Michael Mosley

[Eye_Spy]

Something they haven’t revealed is whether he had ever made the journey between Smyi town and Pedi before, regardless of whether by foot, car, bus…if he’s made the journey before (even with other people) it’s very hard to see how he could have possibly got lost. That might be why it’s taken police so long to go down this route of him taking the odd decision to take that dangerous exit in the wrong direction. This whole thing looks like a heat exhaustion or transient amnesia issue or similar causing bad judgment/confusion. If he was thinking logically and felt lost, he could easily have gone into one of the cafes and got help to get back to his accommodation or the police contacted if he couldn’t remember where it was. He was in an easy location to get help when he made that bad decision.

Not sure what to make of the Daily Mail coverage. Are they trying to keep the story a headline to keep pressure on the Greek authorities to help their colleague? Or, are they treating one of their own a clickbait?

The latest article is mostly regurgitation, there was mentioning of his kids arriving and retracing his steps nearly 2 days ago, so why are they naming all 4 of them and claiming they arrived today. Why is a journalist walking part of the trail just to test what it’s like, isn’t that just putting more human scent on it and risking a fall and diverting resources for a rescue? Surely no-one should be on that dangerous area of trail today unless they are in an organised search party working under police guidance. The search party asked the journalist ‘not to speak to them’…possibly those people are Dr Mosley’s children or family taking part as volunteers.

It’s one thing to write articles and do stuff like speculate online…but it’s a whole other ball game to be physically interfering with the search operation or approaching people who are under emotional distress. People are obviously interested in the story, but surely the photos, maps, cctv, local reports are providing all the relevant information…why are British or other journalists travelling out there just to hang around getting in the way? It’s a small area, only one narrow road access to Pedi, the presence of unnecessary people could hinder the search. Are they hoping for a quote from one of the children or something ghoulish like that?

 

[Scarlett O' Hara]

OMG his poor family.

 

[curious.alice]

It seems odd that he chose to walk over getting on the bus back to his accommodation (that’s right isn’t it?) if he was already not feeling well. So maybe he was experiencing heat exhaustion/confusion and made irrational decisions, but his demeanour in the CCTV footage suggests otherwise to me. He’s walking quite confidently, i.e. as if he knows where he is going and he doesn’t look tired or confused. I’d expect his movements to be a bit slower, more erratic, him looking around and walking back on himself and in different directions etc. if he’s lost and trying to orientate himself.

The fact he didn’t have a phone on him is unlucky but not at all unusual for a man his age IMO. The people I know in that age bracket do not carry mobiles most of the time. On the other hand he was a media personality and therefore perhaps more tech-savvy?

 

[carolinew]

The phone issue isn't a problem I think. My husband is the same age as him, still a working medical professional, and most times when he leaves the house and I want to phone him, his mobile rings in the next room. Annoys me no end.

 

[SharkAttack]

I was just watching Sky News on subtitles at the gym and the reporter on Symi was saying no-one seems to be looking for him. She said in the UK you'd see a massive presence, locals joining in, search parties across the hills etc, but here is just feels very much business as usual and not much seems to be happening.

 

[Renegadedancer]

The CCTV footage shows him walking at a fair pace and not having a stroll along so it appears he was well enough to keep going at that stage. I honestly think he’s had an accident somewhere along the way. So many unknowns but hopefully today will produce something positive. His poor family.

 

[carolinew]

The CCTV footage shows him walking at a fair pace and not having a stroll along so it appears he was well enough to keep going at that stage. I honestly think he’s had an accident somewhere along the way. So many unknowns but hopefully today will produce something positive. His poor family.

He did look as if he was walking normally and relatively briskly which makes it even more baffling to start climbing a mountain path with just his umbrella. Unless of course the camera caught him going up the path but he just took a few steps and came back again.
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I was just watching Sky News on subtitles at the gym and the reporter on Symi was saying no-one seems to be looking for him. She said in the UK you'd see a massive presence, locals joining in, search parties across the hills etc, but here is just feels very much business as usual and not much seems to be happening.

The reports I've read say everyone's looking for him.
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You'd think too that in a hilly landscape with no trees it wouldn't be that difficult for so many rescue people to find someone - with people and dogs and drones concentrating on that mountain path,

 

[curious.alice]

You'd think too that in a hilly landscape with no trees it wouldn't be that difficult for so many rescue people to find someone - with people and dogs and drones concentrating on that mountain path,

That’s what I was thinking looking at that video on BBC. He was wearing blue, too, which should stand out somewhat against the beige rocks?

 

[Eye_Spy]

Yes I agree he looked in good physical health as he was confidently striding, but his mental state could not have been right for him to think walking that path was correct. He could see from his approach from Pedi it was basically a mountain with no signs of life or the exit to the route, and he could have asked for assistance.

The journalists at the scene making comments about an apparent low search activity are showing ignorance. When he first went missing there was a chance he was somewhere on that easy walking route and so it was safe for the public to assist. The locals were also using their boats to look for him in the water.

Now it’s been established he took an unsafe route (and presumably the cctv shows he didn’t turn back from it), the search is focussed for the police. It’s a dangerous route and they will have used a drone very quickly to see he’s not just laid on the main path, and have been using training rescue and dogs to scour the path. Having untrained people search that area just puts more people at risk, at this length time the chances of this being a body recovery rather than a rescue increase, the police won’t want the (adult) children being the ones to spot that, and won’t want volunteers doing any risky heroics for a body retrieval. The police have to protect other people as well.

