The mayor of Symi, the Greek island on which TV doctor Michael Mosley has vanished, has made a bombshell claim about the likelihood of him still being on the island.
Dr Mosley, 67, and his wife, Dr Claire Bailey, 62, arrived on Symi on Tuesday and were expected to stay for a week.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Desperate search underway for missing TV star.
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But Bailey raised the alarm on Wednesday morning after Mosley — who popularised the concept of intermittent fasting for weight loss — failed to return from a walk.
British police have said the father-of-four may have “fallen from a height” or lost consciousness after walking along St Nicholas Beach in 37C heat on Wednesday.
An intensive search has failed to find him.
The island’s mayor of 21 years, Eleftherios Papakalodoukas, has told the BBC it would be “impossible” for Mosley to still be missing on the island given its small size.
The mountainous island, which is closer to Türkiye than mainland Greece, is about 60 square kilometres and has a population of 2,600.
“It is a very small, controlled area, full of people,” Papakalodoukas said.
“So if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now.”
He said it was possible the TV doctor “followed another path” or had fallen into the sea.
Mosley and his wife took a boat trip up the coast of Symi on Wednesday morning, stopping at St Nicholas Beach with another couple.
Greek police believe Dr Mosley went for a swim then began walking alone back to the couple’s holiday home in the fishing village of Pedi around 1.30pm.
He went without his phone, which he had left behind at the beach.
The hike along the 1.5km coastal path should have taken a maximum of 20 minutes.
When Mosley had not returned by 7.30pm, Dr Bailey called police.
A search and rescue team from Athens has scoured the island, using drones and other equipment, but to no avail.
The mayor said the island was “in turmoil” after news emerged that the well-known British TV personality had gone missing.
“The volunteers of the island and the services are out looking to find him,” he told Live News.
CCTV footage has so far failed to show up any trace of Mosley.
Papakalodoukas said there was “very little crime on the island”.
“It is not easy for a person to go missing in Symi,” he said.
Police said the search has focused on the area between the beach, where Mosley was last seen, and the resort of Pedi, where he was staying with his wife.
Sniffer dogs, military helicopters and extra police squadrons were being called in to assist in the search on Friday, The Sun reports.
Police are interviewing witnesses who claimed to have seen him in Pedi after he left St Nicholas beach.
An appeal saying he was missing from the island was posted on a local Facebook group with a picture of Mosley wearing a blue hat, polo shirt and shorts.
“Have you seen this man? He set off to walk back from (Agios Nikolaos beach) at about 13.30 and failed to make it home,” it said.
A British Foreign Office spokesperson told the BBC it was “supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Greece and are in contact with local authorities”.
Mosley is best known for his work on shows such as Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, The Human Face and BBC’s The One Show.
