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Disappearance of Dr Michael Mosley

Just to consider this one, nobody in their right mind even thinks about taking a substantial walk in 40C (104F) heat and blazing sunshine, let alone tackling rough terrain and least of all if feeling even a little poorly. And this man was a doctor.

If I was in the right mood I might. I've done dumber things.
 
I have just read this thread and this post deserves a decent answer as it raises some good points. I cannot find anyone who has even attempted to answer it. Though other posts by Explorer have been answered, at least in part.


I've not been posting but I will chip in on this one. I was following it at the beginning time and as soon as it was established that he'd turned right along the north part of Pedi village towards Agia Marina, it was obvious what had happened. Although he made it further than I guessed.



It's quite straightforward, other than people coming out with factoids and wild speculations.



He left St Nicholas beach because he was bored and wanted to go for a walk. Nothing about feeling unwell. I think there was a general presumption he'd make his own way back to Symi. He is sad to have been carrying only a single small bottle of water. Presumably 500ml.


He walked the footpath to Pedi. It's steep in places but well made with some concrete steps in the rocks. It's barely a mile. At first when he got to Pedi he seemed to be strolling, but then he started walking briskly and purposefully. I think he saw something - a map, a ferry timetable - that gave him the idea of walking on to Agia Marina and getting the water taxi from there to Symi. There is no report of him buying any more water.



It wasn't a completely mad plan. Again, it's barely a mile, and they say maybe half an hour's walk. It's not recommended to do it in the midday heat though, and he had only just arrived and wasn't acclimatised. Also, he was 67. But given what happened he'd have made it OK despite all that ihe hadn't missed the path.


The path is fairly clear as it leaves Pedi, but rapidly degenerates to barely a goat track among other goat tracks. Some little way out of Pedi there is a right turn, a sort dog-leg, when it meets a rocky outcrop. The walker needs to turn an
 
I have just read this thread and this post deserves a decent answer as it raises some good points. I cannot find anyone who has even attempted to answer it. Though other posts by Explorer have been answered, at least in part.

Okay, I'll attempt to answer it: Elderly man with TGA is overcome by the heat, while out of pocket for a few hours on a Greek isle.

If you or Explorer want to multiply entities beyond that eminently reasonable hypothesis, I think one of you needs to do the math on that, not complain that others aren't doing your homework for you.
 
Sorry, I'm on my phone on a hotel internet and the keypad keeps disappearing. I can't even edit that post.



A walker needs to turn right and leave the outcrop on his left, but straight on looks fine and it's easy to miss the turn. However if you do that, you end up climbing much higher on rougher ground. It's not actually any further but it's a MUCH harder route.



I thought on Saturday that he'd probably come to grief, exhaustion or a fall, out on the hillside. Where they were searching.



However he has seen the beach compound and managed to make his way down to the beach, although on the north side rather than the south side where the path comes in.



Sadly he was so exhausted, dehydrated, heat stroke, that he collapsed and died just 40 metres from the entrance to the compound, under the wall where he wasn't easy to see.


It's just as his wife said. It wasn't sensible, what he did, but if he hadn't lost the path he'd have been OK. He nearly made it, as it was, although he took over an hour and a half to cover a distance that should have taken only about half an hour.



Got to catch a tour bus now, on holiday in Canada.
 
Also, it's nuts to say a child couldn't get lost there. Even though the island is small, if you leave the settlements and go walking across country you can dissappear.
 
This reminds of the cases you hear about of hypothermia (or similar) where people just get totally confused and disoriented and end up dying 10 metres away from shelter. Very sad.
 
I have just read this thread and this post deserves a decent answer as it raises some good points. I cannot find anyone who has even attempted to answer it. Though other posts by Explorer have been answered, at least in part.

There doesn't seem to be any evidence he set off to the centre of the island. The OP says he set off to Pedi, which is just half a mile away along the coastal path. Far from an arduous hike into the mountains, it's quite believably just a walk to the chemists. He was seen at Pedi 20 minutes later.

