Lack of injuries suggests Mosley died of natural causes, initial inquest finds

An initial inquest yesterday determined that the TV presenter Michael Mosley, whose body was found on the Greek island of Symi, almost certainly died of natural causes.

- Helena Smith

A coroner in Rhodes ruled out foul play, saying there were no injuries to suggest the 67-year-old, who was discovered five days after disappearing during a walk, had fallen victim to a crime.

"It has emerged there are no injuries that can be linked to a criminal act," reported Greece's public broadcaster, ERT.

A forensic scientist, Panayiotis Kotretsis, ordered further toxicological and histological tests in the hope of being able to pinpoint the precise cause of death. The results are not expected for several months.

Mosley's body was transferred on a Hellenic coastguard vessel to Rhodes within hours of being found. A waiter found him close to a beach bar about 9 miles away from where he had said goodbye to his wife, Clare Bailey, and the friends the couple were visiting on the island.

Yesterday's postmortem reflected growing consensus among Greek officials that Mosley probably died of exhaustion after taking a wrong turn and climbing through the rocky hills of Symi, a landscape as unforgiving as it is rugged.