Initial investigations have revealed that the death of TV presenter Michael Mosley, whose body was found on the Greek island of Symi, almost certainly occurred from natural causes.
A coroner in Rhodes on Monday ruled out foul play, saying the 67-year-old man, who disappeared while walking five days ago, had no visible injuries to his body.
“It appears there are no injuries that can be linked to a criminal act,” Greece’s public broadcaster ERT reported.
Forensic scientist Panayotis Kotratsis ordered further toxicology and histology tests in the hope of determining the exact cause of death. Results could take several months.
Mosley’s body was flown to Rhodes on a Hellenic Coast Guard vessel and found within hours near a beach bar, two-and-a-half miles (four kilometres) from where he had said goodbye to his wife, Claire Bailey, and friends he had visited on the island.
Monday’s postmortem appeared to confirm the consensus among Greek authorities that Mosley likely died from exhaustion after taking a wrong turn and climbing the rocky hills of Symi, a terrain known for its tough terrain.
On the day Mosley began his hike, local temperatures exceeded 37 °C (98.6 °F) – causing the meteorological service to issue an alert – and the rocky mountainous region he was traversing was at least 10 °C warmer.
A Greek police spokesman and the island’s mayor said the position in which the Briton was found – face up and with his left hand on his chest – and the lack of injuries played a decisive role in the coroner’s conclusions.
“He was found lying face down, not face down, which suggests he was feeling dizzy or was simply unwell and was lying down,” said Simi Mayor Lefteris Papakaloudoukas. “I think that explains a lot.”
The CCTV footage, now with Greek police but not yet seen by any media outlet, confirms that Mosley was exhausted when he arrived near the beach bar around two hours after he left St Nicholas beach for the port town of Symi, where the couple were being welcomed.
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She and Bailey, who paid tribute to her “amazing, funny, kind and talented husband”, had arrived on holiday the day before.
Mosley’s body is expected to be returned to Britain this week along with his wife and their four children, who travelled to Rhodes with their mother.
Mosley became famous for popularising intermittent fasting and the 5:2 diet on British TV. His disappearance triggered one of the biggest search and rescue operations in Greece involving police, firefighters, volunteer helicopters, drones and a sniffer dog.
