Dr Michael Mosley’s disappearance ‘cut and paste’ case to man missing for five years

Dr Michael Mosley’s disappearance on a Greek island is a “cut and paste” of the case of a British man who went missing five years ago, the latter’s family have said.

The 67-year-old health and wellness expert went missing on Wednesday after taking a coastal walk in searing heat on the Dodecanese island of Symi. A major search operation was launched and a body found near the coastline on Sunday, officials said.

Prior to the discovery of a body, it emerged that the case bore eerie similarities to that of John Tossell, a 78-year-old man from Bridgend, south Wales, who went missing on the Greek island of Zakynthos five years ago this month.

Follow our live coverage of the search on Symi

On the third day of a holiday with his partner Gillian, Mr Tossell had decided to walk to visit a monastery on Mount Skopos. But he failed to return and was last seen on CCTV passing a hotel and leaving the town in the direction of Vassilikos.

Despite Mr Tossell’s family crowdfunding £7,000 in order to bring in the Western Beacons Mountain Rescue team – after Greek authorities called off their own search after just five days – his disappearance still remains a mystery.

“When I read the story it’s like a cut and paste of my father,” Mr Tossell’s son Gary told Sky News on Saturday, prior to the discovery of a body believed to be that of Dr Mosley.

“He went for a walk and he vanished into thin air. As a family, we got together and said this is surreal. It’s the same story but a different person.”

“I wish nothing but love to the Mosley family as I know exactly what they’re going through and it must be awful for them out there at the minute,” he added.

However, Mr Tossell’s family suspect there was “foul play” involved in his disappearance, with Gary warning that “human beings don’t just vanish”.

Describing the Greek search for this father, he said: “They knocked it on the head at 11pm and the next day they just went out walking, it was like a walk in the park for them. There was no intensity to their efforts.

“They said that there was a team coming from Athens with dogs and specialists but for some reason that got turned off at the last minute. Five days later they stopped searching entirely. Five days only. They said he must have left the island but when he left the hotel he had €10 and a bottle of water – you can’t get far with that.”

“We all think as a family that foul play must have been involved,” he added. “Whether it’s a mugging gone wrong or a car accident and he’s been removed. Human beings don’t just vanish.”

In Dr Mosley’s case, the mayor of Symi, Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas, had insisted there is “no chance” the search will be called off until he was found. His body is reported to have been spotted from a boat which was using a camera to search the coastline.

The mayor of 22 years had questioned how anyone could survive in the heat that topped 40C on the day Dr Mosley disappeared. A search dog was only able to work for an hour on Saturday morning due to the temperature, as the search resumed, he added.

Mosley’s four children had arrived on Symi and had been helping with the search involving police, firefighters with drones, and divers. His wife, Dr Claire Bailey, and friends had also been searching the island.

CCTV showed Dr Mosley had arrived safely in the fishing village of Pedi, some 20 minutes from where he first set off. But he is then believed to have taken a more difficult hilly route in severe heat, without his mobile phone.

The mayor said the area where Mosley is believed to have travelled through is “difficult to pass” and is “only rocks”, and is also populated by “loads” of snakes.

Mr Papakalodoukas has stressed that he doubts foul play is involved in Dr Mosley’s disappearance, saying: “We have zero crime on our island. We are a small community and we are all upset.”

The BBC quoted the mayor on Sunday as saying: “During our search, as we approached a cave next to the Agia Marina beach, we were shooting along the coastline with cameras. We saw an object next to a fence on the beach and when we zoomed in, we realised it was Michael Mosley’s body.

“He probably fell from a short cliff of around 10 metres high.” While formal identification was still pending, deputy mayor Nikitas Grillis said: “It is certainly him.”

Additional reporting by PA