Michael Mosley: Body found in search for TV doctor on Greek island of Symi
A body has been found in the search for TV doctor Michael Mosley, who went missing on a Greek island.
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 of Symi Lefteris Papakalodoukas told Sky News.
Mr Papakalodoukas said he had been in a boat on the way to search in a cave with members of the media when they saw something on the rocks above the beach.
He says they filmed as they went, then used a mobile phone to zoom in on the image, and could see it was a body lying on the rocky slope.
Read more:
Updates and tributes after body found
Who was Michael Mosley?
Separately, the mayor said that the body appeared to have fallen down a steep slope, stopping against a fence and lying face-up with a few rocks on top of it.
The body had a leather bag in one hand, according to Antonis Mystiloglou a cameraman with state TV ERT who was on the boat with the mayor.
An umbrella is also understood to have been found close to the body.
A view of the area where the body of Michael Mosley was found Pic: Reuters
The area had been searched on foot by firefighters and from above via helicopter on Saturday, according to local bar manager Agia Marina, who was one of the first people to find the body.
Mr Marina went to investigate the area by the fence after something unusual was spotted in the images taken from the boat. He said: “They called me, they said ‘You know what we saw something from far away, can you go and check’ so I went there.
“So when I walked up I saw something like a body to make sure. You don’t see a dead body everyday, it is not a warzone, it’s summer you are supposed to have fun and swimming.”
A police spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation, said that formal identification was pending.
A coroner from the larger island of Rhodes carried out an initial report on-site before the body was removed via boat. A post-mortem will be carried out to determine the cause of death.
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Body found at ‘inaccessible’ location
Emergency services lifting an empty stretcher off a boat. Pic: Yui Mok/PA
The body was found on the opposite side from the Saint Nicholas beach where Mosley had left his wife and friends to go for a walk on Wednesday.
A hike from the point Mosley was last sighted at to the beach where the body was found would normally have taken around half an hour on foot, but the extremely hot weather – reaching levels of over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the last few days – would have made the journey much more arduous.
Mosley’s wife, Dr Bailey Mosley, and the couple’s four children will lay flowers at the place the body was found on Monday.
Earlier this week she had described the days since her husband’s disappearance as “the longest and most unbearable“.
Mosley’s three sons, Alex, Dan and Jack, and daughter Kate had travelled to the Greek island earlier this week to assist in the search for their father.
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The local cameraman who spotted Michael Mosley’s body
The alert had first been raised when the 67-year-old doctor failed to arrive back at their friends’ home in Symi Town, with an appeal and photo shared in a local Facebook group, asking “Have you seen this man?”
The presenter had reportedly set off on a walk from Saint Nikolas Beach at about 1.30pm local time.
Mosley was then captured on several CCTV cameras walking through the town of Pedi, around 1.2km away, and then near a yacht club in Marina Symi, further round the island. This was the last known sighting of him.
He did not have his mobile phone with him.
Dr Michael Mosley with wife Clare. Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
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The doctor’s agent confirmed he was missing to the PA news agency on Thursday.
Rescue teams had been working on the assumption he may have mistakenly headed towards the rocky hills behind the marina.
Tributes poured in from fellow celebrities, including Jamie Oliver, Dr Phil Hammond, Professor Alice Roberts and Saleyha Ahsan.
Mosley’s former Trust Me I’m A Doctor co-presenter Saleyha Ahsan told Sky News Mosley was a “national treasure” who would always take time to talk to people off-stage.
She said he truly “cared about the health of the nation”, adding: “Michael’s advice, the 5:2 diet, that has really changed the approach of so many people about their health. He lived and breathed his work. He was an inspiration.”
Another of Mosley’s Trust Me, I’m A Doctor co-presenters, Dr Phil Hammond, said Mosley was always up for trying things out himself, and was fearless in his mission to improve people’s health.
Dr Hammond told Sky News: “One of the big [things] he’ll be remembered for is not just his popularising an explanation of science, but the fact that he would experiment himself… He was a person prepared to put his body on the line to test out science, and I can’t quite believe he’s gone”.
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Dr Phil Hammond says that Dr Michael Mosley ‘will be enormously missed’
TV chef Oliver said he was “devastated” by the news, calling Mosley “a wonderfully sweet, kind and gentle man” who did “such a lot of good for public health with his TV shows and research”.
He called the TV doctor “a curious investigator, producer and presenter” who he said “changed the conversation around many public health issues for the better.” Oliver concluded: “He will be sadly missed.”
Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of the Labour Party, called Mosley as a “hero”. The politician, who credited Mosley’s book The Fast Diet with playing a part in his 7-stone weight loss, wrote on X: “It’s hard to describe how upset I am by this news.
“Through courageous, science-based journalism, Michael Mosley has helped thousands of people get well and healthy. I’m one of them.”
Author, TV writer and former doctor Adam Kay said it was “desperately sad,” adding “May his memory be a blessing”.
Professor Roberts, who had known Mosley for many years, and said she had seen him at the Hay Festival just two weeks ago, wrote on X: “The fragility of life is so shocking… I can’t believe he’s gone”.
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World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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