Greek authorities said Thursday they were searching for Michael Mosley, a prominent British journalist and television presenter who had disappeared a day earlier while walking on the island of Symi.
Mosley, 67, was reported missing by his wife, Clare Bailey, on Wednesday afternoon, according to Greek police spokeswoman Constantina Dimoglidou. The couple arrived in Symi on Tuesday and planned to stay for a week.
“We are looking for him everywhere,” Dimoglidou said, adding that the local fire service and volunteers were involved in the search. The Greek fire service said on Thursday that a team of six firefighters was searching for a missing foreign national in Symi, part of the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea, and said drones had been sent from the nearby island of Rhodes.
Mosley told friends Wednesday afternoon that he was going to walk about two miles from the Agios Nikolaos area back to the main town of Symi, where the couple was staying, according to Dimoglidou. He was last seen by a witness at a bus stop in Pedi, about halfway between the two locations, and did not have his cell phone with him when he disappeared, he said.
It was possible, he said, that Mr. Mosley had become dizzy from the heat. Temperatures in Symi have hovered around 95 degrees Fahrenheit this week, and Greece’s meteorological authorities had urged vigilance about the risk of intense heat.
“It’s rough terrain with high spots, so it’s possible he fell,” Dimoglidou said. His disappearance also sparked a call for information on a local Facebook group, in which a post said Mosley had left around 1:30 p.m. and never showed up at his lodgings.
Mosley trained as a doctor before becoming a documentary filmmaker and science journalist who gave advice on diet, fasting and other health habits. He became famous for his work breaking myths about the diet and is widely known as an advocate of intermittent fasting, writing several books on the subject.
A long-time BBC producer and presenter, he is the host of the broadcaster’s “Just One Thing” health podcast and was nominated in 2002 for an Emmy for “The Human Face,” a series that examines the science behind of beauty.
More recently, she launched two series with British broadcaster Channel 4 investigating obesity in Britain and the nutrition behind everyday consumers’ food purchases.