Michele Bourda: Who is British woman missing in Northern Greece?
Ongoing search at Ofrynio beach as mystery deepens over missing British woman last seen sunbathing Photograph: Nadja Abele/Alamy
Efforts to locate a British woman who vanished without a trace from a sunbed on a Greek beach have escalated, as the search entered its fourth day with no breakthrough.
Michele Bourda, 59, was last seen on August 1 relaxing on a lounger at Ofrynio beach, a scenic coastal stretch near the town of Kavala in northern Greece. Her sudden disappearance has prompted an intensive land and sea operation led by the Hellenic coastguard, supported by fishing vessels and private boats sweeping across the Strymonian Gulf.
“The search is very much active,” a coastguard source confirmed on Monday. “Patrol boats and civilian crafts are covering wide areas at sea. Though three days have passed, there’s no indication we’ll stop anytime soon.”
Police units have also been deployed inland, conducting thorough investigations along the beach and surrounding terrain, officials noted.
Bourda, a British national living part-time in Serres, northern Greece, had gone to the beach with her Greek husband. He reportedly raised the alarm after waking from a nap to find her missing from the nearby sunbed. Her personal items were untouched, deepening concerns around her disappearance.
With initial searches yielding no results, Greek nonprofit organization LifeLine Hellas issued a silver alert — a protocol typically used for individuals with cognitive impairments such as dementia. The alert triggered a coordinated, high-level search involving multiple emergency services.
The charity described Bourda as 5ft 6in tall, slim, and last seen wearing a swimsuit adorned with stones, yellow water shoes, and red plastic sunglasses. “Her life is at serious risk,” it warned. A similar notice was shared by the British embassy in Athens.
By late Monday, authorities had not decided whether the coordinated maritime search would continue into Tuesday, but stressed that patrol vessels would still monitor the waters as part of routine operations.
“Hope is the last thing to die,” a Greek official commented. “We’re exploring every possibility. At this point, anything else is speculation.”
This case marks the third high-profile disappearance of a British tourist in Greece this summer.
In July, 60-year-old Jay Arnold went missing while vacationing on Karpathos, an island in the southern Aegean. Arnold, who had been staying in Olympos village, failed to check out on his departure day, prompting a silver alert. His rental car was later discovered locked and unattended, but no trace of him has been found since.
“It’s baffling,” said local officer Panayiotis Fotopoulos. “We’ve used sniffer dogs, drones, volunteers — every resource we have — and still nothing. We haven’t ruled out the possibility he entered the sea.”
Earlier in June, the tragic case of UK TV doctor Michael Mosley gripped international headlines after he disappeared while walking on the island of Symi. His body was discovered five days later. A coroner concluded he had likely died from heatstroke after becoming lost in intense temperatures while returning to his accommodation from a beach.
Ofrynio beach, where Bourda went missing, is known for its stunning beauty — crystal-clear waters, golden sands, and a backdrop of summer serenity. But like much of Greece, the region has been scorched by record-breaking heatwaves in recent weeks, adding a layer of urgency and risk to the unfolding mystery.