Note that the beach he left was not where the Mosleys were staying, and that beach seems to be only accessible via this path so they must have already walked the path once that day with all their bags, and possibly there and back multiple times over their stay(s) there.

From Pedi he seems to have taken the 'wrong route' and ended up on the slightly longer walk to Agia. That's more unwise in the conditions, but his wife specifically called that a 'wrong route' so it does look like he got confused and mistook the walk to Agia for the shorter path back to his wife or wherever they were supposed to be meeting. Again though it's not a weird hike, it's one of two coastal paths out of the village. it certainly looks dry and hilly but its never more than 200m from the sea, and it's signposted as leading to a nearby beach. It just happens to be the wrong beach.

I think a bout of amnesia easily explains him being on the wrong return path, and the expectation that the path was just half a mile, and possibly less arduous, explains him setting off with misplaced confidence. At some point he may have realised the walk was too long for the conditions but at that point the walk back may have also been too long for the conditions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dd7ekyrpyo
The 67-year-old father-of-four was reported missing after he set off for a walk from Agios Nikolaos beach - near where he was staying on the northeast side of the island - at about 13:30 local time (11:30 BST) on Wednesday.

Dr Bailey Mosley said on Sunday that her family was "taking comfort in the fact" that her husband "so very nearly made it" to safety.
"He did an incredible climb, took the wrong route and collapsed where he couldn’t be easily seen by the extensive search team," she said in a statement.
 
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I have stayed in Greece on two occasions when the temperature exceeded 45 degrees, and on one of those occasions and in my early forties, I visited the site of Olympia, and was with a group of other tourists being escorted around the archaeology with a local Greek tourist guide. The site is flat but there is very little shade, and after about 20 minutes of walking, I began to feel quite ill. I left the group prematurely and looked for a shop in the town that had air conditioning and lingered a while until I felt better. The best relief was getting on the coach back to the hotel that was ice cold. I can honestly say, that if I had stayed on that site in those conditions much longer, I would have collapsed.

Dr Mosely, is a medical doctor, and he would have known what effect the extreme heat and terrain would have had on him. Another poster on here said he was just going for a walk, but it was always going to be at least around two hours in that searing heat. It wasn't an endurance test, and if the territory was unknown to him and the paths ill marked, then why he took that kind of risk is baffling. As they say, this was a terrible waste of a life for no good reason.
 
I have stayed in Greece on two occasions when the temperature exceeded 45 degrees, and on one of those occasions and in my early forties, I visited the site of Olympia, and was with a group of other tourists being escorted around the archaeology with a local Greek tourist guide. The site is flat but there is very little shade, and after about 20 minutes of walking, I began to feel quite ill. I left the group prematurely and looked for a shop in the town that had air conditioning and lingered a while until I felt better. The best relief was getting on the coach back to the hotel that was ice cold. I can honestly say, that if I had stayed on that site in those conditions much longer, I would have collapsed.

Dr Mosely, is a medical doctor, and he would have known what effect the extreme heat and terrain would have had on him. Another poster on here said he was just going for a walk, but it was always going to be at least around two hours in that searing heat. It wasn't an endurance test, and if the territory was unknown to him and the paths ill marked, then why he took that kind of risk is baffling. As they say, this was a terrible waste of a life for no good reason.

Knowing that heatstroke or whatever is a debilitating condition is not a huge benefit when you are already under its influence and the noggin no longer working properly. .
 
Dr Mosely, is a medical doctor, and he would have known what effect the extreme heat and terrain would have had on him. Another poster on here said he was just going for a walk, but it was always going to be at least around two hours in that searing heat. It wasn't an endurance test, and if the territory was unknown to him and the paths ill marked, then why he took that kind of risk is baffling.
Experienced people do stupid things in their area of expertise all the time. We right now have another thread on the front page, about a top athlete slowing down to celebrate before the finish line, and losing the race they assumed they won.

