Dr Michael Mosley died the day he disappeared after falling unwell, Greek police say
CCTV footage appears to show 67-year-old Dr Michael Mosley falling over close to where his body was found as his widow said he "very nearly made it" to safety
Dr Michael Mosley may have died shortly after becoming unwell while walking on the Greek island of Symi, police have said.
According to sources, Dr Mosley died of natural causes. The coroner ruled out foul play, saying they did not detect damage to any organs or elsewhere on Dr Mosley's body during a post-mortem and ruled out any criminal action.
The 67-year-old is believed to have died around 4pm local time on Wednesday, the day he went missing, Greek police spokeswoman Konstantia Dimoglidou told CNN.
Footage reportedly found by a beach bar at Agia Marina shows what appears to be the TV doctor making his way down a rocky slope close to a fence before he falls out of view.
Ms Dimoglidou said that the position of his body means he died of natural causes. She also said toxicology and histology reports will take place.
“It has emerged there are no injuries that can be linked to a criminal act,” reported Greece’s public broadcaster, ERT.
Tributes have been pouring in for Dr Mosley from his loved ones and fans of his science programmes and films, with friends and colleagues praising him for innovating the world of science and health broadcasting.
Downing Street also paid tribute saying Mosley was an “extraordinary broadcaster” who had a “huge impact” on people’s lives.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The reports from the weekend are heartbreaking and our thoughts are with Dr Michael Mosley’s family, his wife Clare and friends, in what must be deeply sad times.
“We have seen some incredibly touching tributes which have made clear the huge impact that Dr Mosley had on people and helped to transform people’s lives for the better.
“He will be known as an extraordinary broadcaster who used his platform to influence and change the way we think about many public health issues.”
The former deputy leader of the Labour Party, Lord Watson, has said he was one of the people who benefited from Mosley's work.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “He certainly changed my life. He gave me the idea that I wasn’t broken.
“I remember the moment I first read his book, I read it on a Kindle on holiday in Spain.
“And it was this notion that you can, in some way, reverse or put type-2 diabetes into remission with lifestyle changes and nutritional change.
“It was like a light came on in my life and I just became a real fan of his work and, over the years, he’s helped me maintain that and help millions of others.
“And that’s what great journalism is, he explained very complex ideas of science in a very simple way.”
He added: “I met him and it was honestly like meeting a hero, he was a hero to me and I don’t underestimate that.
“And when you listen to him, it’s just that gentle, authoritative, non-judgmental voice.
“And he had this notion of Aristotelian wisdom, where small changes in our daily lives created habits that had a big incremental impact, cumulative impact, on our lives.”
Dr Mosley went missing after leaving his wife and friends at Agios Nikolaos beach on Wednesday at about 1.30pm.
His widow said he appeared to have undertaken an "incredible climb, took the wrong route and collapsed where he couldn’t be easily seen" by emergency search teams.
Dr Mosley first trained as a doctor in London before moving into the world of media, becoming a presenter, documentary maker, author and columnist.
Dr Mosley’s four children joined their mother, a GP and cookery book writer, on Symi earlier this week to help with the search effort.
His body was discovered around mid-morning on Sunday beneath a fence that runs around a bar on Agia Marina beach, which is surrounded by hilly, rocky terrain.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...