A Greek tavern owner, one of the first to see the body found during the search for TV doctor Michael Mosley has broken his silence. The popular 67-year-old was reportedly last seen by friends at Agios Nikolaos beach on Wednesday before setting off on a walk to the island’s centre.
The body, which has yet to be formally identified, was discovered under a fence surrounding a taverna situated on the Agia Marina beach, an area marked by hilly and rocky terrain leading into the sea.
Helicopters had been combing the area “every day”. Agia Marina bar manager, Ilias Tsavaris, 38, said he rushed to the scene after hearing about an observation made by the town’s mayor.
Tsavaris explains: “They saw it with the boat. The mayor came and saw something so that is when they called me and said ‘Hey they saw something go and check there’.”
“They called me, they said ‘You know what we saw something from far away, can you go and check’ so I went there”, reports the Mirror.
“So when I walked up I saw something like a body to make sure. You don’t see a dead body everyday, it is not a warzone, it’s summer you are supposed to have fun and swimming.”
The dead body seemed to have approached from Pedi. He did not pass through the restaurant, otherwise they would have seen it on surveillance footage, said the bar manager.
Tsavaris added that “rescuers had searched that area everyday with helicopters”.
The search for the missing presenter has been extensive, involving police, firefighters with drones, Greek Red Cross workers, divers, a search dog and a helicopter, all operating in dangerous conditions and high temperatures.
Mosley, who is known for popularising the 5:2 diet and his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, disappeared while on holiday.
Greek authorities have now turned their attention to a perilous mountainous area after CCTV footage from a house at the edge of a small marina in the village of Pedi showed Mosley walking towards a mountain path around 2pm local time on Wednesday.
Additional footage released on Saturday also seemed to show Mosley strolling unimpeded with an umbrella near the marina.
