Loved ones of retired LA County deputy missing in Greece baffled by disappearance: 'We've got to find him'

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Retired Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy missing in Greece

Albert Calibet went missing while hiking in Greece, where he visits often.

The loved ones of a semi-retired Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who remains missing after disappearing during a vacation in Greece are working tirelessly to find him. 

Albert Calibet, 59, was last seen setting out on a four-hour hike across the Greek island of Amorgos, where he has been a regular visitor for years, on June 11, and was going to meet a friend later that day, his friends and family told Fox News Digital from the Los Angeles suburb of Hermosa Beach.  

"He goes every year around this time," said Calibet's sister-in-law, Sandrine Cutright. "He goes to Greece to unplug and to go on hikes and go for swims and just sleep and relax. That's what he was doing to unplug from his busy life here in Los Angeles as an L.A. County sheriff's deputy."

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Albert Calibet has been missing since Tuesday, when he set off on a hike on the Greek island of Amorgos.  (Fox 11)

Hours before he went missing, Calibet and his friend packed up their car to move to a new hotel and planned to meet later for lunch, his friend, Robin Winston Leon, said. He arrived in Greece around two weeks ago. His friend reported him missing when he didn't return from the hike. 

Calibet, a seasoned hiker, has been traveling to Amorgos every year since 2009, she said. Despite the "strenuous" nature of the hike, he had hiked it before, she said. 

The disappearance has left Calibet's loved ones flummoxed. They speculated that he could have fallen into a crevice or down the side of a cliff. 

"He's so physically fit. He's so strong. God forbid if he had a heart attack, he'd be on the trail and they would have found him already," Leon said. "Something's happened to our friend and the clock is ticking and we need him to be found already."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department about the search for Calibet. 

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Albert Calibet, 59, went missing on a Greek island after setting off on a hike on June 11.  (Janet Freeman)

Adding to the mystery is that none of Calibet's belongings have been recovered.

Cutwright's husband, who is Calibet's brother, Oliver Calibet, arrived in Greece Friday to help with the search, which has been slow, and time is of the essence, she said.

"We’re almost on three days here," his brother Oliver Calibet told Fox 11 in Los Angeles. "There’s no water… I’m very distraught."

Amorgos is a remote island with a population of less than 2,000 people, said Leon. 

"It's 30 miles from (the Greek island of) Santorini, which is the nearest place with an airport," she said. "They can't get the resources there to help (with) the search."

Calibet's disappearance came as the island faced a "severe high temperature warning" with extreme heat that was expected to last through June 13, per The Telegraph. 

It also occurred days after popular British TV presenter Michael Mosley was found dead in Greece on June 9 after setting out on a hike on June 5. Eleftherios Papakalodoukas, the mayor of Symi — where Mosley went missing — said his body was found face-up against a fence and appeared to have fallen down a steep slope.  

The mayor of tourism on Amorgos said that Calibet has traveled to the island every year for about a decade - "It is strange because he is not a person who walked the route for the first time," he told the Greek Reporter. (Fox 11)

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Calibet's friends and family are imploring anyone with resources like drones and flashlights to help Greek authorities in their search. 

"We don't want to do life without Albert so we've got to find him," Cutright said. 

Fox News Digital's Christina Coulter contributed to this report.