The body of British TV presenter Dr. Michael Mosley was discovered Sunday.
The discovery concludes a five-day search and rescue mission, which began late Wednesday after the television personality, known for giving health tips on British television, was reported missing on the Greek island of Symi.
The cadaver was located in a stony place close to Agia Marina beach, The Independent reported. In other words, Mosley was agonizingly close to help.
The U.K. outlet notes that Mosley was “just metres from safety.”
Authorities have begun extricating the 67-year-old’s corpse and are planning to dispatch it to the nearby island of Rhodes for identification and autopsy, CNN reported.
“We had an incredibly lucky life together,” Mosley’s widow Claire Bailey said, according to CNN.
“We loved each other very much and were so happy together,” she added.
Mosley “did an incredible climb, took the route and collapsed where he couldn’t be easily seen by the extensive search team,” the widow said.
“Michael was an adventurous man, it’s part of what made him so special,” Bailey further said, according to The Independent.
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Mosley was last spotted Wednesday afternoon at approximately 1:30 p.m. when he had embarked on a walk along Saint Nikolas Beach without taking his cell phone with him, the newspaper reported.
When Mosley did not return after his excursion, Bailey filed a missing persons report with local law enforcement, who initiated a search operation.
Firefighters, policemen, and volunteers comprised the search party, which scoured the island’s mountainous terrain for five days to find Mosley in temperatures that went as high as 98 degrees Fahrenheit, The Telegraph reported.
Each day kept yielding disappointment, according to the newspaper, until the island’s mayor and rescue personnel decided to examine a network of tunnels and caves known as the “Abyss” on Sunday.
Before the search in and around the “Abyss,” The Telegraph reported, security camera footage showed Mosley walking down a mountain near the fence of the resort he was staying at.
Mosley hosted many science shows on British radio and television, including the BBC series ‘Trust Me I’m A Doctor’ and the BBC podcast Just One Thing.
Mosley also co-authored the book The Fast Diet with Mimi Spencer, making the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet popular, according to CNN and The Telegraph.
Several celebrities shared their tributes to Mosley, The Independent reported.
“In person he was very much the sort of figure that you would see on television: immediately likeable, genuinely funny, enthusiastic, he had this innate enthusiasm about life and he was always very generous with his time,” Spencer said, according to the newspaper.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that over the years Michael’s insights – especially his revelation that you can reverse type two diabetes – will have extended, and even saved, the lives of countless readers,” Daily Mail editor Ted Verity said, The Independent reported.
Mosley used to write columns for the newspaper.
According to CNN, Mosley is survived by four children and his wife.
