Local police scour Greek island of Symi two days after TV doctor and columnist went missing
The search for TV doctor and columnist Michael Mosley has resumed on the Greek island of Symi, two days after he went missing.
Local police have confirmed that officers with sniffer dogs are scouring the island following them pausing the search-and-rescue operation for the 67-year-old Briton on Thursday night.
Police and firefighters have been using drones to try to locate Mosley, who was reported to have vanished after setting off on a walk to the centre of the island, and a helicopter was deployed on Thursday to assist the search. Divers are also involved in search, as well as local coast guard patrol boats and commercial boats in the area.
More officers will join the rescue operation on Symi, which is part of the Dodecanese Island chain about 25 miles (40km) north of Rhodes.
Local people, a helicopter from Rhodes and Greek officers, along with police drafted in from outside the island, were searching the Pedi area and its surroundings on Friday morning, the mayor’s office said.
The area where Mosley, a father of four, went missing is experiencing hot weather, which is forecast to reach 36C on Friday, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service. A yellow weather warning for high temperatures is also in force in Rhodes and surrounding islands, including Symi.
The rescue operation is focusing on the Pedi area after a woman reported seeing Mosley, who is known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, there on Wednesday.
The mayor of Symi, Eleftherios Papakalodoukas, said firefighters had told him they believed it was “impossible” Mosley was still there. “It is a very small, controlled area, full of people. So, if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now,” he told the BBC.
A friend of the person Mosley was staying with on the island said she was struggling to understand how anyone could get lost.