Thread 3 - Michael Mosley missing after disappearing on holiday walk

[ConesFones]

Continuing

Didn't he complain of being claustrophobic in one of his podcasts? I find it hard to believe if so that he would willingly enter the sea caves.

Thank you for posting your experience.

I agree that it's possible that he was already suffering from heatstroke by the time he was in Pedi, and it's one of the simplest explanations of what could be interpreted as irrational decision-making (eg not hydrating, choosing a blazing hot longer, harder trail)

Sadly, that's not a theory that is terribly compatible with a good outcome, especially after this length of time.

So there is still hope that he did make it round (without being seen if he passed through Agia Marina), but that still leaves the question of where is he now?

Even if the news is bad, I hope he is found soon as I expect the not-knowing is extremely hard on the family.

Unfortunately

Perhaps he stashed his backpack under rocks? It would be fine swimming in the light clothes he was wearing. Perhaps the swim was a mid-point break for him? If he’s been swimming in those caves before (as reported) then I can see he might want to revisit them on his way back to Symi town.

@Oaktree55 His wife said his bag contained his wallet, so he probably wouldn't have left it on the beach.

If you look at walking trails in the area, the walk it looks like he took from pedi to the marina beach is shown here. It looks like it’s maybe 1.5 hours but is described as difficult.

the photo is what you can see from the walk looking back at where his wife and friends would have been.

i can see him spotting this walk and wanting to set off to explore.

It was reported yesterday that he’d swum in them before.

You can see from google earth the path which should have been taken it’s shown as a white line.

the red lines are where he could have followed a slightly different path and got lost. Three of these lead down into the sea.

Is it known how long he had to wait for the next bus? Maybe that would give an indication of how far he would go in the opposite direction exploring if he was waiting for the bus.

The thing is, a 5km walk may not seem much to an experienced hiker, it's a short distance.

But add 40 degree heat and you're taking a high risk of heatstroke; any exertion takes a huge toll and is very difficult to recover from. I don't see MM being daft enough to fancy exploring - he probably just wanted to get back to his air con room after deciding to leave the beach.

I lived in Asia for a while and you have to respect the heat just like you respect the sea and how dangerous water can be.

I imagine, since they raised the alarm after getting back to the villa, that the conversation was something like I don’t feel well/this is boring, see you back at base.
So of course they would catch the 4.30pm boat.
Although agree it’s odd that this was narrated in the news as he “went for a hike” rather than “set off back to base”.

But Michael definitely didn’t explain where he was going for a walk (or this search would be a lot easier).

if I was his wife I would presume that he had either gone home already, or would be coming back to the beach to catch the boat. In the worst case she might think even if he was heading back to catch the boat but he was a bit late, then he would just walk back to pedi and walk home.

i don’t think they would automatically think he was in danger probably just lost track of time and would have to walk home as he missed the boat back.

He tried to catch a bus didn’t he? So seems was looking to head home?

There is a lot of muddled info here. And many posters haven't even looked at the map and understood the position of Symi (town) and where MM was heading.

I thought it was clear that he was walking back to the villa in Symi.

Also, I wish the Mayor would just shut up.

He's coming out with very subjective comments that have little to do with the search. He's close to casting aspersions and being emotionally 'involved' in terms of asking why he was walking, his state of mind etc.
I don't think we need comments like that.

This seems the most obvious event.

Obviously something has gone wrong, either he's had a medical emergency (snake bite, heart attack) or heat exhaustion.

It does seem that he's gotten lost 😞 I said upthread they'll likely find him inland.

Once you're off a track it's very hard to find it again. I remember a story of a very experienced hiker who was found dead after she lost her way - tragically she was only 50m or so from the track! She survived for a while waiting for help but an incorrect 'sighting' of her misled the search.

Here we go with yet another bit of information.

I don't usually post on these threads, but it's frustrating to see so many posters who aren't reading what's out there.

No one has ever said he was catching a bus.
He set out from the beach to go to the villa in Symi town.

The only way to get there was a) walking on the main road from Pedi, b) taking a bus from Pedi, c) walking over the track across the hills.

It appears from CCTV that he did c).

So now his wife has confirmed he had his backpack, wallet, and water, and his watch wasn’t a smart one, and he just said he was going for a walk. He also spoke about his walking some time ago and said he liked to walk and walk fast as it got his heart rate up.

the one journo who speculated he did it as he was unwell has not repeated the claim and is unable to back it up, so pure bullshit and can be discounted.

it does look like he simply went for a walk as is very common behaviour, they obviously thought back to the villa, or they’d have looked earlier, so he must have said that, and something unexpected and tragic has happened,

it’s possible it’s something like he slipped and broke an ankle, so sought shelter somewhere, ie a cave, and that’s why they can’t find him. Or he had a sudden fatal heart attack and as we can see from some of the search videos some of the terrain the rescuers are kneee deep . So if he fell they’d not see him unless they stumbled right on him.

Really don’t understand why some posters feel the need to be rude.

My understanding was that he was sighted in Pedi trying to catch a bus.

Hoping he is found soon.

We’re used to quite specific police reports in uk for missing persons. This is not what’s being given out in this case just often contradictory information from sources including his wife. Before anyone jumps on me I realise there’s no entitlement to information I’m just pointing out how there’s no clear lines of communication.

Yes he clearly didn’t try to catch a bus, as he had his wallet,

Some countries/areas you can’t pay in any form on bus but need a pre purchased ticket. My teen recently got caught out like this abroad.

New shot of him entering Pedi at 13:48. The umbrella and his clothes seem a lot brighter than the other shots. You'd think he would be quite visible in broad daylight if outside somewhere.

I have a friend who walks incredibly fast on a relaxed day when there's no urgency. Completely her normal. Known her for ten years in my local community.

I am just jealous I can't walk that fast tbh🤣

The umbrella is puzzling it’s his most identifiable item. Unless purposefully folded it should logically be the most visible item for drones/searches. If he fell/collapsed it should still be open.

this is where the confusion lies.

option 1 - he fancied a walk as he was bored. Probably heading east to marina area

option 2 - felt a bit unwell and/or tired and was trying to head west to the villa.

the search areas for both options are completely different.

we know he headed east from cctv so either

1. option 1 is correct and he wanted
   a walk. This is silly but we all make mistakes.

2. he got lost and thought he was heading to the villa.

the key to working out if he was doing option 1 or 2 is what exactly did he say to his wife and what did he say to the people at the bus stop. Did he speak to anyone else?