Michael Mosley, British doctor and TV presenter, found dead after vanishing on Greek island

The body of missing British doctor and TV presenter Michael Mosley was found Sunday morning on the Greek island where he was last seen, his family said. The discovery followed a huge search operation that got underway after Mosley disappeared while on a walk Wednesday.

"Michael was an adventurous man, it's part of what made him so special," said his wife, Dr. Clare Bailey Mosley, in a statement to the Associated Press. "It's devastating to have lost Michael, my wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband. We had an incredibly lucky life together. We loved each other very much and were so happy together."

Mosley's wife said he took the wrong route on a hike and collapsed in a place where he couldn't be seen easily, The Associated Press reported, citing her statement. Authorities confirmed earlier Sunday that a body was found amid what became an extensive multi-day search for Mosley, but they did not publicly identify the remains.

CBS News partner network BBC News cited Greek police spokesperson Konstantia Dimoglidou as saying Monday that an initial post-mortem exam found no injuries on Mosley's body that could have caused his death, and that it was being attributed to natural causes. Dimoglidou told the BBC that Mosley's time of death was recorded as late on Wednesday afternoon, the day he disappeared.

The body was found on a rocky coast by searchers on a private boat, about a 30-minute walk from the village of Pedi where Mosley was believed to be seen Wednesday before disappearing, according to various officials including a police spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation. Formal identification was still pending. But a police source told the BBC, a CBS News partner, that the person had been dead "for a number of days."

Mosley went missing Wednesday afternoon on the Greek island of Symi after going for a walk. His disappearance last week prompted a major search operation involving the coast guard, police and fire officials, who used drones, a police dog and a helicopter as they worked through several days of high temperatures to locate him.

Lefteris Papakalodoukas, the island's mayor, told The Associated Press he was on the boat with members of the media when they saw a body some 20 meters above the Agia Marina beach a little after 10 a.m.

"We zoomed with the cameras and saw it was him," he said. 

The mayor said 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, said Antonis Mystiloglou, a cameraman with state TV ERT, who was also on the boat.

A coroner has already examined the body, the BBC reported. Police spokesperson Konstantia Dimoglidou told the network that authorities needed to rule out the possibility of foul play.

"We need to get a first insight into the causes of death and whether [it] preceded the person's fall to the ground," Dimoglidou told the BBC.

Mosley, 67, was well-known in Britain for his regular appearances on television and radio and his column in the Daily Mail newspaper. He was nominated in 2022 for an Emmy Award for his work as an executive producer on the BBC science documentary "The Human Face," which featured stars like Elizabeth Hurley, Pierce Brosnan and David Attenborough. 

Outside of the U.K., Mosley was also known for his 2013 book "The Fast Diet," which he co-authored with journalist Mimi Spencer. The book proposed the so-called "5:2 diet," which promised to help people lose weight quickly by minimizing their calorie intake two days a week while eating healthily on the other five.

He subsequently introduced a rapid weight loss program and has made a number of films about diet and exercise.

Mosley often pushed his body to extreme lengths to see the effects of his diets and also lived with tapeworms in his guts for six weeks for the BBC documentary "Infested! Living With Parasites."

Mosley shared four children with his wife, who is a doctor, author and health columnist. In her statement to the Associated Press confirming her husband's death, Claire Bailey Mosley thanked the people of Symi, who she said worked tirelessly to find him.

"Some of these people on the island, who hadn't even heard of Michael, worked from dawn till dusk unasked," she said. "My family and I have been hugely comforted by the outpouring of love from people from around the world. It's clear that Michael meant a huge amount to so many of you."

In:
• Greece
• Missing Person
• United Kingdom