They might do something like ask volunteers to check the discounted easier route as a support task just in case something has been missed, but appetite from locals to do that won’t be that strong as they know it won’t yield results. The locals who have been helping with their boats would have been doing so on the basis that it was a live rescue, at this point if he is dead in the water having fallen off the mountain the urgency isn’t there, so I doubt locals will continue to lose days in wages and spend on fuel to keep searching out in their own boats when the urgency to save a life is no longer apparent.

Keeping the search area clearer of unnecessary people or boats may also make the use of dogs or drones, water search equipment easier. Particularly if they are hopeful that the dogs can help, they won’t want lots of extra scents added to the mix.

The terrain and possible places a body could fall and be difficult to spot means that even if they don’t find him with a decent search, it’s still highly likely he is there. If they get to the point where they call off the main search response, drone searching may continue for several weeks going over every nook and cranny to try to bring closure for the family. They may even end up using drones with wire camera drops to explore crevices in the rocks that can’t been seen properly from above.

Something positive to come out of this awful situation could be that it serves as a cautionary story, to help people learn the importance of carrying a phone and safety apps like what3words or using AirTags or smart watches. Dr Mosley would not have been ‘worried’ about his safety, as we can see he is confidently striding and had places to stop and ask for help. This is the type of danger that anyone could get into when out on their own, even the environments that feel safe and when people believe they have good judgment. When he split from the group, one of them should have leant him a phone, not to necessarily have him use it, but because it could have acted as a tracking device in an emergency. Even the sound of the ringtone going off could help locate him.

 

[simbi123]

I just don't understand not taking your phone on a foreign holiday when you're gonna be away from your accommodation for a decent amount of time. I can slightly understand leaving your phone at home in your home country.

Whenever I've been on holiday with my family and someone wants to go back alone, we always message when we're safely back. You just never know what can happen in an unfamiliar place, especially when it's so hot which can cause disorientation

 

[Eirawen]

I just don't understand not taking your phone on a foreign holiday when you're gonna be away from your accommodation for a decent amount of time. I can slightly understand leaving your phone at home in your home country.

Whenever I've been on holiday with my family and someone wants to go back alone, we always message when we're safely back. You just never know what can happen in an unfamiliar place, especially when it's so hot which can cause disorientation

Was he disoriented and or confused?

 

[carolinew]

His wife and friends will forever beat themselves up for not insisting on giving him one of their phones. We don't know - maybe they did offer and he refused. Do you think the fact that it's a tiny island with a zero crime rate lulled them into thinking the usual safety precautions weren't necessary?

 

[HotesTilaire]

The papers are moaning that it’s a small team of people out looking, but they’ve been out for 3 hours and it’s very hot; the search dogs are too hot and can only manage one hour. So obviously it’s too hot for people to be out in it that’s why…loads of people aren’t out. Honestly.

 

[Nottonightbabe]

They've started searching a cave system for him now.

 

[Bolus]

I’ve walked on that island on a hot day and it’s quite believable that he’s fallen between some rocks and gotten stuck. it’s so easy to trip, slide and fall on the scree, and breaking a bone is likely. If he’s injured then it’s the heat which will be a problem. Poor guy, bad decision to go alone.

 

[carolinew]

Just read in one of the updates about another man, John Tossell, who went missing on a Greek island 5 years ago in similar circumstances to Michael Mosley. The photo of him is so like Dr Mosley's - blue T-shirt and all - and he has never been found. Article said the same thing has happened to a number of people. Very strange. The 2 cases are so similar the article said it is almost a "cut and paste" job.

 

[Eye_Spy]

That’s bad. If they think he was on the path, it’s not that logical to believe he’s made his way into caves, but with the heat…they may be prioritising now the places he’s less likely to have reached on the basis that on the slim chance he has reached them…he could still be alive. It’s now at the point where searching open land and the sea is no longer going to be considered a rescue, but a body retrieval. They will focus their urgent search on anywhere he may be alive first.

They would have focussed with the sea because you only survive maybe a couple hours there, then open land because 1-2 days survival without water in that heat, then covered spaces because 4-7 days is possible there.

If someone is thinking clearly, they would try to do something to make rescue easier, like leaving clothes outside the cave or crevice entrance. If he didn’t do something like that he probably didn’t end up in a cave/crevice intentionally or with rational thought.

I think it’s now very likely he is deceased on open land on the side of that mountain but partially hidden from view by rock formations.

 

[Ni Idea]

I was just watching Sky News on subtitles at the gym and the reporter on Symi was saying no-one seems to be looking for him. She said in the UK you'd see a massive presence, locals joining in, search parties across the hills etc, but here is just feels very much business as usual and not much seems to be happening.

This would be normal: you can't go out in these conditions at midday in the Mediterranean climate in June to look for someone, you have to go out very early, which is what has been reported (that they resumed the search at 6am this morning), or wait until the evening. And certainly not after dark because of the dangerous terrain they are now searching. Honestly, norther Europeans are so naive about the temperature down here and how it can affect you, and how dangerous it can be. Before we had air con in all the shops etc in Madrid, the city was deserted between 2 and 5pm because it was too hot to be out and about.

 

[carolinew]

You'd think there might be a chance someone would have spotted his umbrella which would no doubt still be open if he'd had an accident.

 

[troutpout69]

Are the divers still searching the sea? I thijj no I that’s where he is.