What's your hypothesis? Mind control? Blackmail? In your scenario, something must have induced him to make choices he knew were stupid.

My hypothesis is that an older man with a recurring cognitive impairment became cognitively impaired and succumbed to the heat.

As they say, this was a terrible waste of a life for no good reason.
Ah, but who wasted that life, in your hypothesis? You imply that it probably wasn't him, because he must have known better, and you expect him to have made good choices at all times.
 
Oldish guy, takes a walk in hot conditions, gets lost and succumbed to the environment. Sad for the family, friends and fans, perfectly normal event.
 
Also, being oldish, not carrying a phone doesn’t seem unusual.

(Also, Hi Rolfe, thanks for stopping by!)
 
h happened it's simply sad. And I can't believe it, but I liked what theprestige said.
 
Sprinkler, I think you need to read what I posted. For a start, the group did not walk the footpath to the St Nicholas beach they got there by water taxi. It's the usual way to access these beaches.

There's no need to postulate any amnesia or mental incapacity to explain what he did. He was bored on the beach and wanted to go for a walk. The idea was that he'd make his own way back to Symi. None of it is very far. The rest of the party were intending to go back, as they came, by water taxi.

He walked to Pedi with no trouble at all. Probably lulled him into a false sense of security. From Pedi he could have walked back to Symi fairly easily, by turning left, or caught a bus I think. There's a wee tourist road train, too. Maybe that was his original intention.

However, he decided instead to continue his walk to Agia Marina, another beach spot othe opposite side of the Pedi fjord from the St Nicholas beach. It's about the same distance as St Nicholas to Pedi, or maybe a little longer. It should only have taken half an hour and it was only two in the afternoon. From there he could have caught another water taxi back to Symi. Or indeed, got on the circular route water taxi that criss-crosses the bay and actually be on the boat that his wife and their friends intended to catch to leave the beach in the late afternoon. Surprise!
Personally, I think the change in his demeanour between the first couple of CCTV pictures in Pedi, when he seemed just to be strolling, window-shopping, and the later clip when he was walking briskly, suggests he had the idea of walking to Agia Marina in between. He could well have thought that walk was no more taxing than the walk from the St Nicholas beach. It's barely a mile after all.
It wasn't a good idea given the temperature, and the fact that he had so little water with him, and the fact that it was getting hotter past noon, and the fact that this was his first day in Greece and he wasn't acclimatised to the heat. But it was a misjudgement, not a sign of mental incapacity. He'd already walked well over half the total distance. If he hadn't missed the path he'd have been fine, or at least no more than tired and hot and dehydrated.

You can see from the Google satellite view how easy it is to miss the turning in that path. There's even a blog post about it, by someone who did the exact same thing even though he was very familiar with the path in the opposite direction. The trouble is that if you do that it leads you to a much steeper and more strenuous climb. He may also have had to cast about a bit before he finally caught sight of the Agia Marina beach compound.

It's clear that that's what happened because he approached the compound on the north side. If he'd followed the regular path he'd have arrived on the south side.

The "wrong way" wasn't that he turned east instead of west from Pedi, thinking he was walking to Symi. Or that he conceived some mad idea of walking miles across country to Symi by a circular route. He was aiming for Agia Marina, it wasn't that far, it was a bit unwise for the reasons stated, but it wasn't insane or a sign of mental incapacity.

The "wrong way" was that he simply missed the right turn of the path about a third of the way from Pedi to Agia Marina. If he hadn't done that, he'd have got to Agia Marina, caught the water taxi to Symi (or back to the SNicholas beach to surprise his wife) and nobody would have thought twice about it.

His wife seems to understand all this perfectly well. The route he ended up taking because of missing the path was a hell of a climb in that heat but he still made it, and almost made it to the beach. It's a tragedy. It's heartbreaking. But it's a story of a man who made a slightly unwise decision to undertake a walk he wasn't properly equipped for and who came to grief because he missed a turning on the path. Not because he was mentally incapacitated.

