US tourist missing for days on Greek island
Greek authorities are searching for a US tourist who went missing after hiking alone on the island of Amorgos.
Local officials report that Albert Calibet, 59, disappeared on Tuesday afternoon. His friend reported him missing when he did not return from his hike.
The search for Mr. Calibet involves multiple agencies, including volunteers from the coastguard and teams from the neighboring islands of Paros and Naxos, according to Greek public broadcaster ERT News.
His disappearance follows that of British television presenter Michael Mosley, who went missing on the Greek island of Symi and was found dead four days later.
The BBC has reached out to the US State Department for comment regarding the search for Mr. Calibet.
Officials are conducting searches on both land and sea, covering nearly a quarter of Amorgos, according to the island’s Mayor Eleftherios Karaiskos.
They have been using a drone to search the northern part of the island and are also attempting to trace Mr Calibet’s two mobile phones. Calls to Mr Calibet – who the mayor said had visited the island before – have gone unanswered.
“We’re almost on three days here,” his brother Oliver Calibet told Fox 11 TV in Los Angeles. “There’s no water… I’m very distraught.”
Oliver Calibet and the girlfriend of Mr Calibet are on their way to Greece to help the search effort, ABC News reported.
The island’s mayor said the hike on which Mr Calibet had embarked was busy and not particularly challenging, which suggested that the American could have deviated from his planned route.
Mr Calibet, described as a retired police officer from Los Angeles County, started a hike on Tuesday morning in the village of Aegiali, according to local news outlets.
A few minutes later he is thought to have sent a text message with a picture of the sign showing the route he was taking to Katapola, an estimated four hours on foot.
About two hours later, a local woman said she spoke to the missing tourist after he bought drinks from a nearby store. Sofia Liviaki told Mega TV that Mr. Calibet had drunk a soft drink, showed her his planned route, and took a bottle of water with him for the remainder of his journey.
Mr Calibet’s disappearance has shocked the local community of Amorgos, where he has been a regular visitor for a number of years. While the path he chose is well-traveled and not difficult, the island has been experiencing a heatwave with temperatures currently as high as 35C (95F).
“Temperatures are very high, like all of Greece during the heatwave,” the island’s deputy mayor for tourism, Popi Despotidi, told Greek media. “We’re guessing he felt dizzy… and collapsed somewhere. It’s odd because he’s not someone who was walking this route for the first time.”
“Our hope is that we can bring him home safely,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told ABC News. “We are actively collaborating with multiple agencies abroad to provide assistance in the search for Deputy Calibet and will use every resource we have available to bring him back to those who love him.”
The search for the missing man comes just days after officials spent days scouring another Greek island, Symi, for Dr Mosley, a famous British TV doctor who vanished after setting out on a walk from a beach.
His body was found in a rocky area, and investigators concluded that he died of natural causes the day he went missing.
