A British woman missing in Greece for 4 days was warned to not swim out into deep water, it has emerged.
Michele Bourda was last seen on a sunbed on Ofrynio beach in Kavala on Friday, but when her husband on the lounger next to hers woke up from a nap he realised she was missing.
Her clothes and bag were still on the sunbed, and each police and the coast guard have been looking for her since.
Missing person charity LifeLine Hellas issued a silver alert – typically used for missing adults with dementia or Alzheimer’s – saying Michele’s ‘life is at risk’ and asking anyone who had seen her to get in contact.
The coast guard said the Brit, whose husband is believed to be a Greek national, had been ‘residing temporarily’ in Serres, northern Greece.
A witness has now said Michele was swimming at around noon on Friday before she disappeared.
A summer sports instructor told LBC he had spoken to someone matching Michele’s description that afternoon.
He said she was swimming in deep water, and urged her to not swim out any further.
The search has continued into Tuesday, with a spokesperson for the Hellenic coast guard telling The Sun that the search has expanded to cover a wider area.
They added: ‘Patrol boats at the moment are focused on your entire Strymonian Gulf and it is going to proceed. There is no such thing as a change on this operation.’
Michele, 59, has straight, shoulder-length, blonde hair, hazel eyes and is 5ft 6in tall.
She was last seen wearing a rhinestone-embellished two-piece swimsuit, yellow beach shoes and red horn-rimmed sunglasses.
The British embassy in Greece issued an alert about Michele’s disappearance, saying: The British embassy in Greece also issued an alert notice saying: ‘Michele Ann BOURDA went missing on 01/08/2025 on the beach of Ofrynio in Kavala.
‘On the day she went missing, she was wearing a swimsuit with decorative stones, yellow water shoes, and red plastic sunglasses. Her life is at risk.’
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