JAY Slater's devastated mum has revealed a huge development in the search for the missing teen.
Debbie Duncan, speaking from Tenerife, said her son may have been spotted with two men some ten hours after he was last seen on Monday morning in the remote village of Masca.
She revealed a witness went to cops and claimed to have seen Jay sitting on a bench with the pair of men 3.5 miles away in Santiago del Teide.
The heartbroken mum said she now fears "something untoward" has happened to the teen.
Debbie told Mail Online: "Someone has come forward to say they saw someone who they thought was Jay walking back down the road sat on a bench.
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"He was with two men looking a bit worse for wear, and they were by a church, this guy has come forward and told the police about it and they are looking into it.
It comes as...
- Bombshell new vid shows Jay at a rave hours being he vanished
- Pics show Airbnb teen partied at before going missing
- Jay was spotted 'walking alone' into mountains by Airbnb owner
- Jay's mum was sent a message saying "kiss goodbye to your son" amid family fears he's been kidnapped
- She gave a tearful plea and said "I just want my baby back"
- Cops searched the teen's hotel room in Tenerife for clues
- Brit cops offered to fly out and help but Spanish officials said no
- Jay’s mum slammed the Tenerife police investigation
"We don't know if it was Jay for sure, but it's a start."
Debbie, 55, has been in Tenerife since Tuesday helping with the massive police search for her 19-year-old son.
She revealed that the fresh sighting pinpoints Jay's possible movements to 6pm on Monday - some 10 hours after his missing persons report was filed.
The worried mum said: "They said it was about 6pm which is ten hours after he was seen by the lady in the village.
"But if it was him what was he doing there and who are these two men?"
She added: "All I know is that I am going to stay here for as long as it takes, I'm not going home unless it's with Jay. I'm not going anywhere until they find him."
He was with two men looking a bit worse for wear, and they were by a church, this guy has come forward and told the police about it and they are looking into it
Debbie Duncan, Jay's mum
Cops have yet to confirm the new sighting of the missing teen.
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It comes as rescue efforts have turned their focus to an area known locally as "the badlands", scouring a 2,000ft ravine in a remote park.
Pictures from the scene show cops, firefighters, volunteers and sniffer dogs scanning the desolate Teno Nature Reserve, Jay's last known location.
Locals and experts have warned of the treacherous conditions in the area - where the air is "thin", temperatures change rapidly and the mountains drop sharply to the water below.
Jay's mum Debbie today slammed the investigation into her son's disappearance for not allowing British cops to contribute.
On Friday Lancashire Constabulary offered to help Spain's Guardia Civil in their efforts to find the teenager.
But local police rejected the bid and insisted they have the "resources" required to find him.
The mum also told The Guardian she spent eight hours in a police station as they revealed plans for ramping up the rescue effort.
Former Met Police officer Peter Bleksley told The Sun on Sunday: "The Tenerifan police will be keen to maintain a missing person narrative.
“Policing is all about control. We've seen the resources rolled out. With another force involved it leads to even more speculation."
On Monday morning around 8am, Jay made a frantic phone call to pal Lucy Law to tell her he was stranded in the "middle of nowhere".
He said he had cut his leg on a cactus, was thirsty and was about to embark on an 10-hour trek home.
The panicked phone call was the last anyone had heard of him.
A missing persons report was filed at around 9am that morning - sparking a round-the-clock hunt.
It was later revealed that the Lancashire teen was last seen by the owner of an Airbnb where he had stayed on Sunday evening.
Ophelia, the owner of the holiday rental Casa Abuela Tina, said she saw him walking off on his own uphill in the vast mountainous area near Masca.
Ophelia told MEN: "It’s dangerous walking around here, it’s easy to lose yourself. He walked up the road when I saw him for the last time.
"He was alone. He was walking normally, though he was fast."
It is understood the Airbnb was rented by the two men Jay went back with after the closing night of NRG festival on Sunday.
Amid family fears that something "untoward" has happened to Jay, his friend Lucy also raised concerns, dubbing his disappearance "weird and suspicious".
She said: "The thing I find the most weird about this is the fact that there's nobody that's seen him.
"He would never have his family worrying like this - he would never have us worrying like this.
"If he saw someone, the first thing he would do is say 'I need to ring my mum' - I know that for a fact."
TREACHEROUS CONDITIONS
Today police efforts are spread across 30 kilometres in and around the Masca area where Jay was last seen.
A local car rental owner has spoken out about the perilous environment where efforts are concentrated.
Andrew Knight, who runs Sanasty Car Hire Tenerife, has lent his vehicles to help in the hunt.
He told The Mirror: “You’re up there, it’s very thin air, you’ve got cloud around.
“It does go very cold at night, especially with the thin air and the wind chill. It would be pretty cold if you were up there without jumpers and jackets and things.”
Jonathan Stones, who moved to Tenerife more than two decades ago at 13, said the Teno Nature Reserve is one of the island’s most inhospitable spots.
He told The Sun: “Where Jay was last located through his mobile phone is where he stands the least chance of survival.
“The desolate landscapes around the island’s holiday hotspots are referred to as ‘malpais’ by locals — a word that translates into English as ‘bad land’.”
Vicente Infante, from the Tenerife Mountain Federation, previously warned of the dangers of hiking there without proper gear.
He said: "What happens nowadays is that many people go with normal trainers, shorts, shirts… that's where the risks are.
"More and more people are going, so sooner or later an accident will happen. It's inevitable."
