British diet guru and TV personality Michael Mosley was found dead on Sunday on the Greek island of Symi, where he had gone missing earlier in the week, according to local police.
“People on a boat saw a body close to the rocky coast,” reported Petros Vassilakis, police chief for the southern Aegean region.
The body was discovered by a television crew from Greece’s ERT public channel, who were filming in the area where the 67-year-old disappeared. ERT reporter Aristides Miaoulis explained, “A cameraman saw something strange near the fence, 50 meters from the sea. We discovered it was this man… he was lying down (on his back).”
Symi’s mayor, Lefteris Papakalodoukas, who was also with the crew, confirmed the discovery, stating, “It’s the body of the journalist that we have been looking for over several days.” Mosley had been vacationing on the island.
Authorities intensified their search efforts on Friday after Mosley was last seen alive on Wednesday. His wife, Clare Bailey, alerted police when he did not return from a coastal walk.
Papakalodoukas mentioned that Symi has been experiencing “insufferable heat,” with the area where Mosley was last seen described as “very rocky and difficult.” The island, near Rhodes and western Turkey, recorded temperatures reaching 39.3 degrees Celsius (103 degrees Fahrenheit) during the first week of June.
Tom Watson, a former deputy leader of the UK’s Labour party, who credited Mosley for his weight loss through one of his books, paid tribute to him as a “hero” who produced “courageous, science-based journalism.”
Saleyha Ahsan, Mosley’s co-presenter on the BBC programme “Trust Me, I’m A Doctor,” told BBC News that Mosley had a “passion” for making science “accessible to anyone and everyone.”
Mosley, who trained as a doctor after a career in investment banking, joined the BBC as a trainee producer. He made numerous science and history documentaries and became a health guru, authoring best-selling diet books. He is credited with popularizing the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet and appeared on TV programmes including “The One Show” and “This Morning.”
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