Michael Mosley: Heartbroken wife Dr Clare Bailey Mosley pays tribute

Michael Mosley’s wife Clare has made a heartbreaking tribute to her husband, saying he took the wrong route after the TV doctor’s body was found on the Greek island of Symi following a desperate search.

The distressing find was confirmed on Sunday by the mayor of the island of Symi, which had become the focus of the world after Dr Mosley mysteriously disappeared on Wednesday

A police spokesman confirmed the body was found on a rocky coast by a private boat. An umbrella was also found close to the body.

“I don’t know quite where to begin with this. It’s devastating to have lost Michael, my wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband. We had an incredibly lucky life together,” a statement issued on behalf of Dr Mosley’s wife, Clare Bailey, said.

“We loved each other very much and were so happy together. I am incredibly proud of our children, their resilience and their support over the past few days.

“My family and I have been hugely comforted by the outpouring of love from people from around the world. It’s clear that Michael meant a huge amount to so many of you.”

The statement said the family were “taking comfort in the fact he so very nearly made it”.

“He did an incredible climb, took the wrong route and collapsed where he couldn’t be easily seen by the extensive search team. Michael was an adventurous man, and that is part of what made him so special.”

She thanked the search crews and all those who had helped to find Dr. Mosley since he went missing on Wednesday.

“We are so grateful to the extraordinary people on Symi who have worked tirelessly to help find him. Some of these people on the island, who hadn’t even heard of Michael, worked from dawn till dusk unasked. We’re also very grateful to the press, which has dealt with us with great respect.

“I feel so lucky to have our children and my amazing friends. Most of all, I feel so lucky to have had this life with Michael. Thank you all.”

Dr Bailey last saw her 67-year-old husband on the secluded St Nicholas beach on Wednesday. He had set off to walk to the town of Pedi, from where he was expected to catch a bus back to his villa in the port of Symi.

However, the CCTV footage taken in Pedi at about 2pm shows him heading for the mountains instead.

Since then, and despite a massive search operation involving dogs, drones, helicopters, and divers, the writer and broadcaster had not been seen.

“He has been found in the area of Ayia Marina,” the island’s deputy mayor, Nikitas Grillas, told the Guardian earlier. “I can confirm that it is him.”

Reuters news agency said a cameraman and the mayor were the first to make the grim discovery.

“The mayor of the island and a state TV ERT journalist were filming the area of Agia Marina when they spotted the body,” Deputy Mayor Gillis said. “It is certainly him.”

Cameraman Antonis Mystiloglou, who saw the body on his footage, told Sky News they were going to film search crews when they noticed something near the beach.

“We decided to get on a boat. When we went to the beach, we noticed something outside the fence at the end of the beach. I wasn’t sure, so I took a closeup with my camera,” he said.

“I told the mayor, he was sitting next to me … we took a photo off the camera screen, and you can clearly see there is a man laying down with his hand on his belly and a watch.

“The description is exactly like the guy we were looking for.”

The man became emotional, saying, “I wish we had better news” for Dr Mosley’s family.

A bar manager found the body after the mayor of Symi Eleftherios Papakalodouk notified staff.

“They called me, they said, ‘You know what? We saw something from far away. Can you go and check it?’ So I went there,” Agia Marina bar manager Ilias Tsavaris told The Mirror.

“So when I walked up, I saw something like a body to make sure.”

Mr Tsavaris said rescuers searched that area with helicopters every day.

The mayor of Symi said the body was found just 10 metres from the beach, next to a plot fence, “which is why it had not been found for so many days”.

“200 people are on this beach every day, and many boats come and go every day,” the mayor told Greek outlet SKAI.

The mayor said the body appeared to have fallen down a steep slope, stopping against a fence and lying face-up with a few rocks on top of it.

David Brown, a writer with The Times newspaper, said the body had been found very close to a beach resort.

“Heartbreaking news in the search for television doctor Michael Mosley. A body had been found at a fence close to the beach resort of Agia Marina. The area was searched yesterday,” he wrote.

“The remains are close to a popular beach bar on the other side of the fence. Body discovered by UK journalists.

“Body is decomposed, suggesting it has been there for several days.”

The body was moved by rescue workers just a few hours after the discovery and was taken to the larger island of Rhodes for a post-mortem to determine the cause of death.