him."
After officers on the island were unable to find Mosley, they requested help from the Greek fire department in Athens. Firefighters arrived in Symi from nearby Rhodes at 2pm on Thursday.
A helicopter assisting with the search was filmed flying over Symi
An appeal saying he was missing was posted on a local Facebook group on Wednesday, alongside a picture of Dr Mosley wearing a blue cap, polo shirt and shorts.
"Have you seen this man? He set off to walk back from [Agios Nikolaos beach] at about 1.30pm and failed to make it home," it said.
It was extremely hot on the island on Wednesday, with the National Observatory of Athens reporting temperatures of more than 40C at 15:00.
Symi is part of Greece's Dodecanese island group and sits about 19km northwest of Rhodes. In the 2021 census it had a population of approximately 2600 people.
The majority of its beaches are remote and people are advised to take boats to visit them.
Father and daughter Antonis and Maria, who have lived on Symi all their lives, said his disappearance is shocking and confusing.
"This is crazy," Antonis told BBC News. "The place is very small. A little kid can't get lost here. How does a man get lost?"
With temperatures forecast to reach around 37C on Friday, a yellow high temperature warning has been issued across the island of Symi.
The combination of the sweltering weather and rugged terrain will make the task for those searching for Mosley even more challenging.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities."
Doctor and TV star
Before moving into TV, Mosley studied medicine in London and qualified as a doctor but for the last couple of decades has been working as a presenter, documentary maker, journalist and author.
He writes a column for the Daily Mail and his TV programmes also include Channel 4 show Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat?
Mosley has been an advocate for intermittent fasting diets, including the 5:2 diet and The Fast 800 diet.
He has four children with his wife Clare Bailey Mosley, who is also a doctor, author and healthy living advocate.
The couple recently appeared at the Hay Festival where Mosley presented a special edition of BBC Radio 4's Just One Thing.
Reacting to the "shocking news", his fellow Trust Me, I'm A Doctor co-star Dr Saleyha Ahsan said she was "praying he is found safe" and she feels "sick with worry".
On Thursday's edition of The One Show, presenter Alex Jones opened the programme by expressing concern that "our friend" had gone missing.
"Our thoughts are very much with his wife Clare and the rest of his family at this worrying time. We hope for more positive news," she added.
- BBC News