John Tossell from Bridgend went out for a walk towards a monastery in Zante, Greece, in June 2019 and was never seen again – five years on his family still have no answers
Family of a much-loved granddad who disappeared while walking in Greece five years ago have spoken out as they continue to search for answers.
John Tossell had been staying on the Greek island of Zante with partner Gill Griffiths when he vanished on June 17, 2019, after heading out for a walk. Footage showed him setting off from his hotel in the village of Argassi at 9.46am after telling Gill he planned to hike up towards a monastery on Mount Skopos, with the alarm raised later that evening when he didn’t return.
No one has seen or heard from the 73-year-old since, with five years now elapsing. John’s son Gary has spoken out on the family’s heartbreaking decision to leave the island after their fruitless search for answers.
“It was the most gut wrenching thing that I think I have ever done in my life,” said the 40-year-old. “Walking onto that jet it was horrible, I couldn’t describe the feeling – it was like a pit in my stomach. I just wanted to sprint off the plane, I just wanted to stay on the island until I found him. It was just the worst thing in the world coming back without him.”
Retiree John and Gill from Bridgend, South Wales, were on the third day of their holiday in the Greek paradise location when he disappeared. Initial searches by Greek authorities drew a blank, with Western Beacons Mountain Rescue later flying out to conduct their own search.
More than five years on, John’s family have criticised Greek police’s investigation, saying not enough was done to find him. The official search was called off after just five days with the case since closed, leaving his family in the dark.
South Wales Police has since taken on the investigation, whilst son Gary has travelled back to Zante several times in search of clues. Gary said: “He left around 9:30am, there’s CCTV of him walking past the hotel at 9:46 and that’s the last confirmed sighting of him. He just vanished off the face of the earth.
“He was happy in life, retired, he didn’t want for anything, he was healthy, this was completely out of character. Walking to look at things isn’t [out of character] don’t get me wrong, but to disappear like that is.”
John has been described as “fit as a flea” and his family said he would walk miles with the dogs and swim three times a week. However, Gary and his family have been told conflicting evidence around possible sightings as part of their searches. Gary also regularly scours the case file to make sure he hasn’t missed anything.
“We spent the next four weeks up the mountain searching but nothing,” he said. “It was hard with the locals too because it was conflicting, we had one woman say she saw him at the top of the mountain with a couple but then when you ask again the time has changed or she can’t remember.
“I walked the exact route he was meant to do at the same time and it was Greek rush hour. There was so much traffic around, you would have to have been unlucky for nobody to see anything. You think ‘he will turn up in a few days, this can’t be happening’, but then as the days creep on you think ‘hang on this is getting serious’. The first few days are the most critical then as the weeks go on you realise something’s happened.
“We [the family] sit there and talk about it, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Because humans can’t just disappear.” He said they had gone through every possible scenario over the years, including foul play. Added to their agony is that John didn’t take a phone with him, making it much harder to pin down where he went.
“Not even his hat has been found, if he had had a fall that would be one of the first things to come off,” Gary said. The family were later told by police John must have “left the island” as they found no trace of him.
As part of the new appeal launched to find John, South Wales Police said: “His family have appealed for anyone who may have been in the area to think about whether they saw John, who was wearing a royal blue shirt. They have also asked holidaymakers to scour their own photographs to check whether John was in the background of the shot.
“The investigation is being led by authorities in Greece, but if you have any information which you think may help, you can contact us by one of the following means, quoting reference 1900243231:
