Dr Michael Mosley’s body lay undiscovered just yards from a beach resort for nearly five days, it emerged on Sunday, as his wife said he “so very nearly made it” to safety.
The broadcaster and author was found dead on Sunday morning after his disappearance while walking on the Greek island of Symi last Wednesday caused a major search and rescue operation.
CCTV footage shows Dr Mosley gingerly walking down a rocky mountain near the perimeter fence of the Agia Marina resort before he appears to stumble and fall out of view, just over two hours after he left his wife and friends.
His wife, Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, paid tribute to her “wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband”.
She said: “We’re taking comfort in the fact that he so very nearly made it. He did an incredible climb, took the wrong route and collapsed where he couldn’t be easily seen by the extensive search team.”
The local coroner said an initial examination had ruled out foul play as there were “no obvious injuries” to Dr Mosley’s body, adding: “It looks like it was a fall.”
A spokesperson for the coroner said they would need to establish whether he had a “medical episode” which would take some time.
A police source said they had ruled out any possibility of criminality but that it was currently impossible to determine the cause of the death.
Tributes from friends and colleagues poured in for Dr Mosley who popularised the 5:2 diet.
Jamie Oliver, the celebrity chef, said he was a “wonderfully sweet, kind and gentle man” who “did such a lot of good for public health”.
Writing in the Telegraph, his friend Dr Tim Spector, the epidemiologist, said Dr Mosley’s “humble, calm and self-deprecating style as he carefully explained complex science in simple terms, [was] why the public loved him.”
Dr Mosley had been on holiday when he left his wife and their friends at the St Nicholas beach bar at 1.30pm on Wednesday to walk back to their holiday villa in Symi town in searing temperatures of at least 40C.
He was captured on CCTV walking past a cafe in the village of Pedi at 1.52pm before apparently taking a wrong turn and embarking upon a treacherous mountainous path.
His wife raised the alarm at 7.30pm that evening, causing a major search operation involving the coastguard, police, firefighters, divers, drones and scores of volunteers.
The search covered ground agonisingly close to where his body was eventually found, just 50 yards from the beach.
Dr Mosley’s four grown up children, Alex, Jack, Dan and Kate, flew from the UK to join the search and support their mother on Friday.
One group, thought to include at least two of the children, is believed to have passed less than 30 yards from his body as they combed the rocky paths around the Agia Marina on Saturday in an attempt to retrace his suspected route.
Newly unearthed footage, captured by the Agia Marina bar’s security cameras at 3.44pm on Wednesday, suggests that Dr Mosley had made it over the mountain but was struggling to pick his way back to safety when he fell.
Dr Mosley stumbled out of view as he headed down towards the sea but did not appear to get up again. He was just a stone’s throw from the throngs of tourists relaxing on sun loungers on the other side of the chain link fence.
A customer could be seen walking past the bar’s nearby kiosk who could potentially have heard any shout for help.
Dr Mosley’s body was found after the mayor, Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas, and a TV crew on a boat spotted “something black” near to the fence at about 10.30am local time on Sunday morning.
Mr Papakaloudoukas called the bar manager, Ilias Tsavaris, and asked him to go and have a look.
Mr Tsavaris, who was accompanied by British journalists from organisations including the Telegraph, immediately saw the “glint from a watch” and a body.
He alerted the police who were at the scene 20 minutes later and Dr Mosley’s body was eventually removed on a stretcher after the coroner had arrived from Rhodes.
Dr Mosley first trained as a doctor in London becoming a presenter, documentary maker, and author.
He presented science programmes including the BBC series Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, which looked at healthcare in Britain, and hosted BBC Radio 4 podcast Just One Thing, where he revealed tips to help improve your health.
His book The Fast Diet, co-authored with Mimi Spencer, helped popularise a type of intermittent fasting and became a bestseller.
Dr Bailey Mosley said the family was “so grateful to the extraordinary people on Symi” who worked “tirelessly” to help find her husband, many working from dawn until dusk.
“We had an incredibly lucky life together,” she said. “We loved each other very much and were so happy together. I am incredibly proud of our children, their resilience and support over the past days.
“I feel so lucky to have our children and my amazing friends. Most of all, I feel so lucky to have had this life with Michael. Thank-you all.”
