SEARCH and rescue teams aided by a sniffer dog are retracing Michael Mosley’s last known steps on Greek island Symi.
The BBC star, who went missing after leaving St Nicholas Beach to walk back to Pedi, was feared by cops to have “fallen from a height”.
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Police resumed their massive search for the TV doctor today, and every available coast guard officer on the island was deployed, as locals branded his disappearance “strange”.
Divers also joined the search for the missing doctor and were “looking into the water” with the help of the Hellenic Coast Guard.
The sniffer dog, brought in from Athens, was to be taken to the rocky path Dr Mosley, 67, supposedly took alone from a beach back to the accommodation where he was staying with his wife and Brit friends.
Speaking with The Sun, the security officer leading search and rescue operations in the southern Aegean revealed: “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 set to arrive on the tiny isle today to take witness statements and expand the probe.
The cop said: “People will be brought in for questioning as we go into the next phase of the investigation.”
Around 30 coastguard personnel have been committed to looking for the father-of-four, The Telegraph reports.
Mayor of Symi, Eleftherios Papakalodoukas, claimed the operation’s focus now “has to turn to the sea”.
He said: “This is a small place and it is difficult for a man to just disappear.”
The Diagnosis Detectives – Trailer for the four-part series with Michael Mosley
One woman in the area claimed the disappearance was particularly “strange” because the path Dr Mosley was believed to have taken back to his accommodation was “clear”.
She said: “It’s a quiet place … if you see the map of the area it’s a clear path, it’s nothing dangerous.
“Many people go every day, every few minutes, that’s the reason it’s very strange because it’s a clear path.”
Police, firefighters, the coast guard, and volunteers searched for Dr Mosley on land and sea today using a helicopter, drones, and a rescue dog – as temperatures were expected to soar as high as 48C.
More officers are set to join the already-massive hunt today, along with six more firefighters, a vehicle, and a drone team from Rhodes.
Dr Mosley’s wife Dr Clare Bailey, 62, alerted cops on Wednesday evening when he failed to return home by 7.30pm from the 10-minute coastal walk.
Officers paused the search-and-rescue operation on Thursday night.
It is very strange. You can’t disappear, you can’t get lost
Eleftherios Papakalodoukas
Symi Mayor Papakalodoukas said it was “strange” that the doctor could have disappeared while walking the route he was believed to have taken.
He told reporters: “It is very strange. You can’t disappear, you can’t get lost.”
The mayor said it was only a 10-minute walk from the beach to Pedi, and that it would take another 40 minutes to reach a main road.
Witnesses are set to be quizzed amid claims the doctor – known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his TV appearances – was spotted talking to people in the village of Pedi, halfway through his walk.
Mayor Papakalodoukas previously said firefighters searching for the doctor believed it was “impossible” he was there.
Papakalodoukas told BBC News: “It is a very small, controlled area, full of people.
“So if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now.”
Timeline for Dr Mosley’s disappearance
WEDNESDAY JUNE 5
- 1:30pm- Dr Mosley decides to walk home alone to his holiday home in the town of Symi after going for a swim at a beach
- 1:50pm- The walk home is said to take around 20 minutes from Saint Nikolaos Beach despite the doctor never making it back
- AROUND 2:20pm- Witnesses claim to have seen Dr Mosley talking to an elderly man in the town with one other person present
- 7:30pm- Dr Mosley’s wife, Dr Clare Bailey, raises the alarm and calls cops
THURSDAY JUNE 6
- 10:30am- Police file missing person report and the search gets underway
- 2pm- Six firefighters, a vehicle and a drone team were all seen arriving in Symi from Rhodes
- 7pm- Helicopters deployed over the island
FRIDAY JUNE 7
- Extra police squadrons, coast guard officials, specially-trained sniffer dogs and military helicopters expected to help in the search
The mayor said he thought Dr Mosley, who is a columnist for the Daily Mail, likely either “followed another path” or fell into the sea.
Police initially said the doctor may have “fallen from a height” or lost consciousness on the short hike home along a rocky path from the Saint Nicholas Beach at about 1.30pm.
They also said the star could have suffered a heart attack due to Wednesday’s searing 37C heat or been bitten by a snake.
Senior police spokeswoman Constantina Dimoglidou initially told the Daily Mail that the doctor “forgot his phone at the beach”, which made efforts to track him digitally difficult.
His device was later found at the accommodation where he was staying with his wife, a police spokesperson told the BBC.
A senior police official who declined to be named said: “So far, we don’t have evidence of what may have happened, whether it is an accident… or something else.”
I’m having trouble understanding how you could get lost
Friend of person Dr Mosley was staying with
The specific movements of Dr Mosley, his wife Dr Bailey, and another couple they were travelling with the day he went missing have not been completely clarified by police.
One woman who said she is a friend of someone Dr Mosley was staying with said she also could not understand how someone would get lost on the part of the island he was believed to be on.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Drive programme, she said: “It’s a road that sort of heads over the mountain side but it’s been recently widened and there is only one route, so it’s not possible to lose your way.
“So, it is probably a 20-minute walk down the side of the mountain, but it’s not overly rugged or something that would be seen to be too dangerous, it’s something that tourists do every day in the summer.
“I’m having trouble understanding how you could get lost.”
Dr Mosley has four children with his wife, Dr Clare Bailey, who is also a doctor, an author, and a health columnist.
Who is Dr Michael Mosley?
BY Henry Holloway, Deputy Foreign Editor
DR MICHAEL Mosley is a TV presenter and health expert known for his work with the BBC – with regular appearances on The One Show.
He is a diet expert who advocated for intermittent fasting, low-carb diets and has written books promoting keto.
Born in India, he studied philosophy, politics and economics and worked as a banker before graduating from medical school.
He joined the BBC in 1985 as an assistant producer, and quickly rose through the ranks – becoming a popular presenter.
Dr Michael worked on programmes such The Human Face with Professor Robert Winston – and Inventions that Changed The World with Jeremy Clarkson.
Eventually fronting his own shows and regularly appearing on breakfast television, he gained a reputation as a diet guru.
He also hosted the BBC podcast Just One Thing.
The TV star is married to Clare Bailey, a GP, and they have four children.
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