EEK! Michael Mosley Missing in Greece

The heat on the Greek islands really is on a different scale and I agree a walk anywhere in the middle of the day is extremely risky.

I've been to Symi and it's lovely but I struggle to understand anyone especially a doctor walking up 100 steep steps as he did around midday.

It's such a sad situation.

It does seem very strange that an intelligent, educated, medical doctor, feeling unwell, would set off walking in the hottest part of the day with no phone (or water??). Two people have died in Crete in the last week walking gorges. I would never ever try walking in the Greek islands during the hottest part of the day or anytime in summer - spent 10 years in Greece on and off and the number of tourists getting into trouble like this is unbelievably high. I really hope he is found safe, but as time goes on it doesn't look good :-(

Elegran

Make sure you copy the part that isn't in blue as well as the limk, or you will get a map of North Edinburgh. Don't ask me why, who knows why Google does things? www.google.com/maps/@36.6176715,27.8480951,3570m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu

I've tried all the links above and keep getting a map of my home town. Yes, Google certainly does strange things.

Make sure you copy the part that isn't in blue as well as the limk, or you will get a map of North Edinburgh. Don't ask me why, who knows why Google does things? www.google.com/maps/@36.6176715,27.8480951,3570m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu

Ignore that link, It doesn't show what I meant it to. Use this one instead. www.google.com/maps/@36.6176715,27.8480951,3570m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu St nikolas beach is at the end of the road from Pedi along the coast to the south of the bay (not the one to the north with Agia Marina at the end of it. Symi is called Ano Symi on the map, and Pedi is written in Greek and looks more like Nedi (Pi symbol)

One report says they were staying at Symi town, not Pedi. If so, it is reasonable that he was crossing the mountain from Pedi to Symi.

Still unclear details ... Pedi is shown as 'Pedi Beach' on maps. Is it near there that they were staying? St Nickalos beach seems to be only accessed via the cliff path or by boat. Maybe they were staying in the main town further on and took a boat from there? I am sure it was a simple mistake that he left the phone if it was left on the beach. Or perhaps left it in accommodation to keep it safe from seatrip/sea outing where coverage might have been poor.

Is it self destructive - or made a very poor decision to push it and "go a bit further" in the heat with no water or phone. Poor family.

I don’t know the island but a British sounding woman was interviewed on the today programme a few days ago. She knew the owner of the house they were staying in and said it was only a 20 minute walk from the beach to the house.

They drove there, and his wife drove back, but he said he wasn't feeling well and wanted to walk back, maybe the car was hot ans stuffy in the sunshine. He has diabetes, perhaps that made him feel bad?. He presumably has it under control, but I don't think I would have walked in the sun while not feeling 100%. He may have been eating different food, too, with being on holiday on the island.

From Pedi to Gialos/Symi he would have to leave Pedi and walk away from the sea and over the mountain. The photo showed him near the marina, which is about where that road leaves Pedi - it was the right direction.

I wonder how they all got to Pedi that Wednesday to catch a water taxi to St Nick Beach. Did they go from Symi/Galeos by bus, cab or walk?

I wonder why especially if he were feeling unwell he didn't get a cab back home or at least the bus if there was one due. And it sounds as though he was at the bus stop. Maybe the effect of the heat was making him make the least sensible decision. He seems to have been going in the completely wrong direction.
I expect we won't hear any bad news until everyone who should be informed has been informed.

Gialos seems to be n area of the town of Symi. If you follow the Google Map link in my post, you can zoom in on the satellite version and see the roads and tracks and the rock-strewn hillsides of the area.

My understanding is that he and his wife were not staying in Pedi - the village that is about a 20 minute walk from the beach where he set out from. Their holiday home was further off in the main town - Gialos ( seems to be referred to as Symi as well). Not far from Pedi but the routes are very rocky and challenging.
It seems that finding the CCTV footage has been a very slow process and consequently they have been looking in entirely the wrong area.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202406/medium-395307-symi.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202406/medium-496516-screenshot-2024-06-08-at-12-18-35-google-maps.png

Bellanonna

He obviously told the people he was with that he fancied taking the coast path back. That seems reasonable and we now know he made it back to the town. I wonder why he would then have gone on further, past where they were staying, only to have to turn back at some point. Would he not have mentioned this to the others? All rather odd.

From the beach at St Nikolas to Pedi is about 1.5 km, along the coast. Apparently he was staying at the main town of Symi (not Pedi) he would have to walk another at least 3.5km over the mountains - with no water. The terrain is pretty uncompromising.

I attach a map of the area, from Google maps, and a photo that I think is of the town of Symi with the mountains behind (from the internet) The "main road" which is not exactly a motorway, zigzags up and down the hills, and the other tracks marked on the map look like goat-tracks. He could easily get lost, or fall among the rocks.
www.google.com/maps/@36.6176715,27.8480951,3570m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symi#/media/File:Colorful_houses_symi.jpg

That maybe the same village that he left from, according to the link I posted?

Apparently he’s been caught on camera in a village near the mountains. He’s either taken the wrong route or a much longer one. The temperature out there is very high and that is the danger

He's been missing since Wednesday so that's 4 days. If he has had an accident, he is unlikely to survive the intense heat and lack of water to drink. All very strange.

'...Mr Mosley left his phone by the beach at around 1.30pm on Wednesday and was walking back to his home in Pedi, a small hamlet around 1.5km away, Greek police said...' Why would anyone leave a phone on the beach,. and walk toward home?

Surely a lesson to everyone to take their 'phone when they are going anywhere alone - not about fear but sensible precaution. A friend of mine walking in an isolated area found a woman who had fallen off her horse and broken her leg. She didn't have a 'phone and couldn't walk. My friend was able to call the emergency services and get the air ambulance to her. Goodness knows how long she might have been there otherwise!

I really like his presentation too, he certainly talks a lot of sense. I’m afraid I can’t think of a good outcome after all this time without water in searing temperatures. As for going walking without a phone, there were two sisters near me who went out jogging on a remote canal path with no phone. One of them tripped over a tree root and fractured her ankle so badly that it cut off blood supply to her foot. By the time she got to hospital it was too late and she had her foot amputated. I never now walk without a phone.

I agree fancyflowers I am feeling so sad about it. I suppose because he is so well known...it just doesn't seem believable. On a lovely holiday. Not doing something risky like hang gliding. But of course the heat is a risk that we probably underestimate living in N Europe.
You feel for his wife and children. They must fear the worst. But hope for the best.

He obviously told the people he was with that he fancied taking the coast path back. That seems reasonable and we now know he made it back to the town. I wonder why he would then have gone on further, past where they were staying, only to have to turn back at some point. Would he not have mentioned this to the others? All rather odd.

fancyflowers

I didn't expect to be so affected by his disappearance. But he is so well known and respected, that I am sure many people who don't know him personally are really worried about him.
Sadly though, as time passes, I'm not expecting a good outcome from this.

I feel the same way. I keep looking on the news and hoping that he is found ok. Time is running out though. I feel so sorry for his wife and family as they must be past themselves. Also it is such a small island so where the hell is he?

I was thinking - what if he went back to the house where they are stay and went into the cellar (if they have a one) and fell and bumped his head. Have they checked the house? Just my thoughts.

I didn't expect to be so affected by his disappearance. But he is so well known and respected, that I am sure many people who don't know him personally are really worried about him.
Sadly though, as time passes, I'm not expecting a good outcome from this.

These are the last few hours of hope, efforts are now concentrated on a very steep and dangerous area, so easy for a non-local to have taken the wrong direction and ended up on slippery rocky steep scree. It worries me that he would not have much water with him. Lots of prayers are needed