Search launched on Greek island for missing British TV doctor Michael Mosley

June 6 (UPI) -- A search has been launched on the Greek island of Symi for British TV presenter Michael Mosley who has gone missing, authorities said.

Mosley, the 67-year-old BBC presenter and Daily Mail columnist best known for popularizing the 5:2 diet, was reported missing by his wife, Clair Bailey, Thursday morning, national Ekathimerini reported.

Bailey had told police that Mosley was walking from Agios Nikolas beach toward Pedi starting Wednesday afternoon and had not been heard from since.

Deputy Mayor Ilias Chaskas told BBC News that the search-and-rescue operation is focusing on the dangerous Pedi area of the island where a woman had seen him walking on a road Wednesday.

Symi Mayor Lefteris Papakalodoukas described the area to Kathimerini as "difficult as it is quite rocky." He also said Mosley disappeared when the heat on the island was "unbearable."

"One could easily faint in such conditions," he told the newspaper.

Papakalodoukas said the walk Mosley had sought to take was a distance of about 90 minutes.

Greek police have told The Guardian that a helicopter and specially trained dogs were to be apart of the search effort.

"We've got every service possible out there looking for him," the police chief overseeing the operation said. "He was officially reported missing this morning and now there are police, firemen, and volunteers involved in the search."

Mosley is an award-winning journalist, producer, TV presenter, and doctor who has worked on a dozen series for BBC, including Medical Mavericks, Inside Michael Mosley, and many others, according to the biography on his official website .