Most of the confusion and conspiracy mongering is simply due to journalists (and people on the internet) indulging in wild speculation based on untrue factoids that have been flying around. At least his wife seems to understand what happened, even if the journalists don't.
 
Sprinkler,

Um... :blush:

The rest is fine. I was already looking at the map again. It just looks like a series of small errors and misjudgements. I've walked plenty of hills and know how you can end up doubling down on a bad turn thinking it much be just over this crest, okay just over this crest, etc.
 
I suspect that this is one of those "Anything you don't understand can kill you" situations.

(Courtesy of Larry Niven)

I'm acutely aware, that I'd probably only last a few minutes at -20C because I would have arrived there after a series of green horn mistakes.

However, I'm pretty safe at +40C because I have a lot of experience with the heat.

Dr Moseley probably knew, intellectually, that hot days are dangerous, but didn't have the experience that would have supported better decisions.

As others have pointed out in the thread, once you're overheating, your decision making powers decrease.

Initial decisions, like walking alone, with insufficient water, and no comms, really don't help.
 
I was already looking at the map again. It just looks like a series of small errors and misjudgements. I've walked plenty of hills and know how you can end up doubling down on a bad turn thinking it much be just over this crest, okay just over this crest, etc.

Yep, been there, done that. Luckily had a map on my phone and GPS showing me where I was on it.

Speaking of maps, is that how you’ve worked this out, Rolfe? Google Maps?

It certainly shows a lot of information such as ferries that I didn't see mentioned in any news reports.
 
Yep, been there, done that. Luckily had a map on my phone and GPS showing me where I was on it.

Speaking of maps, is that how you’ve worked this out, Rolfe? Google Maps?

It certainly shows a lot of information such as ferries that I didn't see mentioned in any news reports.

The obvious explanation is that Rolfe has been there.
 
The whole TGA thing seems a bit speculative also. People very rarely have more than one experience of TGA, so if he'd had one before, it's not very likely it affected him this time.
 
The whole TGA thing seems a bit speculative also. People very rarely have more than one experience of TGA, so if he'd had one before, it's not very likely it affected him this time.

Well, if the first was brought on by extreme conditions (icy cold water), it's not that unreasonable to speculate a second was triggered by excessive heat, as they are typically triggered by something external, and they do also seem more common with age. And it's certainly not unknown to have more that one episode of TGA - 15% of those who have one have multiple ones according to wikipedia; a friend has just had their second only a couple of months after their first.

That said, it's not necessary to invoke a TGA episode to explain what happened, Rolfe's explanation seems very persuasive by itself.
 
I have been there, last year, but not to a useful extent. I was in a boat which circumnavigated the island. We called in at Pedi in the late afternoon, then anchored off Agia Marina for a swim. There, my friend snorkelled so far away from the boat that they had to raise anchor and sail over to fetch her. But it gave me enough awareness of the lie of the land to become curious about what happened. That, plus Google satellite view, plus some perceptive things other people said on Twitter made it quite obvious to me what had happened. The potential for going wrong where the path turns right, and the potential consequences of doing that, seem obvious. Then the guy who had done exactly that (despite having walked the path multiple times in the opposite direction) and written a blog post about it joined the conversation, trying to alert the media.

Thinking about it, I believe Michael Mosley's children also worked it out about the same time, probably independently - they were on the ground. It's reported that they searched the area where he was found on Saturday afternoon, but somehow missed seeing the body. They were very unlikely to have been doing that by sheer chance. And their mother's statement is absolutely consistent with her understanding exactly what happened.

