Grandad vanished after going out for a walk on Greek island... five years on, his family are still searching for answers

The heartbroken family of a grandfather who vanished after going out for a walk while on holiday in Greece five years ago are still desperately searching for answers. John Tossell disappeared after he went out for a walk while the island of Zante in 2019.

The then 73-year-old was last seen on CCTV leaving the hotel on June 17, 2019. No evidence about what has happened to him has ever come to light, WalesOnline reports.

John's son Gary Tossell, 40, has described the heartbreaking moment he had to leave the island without answers after spending weeks searching for his dad.

He said: "It was the most gut wrenching thing that I think I have ever done in my life. 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."

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John, from Bridgend, Wales, was on the third day of his holiday with his partner Gill Griffiths in the village of Argassi when he decided to go on a walk heading towards a monastery on Mount Skopos. There is CCTV footage of him setting off at around 9:46am but no trace of him has been found since.

There were initial searches by the Greek authorities, and later by a team from the Western Beacons Mountain Rescue but John, who would now be 78 years old, was not found. His family have long been critical of the Greek police's search to find the missing man and say more should have been done to find their father.

They say that the official search was called off after five days and the case has been closed despite the family having no explanation about what happened to the father and grandfather. The case into his disappearance remains open with South Wales Police.

Gary has travelled to the island several times in the last five years to try and search for his father but no clues other than the CCTV of him setting off has ever come to light. Gary said the alarm was sounded that his father was missing when he failed to return that evening from the walk.

He said: "He left around 9:30am, there's CCTV of him walking past the hotel at 9:46am 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. After being told the news, Gary travelled to Greece to help with the search. Even after the initial search he says he has visited the island several times to continue his own searches without the authorities and pours over the case file monthly to make sure he hasn't missed any clues about what has happened to his dad.

"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."

Gary said that the hardest part about not having answers about what happened to his dad is the "unknown". He said: "It's been horrible, nobody actually knows what's happening."

He says that over the years the family have run through every possible scenario as to what has happened to John but the lack of any evidence or clues has made it difficult to pin down any answers.

He said: "You've got to go through it all, you can't write any scenario off, you've got to knock them all down. Not even his hat has been found, if he had had a fall that would be one of the first things to come off. Not one spec of thing has ever been found." John did not take a phone with him on the walk so the CCTV is the only digital track of his movements.

In the five years since John's disappearance the family have also questioned whether foul play was involved. Discussing the initial search, Gary said: "After five days the police just stopped looking. On the fifth day they said we can't do any more he must've left the island. But I don't think that, he's definitely on the island.

"It was shockingly bad how they went about it. Even stuff like the chief of police was driving around the island track at dusk with his blue lights on when my dad was wearing a blue top. I think the accidents that are happening are being written off as accidents when there could be something else going on because it's all about getting tourism in.

"It's been quite hard on the family, I think the hardest is that we feel the bare minimum was done. Sometimes it was like pulling teeth. It makes you angry when you think people in those positions should be more professional."

Now, on the fifth anniversary of their father's disappearance, John's family have launched another appeal for information and are asking anyone who was in the village of Argassi on or after June 17, 2019, to check their holiday photos to see whether John may be in the background and can offer another clue for the route he took on the day he disappeared.

Gary said: "You've got to be realistic, you know it's not going to be like Eastenders where he just turns up but he's out there on his own and I just want to bring him home. He's my dad, you just want to bring him home."

"All it takes is something. It's like a thread of a jumper, you pull it and it unravels and that's what we need to happen here. It might spark a memory in someone, or if it was foul play involved it may spark their conscience. We've got to keep pushing now until we get another clue."

As part of the appeal launched on June 17, 2024, South Wales Police said: "We are continuing to support the family of John Tossell, who went missing five years ago today while on holiday on the Greek island of Zakynthos (Zante). John, from Bridgend, was last seen on Monday, June 17, 2019.

"The now 78-year-old was on holiday with his partner in the village of Argassi, heading towards a monastery on Mount Skopos. Despite searches by the Greek authorities, and later by a team from the Western Beacons Mountain Rescue, he has not been found.

"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:"

Information can also be given via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously""