Body found in search for missing TV doctor Michael Mosley

A body has been found in the search for TV doctor and columnist Michael Mosley, who went missing on a Greek island.

The body, with an umbrella close by, was discovered in a rocky area beside Agia Marina on Symi on Sunday after an extensive search operation led by emergency workers, around 30 minutes walk from the village of Pedi where Mosley was last seen.

The 67-year-old TV personality was with friends at Agios Nikolaos beach on Wednesday, before going alone for a walk to the centre of the island.

The body, which is yet to be formally identified, was discovered around mid-morning on Sunday beneath a fence that runs around a bar on Agia Marina beach, which is surrounded by hilly, rocky terrain.

Police arrived at Agia Marina around 20 minutes after the decomposed body was discovered lying face up about 90 metres from the coastline.

At around 2.09pm local time, firefighters arrived at the marina by boat and carried an orange stretcher and large black bag to where the body was found.

Other people wearing plain clothes got off the white speed boat and took briefcases up the rocky hill.

Five firefighters left the island by boat with the body on a stretcher at around 2.45pm local time (12.45pm BST) while holidaymakers crowded along the stone wall overlooking the sea.

On Saturday, an emergency services helicopter spent hours flying across the mountainous search site on Symi between Pedi bay and Agia Marina, and hovered over the spot where the body was found.

Agia Marina bar manager Ilias Tsavaris, 38, first saw the body alongside journalists after the island’s mayor “saw something” by the fence of the bar and alerted staff.

He said: “They saw it with the boat. The mayor came and saw something so that is when they called me and said ‘Hey they saw something go and check there’.

“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.

“He came from Pedi OK, and he walked not through the restaurant. If he had walked through there (the bar) we would have checked the cameras.

The bar manager said emergency crews scoured the area on foot and from a helicopter throughout Saturday.

In a brief pause from serving lunchtime diners at the busy seaside restaurant, Mr Tsavaris told the PA news agency: “They searched everywhere, I don’t know (how they didn’t find the body), and all day yesterday it was choppers, choppers, one chopper actually.”

He said firefighters had walked down the rocky slope a few metres above where it was discovered.

The search effort has been widespread, operating in dangerous conditions and high temperatures, and has included police, firefighters with drones, Greek Red Cross workers, divers, a search dog and a helicopter.

Mosley, known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, was on holiday when he vanished.

Greek authorities shifted their focus to a treacherous mountainous area after CCTV footage from a house at the edge of a small marina in the village of Pedi showed the presenter walking towards a mountainous path at about 2pm local time on Wednesday.

New footage released on Saturday also appeared to show Mosley walking unimpeded with an umbrella near to the marina.

His four children joined their mother, Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, a GP and cookery writer, on Symi earlier this week to help with the search efforts.

Mosley first trained as a doctor in London before moving into the world of media, becoming a presenter, documentary maker, author and columnist.

During his career he presented a host of science programmes and films including the series Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, which looked at healthcare in Britain, and hosted Radio 4 podcast Just One Thing, where he revealed tips to help improve your health.