All that rubbish about him going east instead of west at Pedi by mistake, thinking he was heading for Symi? That's just ridiculous. As was the suggestion that he intentionally decided to walk a long trackless loop round to Symi in that heat. (It's not really trackless but there's nothing marked on Google maps.)
It was someone else on Twitter who said, he was obviously going to Agia Marina to get the water taxi back to Symi, and that was just so obviously right. Then I had a look at Google satellite view and could see the obvious place to go wrong. Then the blog author joined in.
Really, I think the authorities were all over the place. Not thinking logically, not requesting CCTV images promptly, and haring off after mad ideas like maybe he got to Agia Marina (even though nobody saw him there) and THEN went exploring dangerous caves! But all without requesting the Agia Marina CCTV footage. Which wasn't looked at until after the body was found. It wouldn't have saved him, he was dead before he was reported missing, but lessons should be learned.

If I knew how to post links on this phone I would, but if you're on Twitter, search for "Agia Marina" under "latest" and you should find a lot.
 
Another thing. I don't for a second believe that he had had some sort of "episode" or that he was mentally addled by the heat. He was walking briskly and purposefully at Pedi. Although the Agia Marina CCTV footage has not been released, everything points to him trying his best, rationally, to get to Agia Marina beach, even though he had lost the track. He wasn't wandering aimlessly, he was absolutely on course once he caught sight of the beach compound. At the last he was sensibly trying to follow the fence down to the shore where the entrance was. He just didn't quite make it.
I suppose it's possible he did buy more water in Pedi before he set out for Agia Marina, and the person who sold it to him just doesn't remember. It's hard to see how he made it so far if he didn't.
 
Another thing. I don't for a second believe that he had had some sort of "episode" or that he was mentally addled by the heat. He was walking briskly and purposefully at Pedi. Although the Agia Marina CCTV footage has not been released, everything points to him trying his best, rationally, to get to Agia Marina beach, even though he had lost the track. He wasn't wandering aimlessly, he was absolutely on course once he caught sight of the beach compound. At the last he was sensibly trying to follow the fence down to the shore where the entrance was. He just didn't quite make it.
I suppose it's possible he did buy more water in Pedi before he set out for Agia Marina, and the person who sold it to him just doesn't remember. It's hard to see how he made it so far if he didn't.

Your explanation is quite convincing, but the trouble I have had with all this from day one, is that personally, I would not have risked that length of walk in those conditions, as I know what extreme heat can do if you cannot get to a place of refuge quickly enough to cool down if you get into trouble.

This is probably because I am over cautious, always avoid uncomfortable situations as a consequence, and the fact that I am not athletic anymore, at the age of 78. So your explanation for me in my head, works only if Dr Mosley had an overdose of misplaced bravado.
 
That’s really interesting, Rolfe, thanks.

How do you believe he died? Overheating?
 
Sunstroke, dehydration, hyperthermia. Electrolytes probably shot to hell. I don't know if he bought more water in Pedi, but I don't think he could have been carrying enough even if he did.
It's an absolute tragedy. I'm certain that if he hadn't missed that turning he'd have got to Agia Marina OK and recovered, even if he had been a bit frayed round the edges.
 
Sunstroke, dehydration, hyperthermia. Electrolytes probably shot to hell. I don't know if he bought more water in Pedi, but I don't think he could have been carrying enough even if he did.
It's an absolute tragedy. I'm certain that if he hadn't missed that turning he'd have got to Agia Marina OK and recovered, even if he had been a bit frayed round the edges.

:(
 
Your explanation is quite convincing, but the trouble I have had with all this from day one, is that personally, I would not have risked that length of walk in those conditions, as I know what extreme heat can do if you cannot get to a place of refuge quickly enough to cool down if you get into trouble.

This is probably because I am over cautious, always avoid uncomfortable situations as a consequence, and the fact that I am not athletic anymore, at the age of 78. So your explanation for me in my head, works only if Dr Mosley had an overdose of misplaced bravado.


I'm absolutely on board with the misplaced bravado explanation. That, plus underestimating the difficulty of the terrain on the north side of the bay, plus not factoring in that he might miss the path. The path he had already walked from the St Nicholas beach to Pedi is well defined.

