The search for missing Brit Jay Slater has dramatically been halted in mountains in the north-west of Tenerife - and switched to the other side of the island.
Police confirmed the search operation for Jay Slater, 19, has moved to the south of Tenerife - the tourist resorts of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas, near to where the teenager was staying. Since Monday, sniffer dogs and mountain rescue experts had been searching for Jay, an apprentice bricklayer.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said at 12.30pm local time: “The search operation has moved to the south of the island. The search areas are Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas.”
The spokesman wasn’t able to offer any more detail on the reason for the switch but added: “It’s obviously down to information that’s been received as the investigation has progressed. As things stand at the moment the search in the mountainous area near Masca in the north has been halted.”
A map shows the original location of the search - at the other end of the island to where the hunt is now centred (Facebook)Police said this morning they were keeping an open mind on Jay’s mystery disappearance as the third day of a Tenerife mountain search got underway. A Civil Guard spokeswoman in Tenerife said just before 11am local time today, before it emerged a search had begun in the south a 45-minute drive from the Masca area: “We are still searching for the missing man.
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"The search operation is being conducted by the Civil Guard and different units are participating. They include the helicopter unit, the cynological unit which uses dogs, the Greim mountain rescue and intervention unit and citizen security patrols.
“The helicopter unit has one helicopter which has been participating in the search since it began on Monday. We’re not going to talk about the number of officers involved but it’s a large operation.
"The focus area is the area where we were informed the missing man had disappeared which is the narrow valley within the Teno Massif called the Masca Gorge."
Jay, pictured with his mates, went abroad to attend a musical festival (SOLARPIX.COM)
Friends are becoming increasingly concerned for the teen, who is from Lancashire (MEN Media)She added: “When there’s a disappearance police always look at all options and investigate all the possibilities. In this case no hypothesis has been ruled out as you’d expect at the start of any investigation.”
A well-placed source said: "The probability the missing man has lost his bearings and could have suffered an accident in unfamiliar terrain doesn’t mean other possibilities won’t be considered and actively worked on if investigators feel there’s sufficient clues to warrant it.
“That said the large search operation that’s ongoing suggests the idea this person became disorientated is the likely scenario as far as police are concerned, even if no-one is officially saying so at the moment.”
Jay Slater’s friend Lucy Mae, who had flown to Tenerife with him to attend a three-day rave festival, said around the same time she was growing increasingly concerned for his safety as she described his disappearance as “suspicious and weird”.
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