New CCTV images appear to show missing TV doctor Michael Mosley less than half an hour after he left a beach to go on a walk while on a holiday on the Greek island of Symi.
The pictures suggest he walked to the village of Pedi after leaving the beach where he had been with his wife in sweltering temperatures.
A search operation continued on Friday, involving divers and drones, but authorities are investigating whether he might have left the island altogether.
The 67-year-old presenter, known for his appearances on ITV’s This Morning and his Just One Thing podcast on BBC Radio 4, was reported to have left the beach without his mobile phone on Wednesday at 1.30pm.
The security image appears to capture him in Pedi 20 minutes later, holding an umbrella for shade as the island baked under a 40C heatwave, and with the same royal blue polo-shirt, lightweight blue cargo shorts, navy cap and sunglasses he had been wearing earlier.
The daughter of the island’s mayor said firefighters, police and helicopters “are out all night” searching for Dr Mosley.
Mika Papakalodouka, 20, said: “It’s such a small island to get lost on. It’s so weird for us.
“Everybody is worried and looking for him.”
She added that “a lot of” island residents had been joining the search using their own boats.
The path Dr Mosley is thought to have taken from the beach is “not dangerous at all, but we have 40C outside so it’s easy to get dizzy”, she said.
Dr Mosley’s wife, Claire, raised the alarm in the early evening when he failed to return to the villa where they were staying.
One of the theories being considered by locals is that he might have boarded a boat away from the island.
Deputy mayor Ilias Chaskas told The Independent that divers were searching the coastline with the help of the Hellenic coastguard in case he had fallen from a cliff path in the heat, but said he believes it is “impossible” that Dr Mosley is still on Symi.
A hotel owner near the port said the disappearance had puzzled locals, even with the blistering heat.
“From the goat path it’s a steep fall if he was dizzy with the heat, and it’s onto rocks below, but it’s quite a wide path, enough for a group to walk along,” she told The Independent.
“It’s one way, you can’t go wrong. You don’t just fall off a path like that. It’s not a difficult walk in any way, and it should have taken an hour or so – no more.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities.”
The broadcaster fronted the Channel 4 show Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat? and was part of the BBC series Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.
He also lived with tapeworms in his gut for six weeks for the documentary Infested! Living with Parasites on BBC Four.
Dr Mosley received an Emmy nod for BBC science documentary The Human Face, presented by John Cleese.
He also advocated intermittent fasting through the 5:2 diet and the Fast 800 diet, which was written by his wife, who is also a doctor as well as a health columnist.
It is understood that the couple travelled to Greece together for a holiday after recently hosting a run of theatre shows and appearing at the Hay Festival.
