Missing Dr Michael Mosley may have ‘collapsed from heat exhaustion’ on walk through ‘treacherous’ terrain, Greek mayor claims – as search for Mail health guru enters dangerous cave called ‘The Abyss’

Dr. Michael Mosley may have ‘collapsed from the heat’ while walking through ‘treacherous’ terrain on the island of Symi, Greece’s mayor has claimed.

Mayor Eleftherios Papakalodouka said searchers had spent the first two days of the hunt looking in the wrong place for the missing Mail columnist who was last seen on Wednesday afternoon.

Dr. Mosley, 67, was on the remote St Nicholas Beach when he set out to walk to the town of Pedi, from where he was expected to catch a bus back to his villa in Symi harbour.

But the CCTV footage taken in Pedi around 2pm shows him heading to the mountains instead.

Since then – and despite a large-scale search involving dogs, drones, helicopters and divers – the writer and presenter has not been sighted.

Mr Papakalodouka said Dr Mosley had no water with him when he left and told the Sun on Sunday: ‘You can’t survive in this weather.’

CCTV footage shows Dr Michael Mosley walking towards rocky hills

Dr. Michael Mosley with his wife Clare Bailey, who last saw her husband on Wednesday

Dr. Mosley was on the remote St Nicholas Beach when he set out to walk to the town of Pedi, from where he was expected to catch a bus back to his villa in Symi harbour.

He added: ‘We’re almost certain he ran into the hills […] without shadow. If you ask me, I think he collapsed from the heat. It was just too much.’

Previously, the mayor had expressed concern that Dr. Mosley may have been bitten by a snake.

Symi is home to the Ottoman Viper, one of Europe’s most deadly snake species.

Rescue teams desperately searching for Dr. Mosley, now focus their search on a dangerous cave complex known as The Abyss.

Their efforts in the network of caves and ‘endless’ underwater tunnels on Friday turned up no sign of the TV medic, but his wife Clare Bailey vowed the family will ‘not lose hope’ of finding him.

Greek police released new CCTV footage of Dr Mosley on Friday, taken on Wednesday afternoon, the day he disappeared on the island of Symi.

He carried an umbrella to protect himself from the 35 degrees Celsius heat and walked purposefully towards a mountain path.

This is the photo of Dr. Mosley who was placed on a call after he went missing while on holiday in Greece on Wednesday

A rescue helicopter joined the search yesterday, seen here above Pedi

Yesterday, Dr Bailey spoke for the first time since her husband’s mysterious disappearance about the ‘longest and most unbearable days for myself and my children’.

In a statement yesterday, Dr. Bailey, 62, said: ‘It’s 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.’

Sources told The Mail on Sunday that Dr. Bailey was called in again to give rescuers more details about what her husband had with him when he disappeared.

An official said: ‘It’s been four days and no trace of him has been found, so it was just to go over things again.

“She explained that he was wearing a khaki backpack and had his wallet, water bottle and a watch, which was not a smart watch.”

On Friday, the couple’s four adult children traveled to Symi to join their mother.

Volunteers walk mountain trails on Symi where Michael Mosley may have gone after he disappeared on Wednesday

They were believed to be part of the search party that yesterday scoured the two-mile path from Pedi to Agia Marina, a small beach near The Abyss, where rescue efforts will continue today.

To enter these treacherous caverns, Dr. Mosley must have swum from Agia Marina beach – the same way the coastguard and divers gained access yesterday.

Rescuers have also searched for a separate rocky path near Agia Marina, which climbs over jagged limestone terrain and takes a longer route back to Symi. But it is not marked and guidebooks warn it is a ‘technically difficult’ path.

The Mail on Sunday walked part of this path this weekend and although feasible, it would certainly be tough work under a bright sun.

A member of the search team we encountered said: ‘We have footage of him heading this way from the last house in Pedi.

‘This is a difficult walk at the best of times and should not be done between 11am and 5pm. We think he was here in the hottest part of the day, at 2 p.m.’

Rescuers are concerned about Dr.’s well-being. Mosley because of the dangerous heat and described the hunt as a ‘race against time’ where every minute is priceless.

All boats have been asked to keep an eye on him in the water and in a sign of how urgently they were dealing with the situation, firefighters who had been battling the fires on the nearby island of Kos were transferred to Symi after bringing the flames under control. .

At the purpose-built beach at Agia Marina, staff told The Mail on Sunday that police had asked to check their CCTV footage.

One worker said: ‘I’m pretty sure I would have remembered a man with an umbrella, but no one came this way dressed like that.

‘It’s a climb to the top of the mountain, then you walk down and it climbs again before you meet a road that takes you into town. It would take about an hour, maximum an hour and a half.

‘There is nothing between here and Symi except stones, more stones and sheep and goats. It’s all exposed and I wouldn’t want to walk with it in this heat.’