Bear in mind that he was still in great form walking through Pedi, and it's barely a mile from there to Agia Marina. He did underestimate the difficulty, but it was missing the turning that did for him. If it hadn't been for that there's no doubt he'd have got to Agia Marina OK. He might have said, whew that was a lot rougher than I bargained for, but the whole thing would have been forgotten in a day or two.

Given that he damn near made it even doing it the really hard way with that awful climb in the hottest part of the day, I think it's hard to say he was insanely foolhardy in what he planned to do. Unwise, yes, but without losing the path it would have been within his capabilities.
 
In fact he got much further than I thought he would, once I realised he must have missed that turning. On Saturday I was opining on Twitter that he had probably succumbed to the heat or had a fall somewhere on the hillside past the place where Google satellite view shows a gap in a rocky ridge which he must have walked through. After that the ground rises steeply - that's the terrible climb his wife referred to. I didn't think he'd make it.

On Sunday, when I heard his body had been found actually at Agia Marina but outside the fence, I thought, what the hell, but I must have been wrong. But then I realised he'd been found on the north side of the beach (where my friend strayed to with her snorkel) whereas the regular path comes in on the south side. Then it was obvious what had happened. He actually managed that difficult climb, saw his destination over to his right, headed for it, and even managed the difficult and steep descent down to the bay. Far more than I thought he'd have been capable of. And expired 40 metres from the entrance. I could cry just thinking about it.
 
In fact he got much further than I thought he would, once I realised he must have missed that turning. On Saturday I was opining on Twitter that he had probably succumbed to the heat or had a fall somewhere on the hillside past the place where Google satellite view shows a gap in a rocky ridge which he must have walked through. After that the ground rises steeply - that's the terrible climb his wife referred to. I didn't think he'd make it.

On Sunday, when I heard his body had been found actually at Agia Marina but outside the fence, I thought, what the hell, but I must have been wrong. But then I realised he'd been found on the north side of the beach (where my friend strayed to with her snorkel) whereas the regular path comes in on the south side. Then it was obvious what had happened. He actually managed that difficult climb, saw his destination over to his right, headed for it, and even managed the difficult and steep descent down to the bay. Far more than I thought he'd have been capable of. And expired 40 metres from the entrance. I could cry just thinking about it.


While I don't doubt the reasonableness and likely truth of your account, I have to say it seems strange to me. I'm only a few years younger than Mosley, but I'm very accustomed to thinking of walking distances of a mile or less as trivially manageable, regardless of bad terrain or uncomfortable conditions. Shirt sleeves in a winter blizzard? Overdressed or unprotected in dangerous heat? Meh, it's only a mile. As long as I don't get lost, injured, or sick I just assume I'd be okay. I worry about getting dehydrated because I know it would be bad for my kidneys (so I do bring water on walks) but if I didn't have it I wouldn't be worried about dropping dead in an hour.

This suggests two things. One, I should recalibrate my tolerance for discomfort and risk in the next few years. Two, I think it's likely that some other factor, such as an injury or medical event, contributed to Mosley not making those last few dozen meters.
 
Senior citizen walking in extreme heat and rocky terrain. Color me obtuse, but is this actually not a puzzling Scooby-Doo mystery?
 
Senior citizen walking in extreme heat and rocky terrain. Color me obtuse, but is this actually not a puzzling Scooby-Doo mystery?

Well, now he's been found, it's no longer a mystery. And 'senior citizen' is a bit dismissive; he was only 67, and pretty fit for his age. Being over 60 doesn't make you automatically frail and likely to drop dead if you get a bit warm.
 
Senior citizen walking in extreme heat and rocky terrain. Color me obtuse, but is this actually not a puzzling Scooby-Doo mystery?

