The latest instance of a foreign tourist gone missing on a Greek isle amid an ongoing heatwave was reported on Thursday, this time on an Ionian Sea Island as a 70-year-old US citizen of Greek descent being hosted on the small isle of Mathraki disappeared.
Mathraki, part of the Diapontian island chain north of popular Corfu, is only some 3.5 square kilometers in size and hosts a permanent population of under 200.
The missing man was reported missing to police by a man who said he was hosting him. He had arrived on the isle 10 days prior to his disappearance and was definitely seen at a café on Tuesday. His personal items were found, but not his passport, authorities said.
A major search effort is reportedly waiting for strong northerly winds to die down, allowing police and fire brigade units to arrive from Corfu.
A search effort for a 74-year-old Dutch tourist, who went for a hike on Sunday on the eastern Aegean island of Samos, was called off on Thursday, and without the man being found.
Meanwhile, a search continued for an American tourist who disappeared on Tuesday after he set-off to hike across the Cyclades island of Amorgos in the scorching midday sun.
The fire brigade and volunteers scoured a hiking trail taken by the 59-year-old former police officer Eric Calibet from California, with the assistance of drones.
The body of well-known BBC presenter Dr. Michael Mosley was found over the weekend on a remote and rugged spot just meters from a resort’s wall on the small Dodecanese island of Symi. He had disappeared the previous Wednesday after setting off alone on a trail to head back to his lodging. He is believed to have taken a wrong turn and collapsed due to presumed exhaustion and heat stroke.
A coroner on the Dodecanese Island of Rhodes reportedly found no indications of injury due to wrongdoing or any criminal act, after completing an autopsy on Mosley’s body.
