Michael Mosley’s wife says ‘we will not lose hope’ as new footage emerges

The wife of the British TV doctor Michael Mosley, who has gone missing on the Greek island of Symi, has said her family “will not lose hope” as the search for her husband continues on its fourth day.

Emergency workers have been trying to locate Mosley, known for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, after he disappeared during a walk in the north east of the island on Wednesday.

His wife, Dr Clare Bailey, said: “It has been three days since Michael left the beach to go for a walk. The longest and most unbearable days for myself and my children. The search is ongoing and our family are so incredibly grateful to the people of Symi, the Greek authorities and the British consulate who are working tirelessly to help find Michael. We will not lose hope.”

Her statement came as new CCTV footage was shared of Mosley. The footage, published by the BBC, appears to show the 67-year-old walking under an umbrella in the village of Pedi, heading towards a path that traverses through rocky hills.

The search team believe he may have left Pedi and embarked on a difficult route toward the island’s port town. The video is believed to be one of the last two CCTV sightings before he left Pedi, which he had walked to after leaving his wife at a beach at about 1.30pm local time on Wednesday.

The search has become one of the biggest in living memory. “There are about 100 people out there looking for him,” the island’s mayor, Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas, told the Guardian. “They’re working in shifts with the aid of drones.”

The search operation involves firefighters, divers, helicopters and a specially trained sniffer dog. .

Symi and nearby islands are under a yellow weather warning for high temperatures and the mayor said the search dog was only able to work for an hour on Saturday morning due to the heat.

He said rescuers not only faced the challenge of searing temperatures but the terrain itself – landscape so inhospitable that it was hampering efforts to work at pace.

“In many parts it’s not just dangerous it’s impassable,” he said. “There’s not a tree up there, just rocks and cliffs. We’re talking about temperatures of about 46C right now. Why anyone would walk up there is a mystery. You wouldn’t last long. You’d collapse of heat exhaustion.”

Greek police said that because of the stony terrain, and with temperatures expected to reach “above 52 degrees,” it had been decided to send more air support in the form of an emergency helicopter.

Mosley’s four children arrived on Symi on Saturday to assist with the search, the mayor said, joining Bailey and her friends. Mosley and Bailey arrived on the island on Tuesday.

Police had originally worked on the assumption that the TV presenter and columnist had gone missing on the mile-long trail between the beach and Pedi – perhaps after slipping and taking a fall – until CCTV footage emerged of the Briton shielding himself from the fierce sun under an umbrella in Pedi. The images, which provided the first piece of concrete evidence that he made it to the village, were taken about 20 minutes after he left St Nikolas beach.

While Bailey had been searching for her husband in a wooded area above the village of Pedi, search teams now believe Mosley travelled through a much sparser area on the other side of the bay, Papakaloudoukas said, citing CCTV evidence. Police have instructed taxi boats to raise the alert if they see anything strange after the search was expanded to the sea.

The mayor’s daughter, Mika Papakalodouka, said some of the island’s residents were out searching for Mosley. “It’s such a small island to get lost on. It’s so weird for us. Everybody is worried and looking for him.”

Yiannis Tsavaris, a local pharmacist, said the island’s residents had been affected by the Briton’s disappearance. “Symi is a small place. There are only a few thousand permanent residents here and believe you me there’s not a person among us who hasn’t taken this personally. This story has saddened us all. We really want this man to be found and to be found alive. A lot of local volunteers have joined the search.”

The Guardian was told that the officers would take witness statements, knock on doors and examine “every CCTV camera” on the island.

Greek rescue officials have no plans to stop the search and say it will go on for as long as it takes. The veteran security official said: “I’ve been involved in police work for over 30 years and, yes, I’m surprised that we’re still looking for him, but a man can’t just vanish in thin air.”