The mystery has been why, if the cause of his death is so obvious, did a doctor take the risk. It's coloured a little bit by the fact he was a very well liked personality in the UK, and accusations he was just stupid sting a little for those who liked or respected him. There has to be a better answer.

The answer, it turns out is that the route is far shorter than what people were claiming up front. i.e. he never planned on a 2 hour hike into the mountains, but a 0.8 mile walk along an (almost) coastal path. It shouldn't have killed him at all. What killed him was a wrong turn into a 150ft climb and him probably getting stuck in a sunk cost trap of repeatedly thinking he was almost at the top.
 
Being fit senior, or knowing better, or being a doctor doesn't really matter, though. He wouldn't be the first person to be killed by hubris. Hell, don't we all do stuff we shouldn't, thinking we'll be fine?
 
This would've made for a great detective story. Exotic setting, interesting somewhat-famous cast, small island, colorful locals, misinformation about how difficult it is to get lost. ...Okay, sure, so this death turned out to be neither murder nor suicide, sure, but the investigation would've uncovered two or three minor crimes and some actual murders, all unrelated; and then, finally, sure, the story ends with this anticlimax about the cause of death of the (kind of) famous doctor.
 
The answer, it turns out is that the route is far shorter than what people were claiming up front. i.e. he never planned on a 2 hour hike into the mountains, but a 0.8 mile walk along an (almost) coastal path. It shouldn't have killed him at all. What killed him was a wrong turn into a 150ft climb and him probably getting stuck in a sunk cost trap of repeatedly thinking he was almost at the top.


THIS.
The route he intended to take was barely a mile. Granted, it was deemed inadvisable to try it in the heat of the day, and all the more so because he had only arrived from England the previous day and wasn't acclimatised to the heat, and there was an actual heat warning in force. Nevertheless it wasn't a crazy risk. Subsequent events demonstrate that if he hadn't missed the turning on the path he'd have made it OK, even if he was a bit frayed around the edges.

What killed him was missing that turning, which led him to a much harder route with a severe climb. It wasn't actually longer (unless of course he was casting around to try to find his way) but it was absolutely punishing compared to the regular path he missed. He took an hour and 45 minutes to get to Agia Marina that way, whereas the regular path should have taken about half an hour. No wonder he didn't make it. On Saturday, looking at the map, I didn't expect him to get to the top of the hill. He did, though, and he managed the steep climb down to the bay. It's horribly ironic that he collapsed so close to the entrance to the beach compound without being seen, but I fail to see where there's any mystery.

It seems likely his children had it figured out on Saturday, given where they were searching. His wife's statement on Sunday makes it clear she understands exactly what happened. She may not even realise that a lot of media outlets were still printing confusing speculative nonsense.

It seems tragically mundane to me. Fit guy in his sixties goes on a walk which is a bit inadvisable but which was probably well within his capabilities. Misses the path and ends up doing a very much more severe route than he intended, in very high temperatures he was not acclimatised to. Collapses and dies only yards from his destination. Tragic. Heartbreaking. But hardly a mystery.
 
I only just saw this thread, but I followed the tragic story as it unfolded. Rolfe clearly has the right of it.

I'd like to add, as someone who has experienced two TGAs, that it's unlikely to be a contributing factor even if it did indeed occur. It's not a cognitive impairment in the sense usually meant, all that happens is that you stop storing what you are experiencing in your memory. I lost 18 hours during the first one; the last thing I remember is eating dinner in the hotel restaurant on the last evening of a short break in Windsor, the next thing I remember I'm sitting at home checking my emails at about 4 pm the next day. During those missing hours I presumably went back to my room, slept, woke, packed, ate breakfast in the hotel, waited in reception for my taxi, travelled for a couple of hours and correctly directed the driver to my home. All without (as far as I was able to establish afterwards) unduly alarming anyone, though a couple of people were apparently a bit concerned that I didn't seem quite myself. So I don't think we can blame a TGA for what happened to poor Dr Moseley.
 
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