JAY Slater's devastated mum has said vicious trolls are comparing her to Karen Matthews, a woman dubbed "Britain's worst mum".
Debbie Duncan flew out to Tenerife after her son vanished on Monday and has described his disappearance as a "living nightmare".
Jay's family have had to endure an onslaught of vile messages and bogus theories from trolls online after the teen disappeared on holiday with his friends.
Debbie Duncan, 55, has now said: “People are calling me out on social media saying why aren’t you up there, you’re the new Karen Matthews.
“I just can’t face it.”
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Matthews made headlines in 2008 when she cooked up a sickening plot with relative Michael Donovan to make money off her daughter's fake kidnapping.
For a month she made repeated appeals for help finding her nine-year-old daughter Shannon, who was all along drugged and tied up inside the base of a bed at Donovan's home.
Hundreds of neighbours joined the search for Karen’s daughter which cost West Yorkshire Police £3.2 million and lasted 24 days.
Matthews and Donovan devised the plan to claim £50,000 in reward money for finding Shannon.
Since Jay, an apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire, vanished in northern Tenerife on Monday, over half a million people have joined a Facebook group called 'Jay Slater Missing'.
Family, friends and even former girlfriend's of Jay have flown out to holiday island to help in the mammoth search.
It comes as...
- Jay's mum gave a tearful plea and said "I just want my baby back"
- Owner of Airbnb where Jay stayed saw him "walking fast" up a dangerous ravine
- 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
- A possible new sighting of Jay placed him 3.5 miles away from where he vanished with two men
- The missing teen's dad and brother visited the search site
A go fund me page set up to support the family's costs has raised almost £29,000 in a matter of days.
Mum Debbie Duncan, speaking away from the scene, said: “I’m just exhausted. I’m still hopeful. I’m not feeling negative just yet. I know it’s five days.
“It’s not just that they’ve said absolutely not. I don’t know what it’s been like today because I’ve been advised to stay away because I would just break down.
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“My boy might be just up there somewhere. We’re all devastated. He’s just a normal boy from a little town in Lancashire. These things don’t happen.
“I was in touch with him while he is in Tenerife. He was just holidaying away, he’d saved up and was looking forward to it.
“I’ve not slept for five days. My brain isn’t functioning well and I’m tired and exhausted.”
WHAT HAPPENED TO JAY?
Jay, 19, vanished on Monday while on holiday with two friends for the 2024 Tenerife NRG festival.
On Sunday evening he had gone to a rave with those two friends, Lucy and Brad, but left with two new people he'd just met.
After going back to their accommodation in in Rural de Teno park, Jay missed the bus home on Monday morning and was faced with a 10-hour walk.
He made a panicked phone call to Lucy Law to tell her he was lost in the middle of nowhere, his phone was about to die and he needed water.
That was the last anyone had heard of him and at around 9am a missing persons report was filed, sparking the huge rescue operation.
Jay's devastated mum Debbie Duncan, who flew out on Tuesday, sobbed as she begged for help to find her missing son.
She told ITN in an emotional interview on Wednesday: "It's just an absolute living nightmare. It's like a dream - it's like it's not happening."
On Saturday a tearful Warren Slater, Jay's dad, said "I just want my boy back" as he overlooked the search area with his other son Zak.
It was revealed on Friday that the Lancashire teen was last seen by the owner of the Airbnb where he had stayed on Sunday evening.
Ophelia, the owner of the holiday rental Casa Abuela Tina, said she saw him "walking fast" up a dangerous ravine in the vast mountainous area near Masca.
Rescue efforts turned their focus on Friday to an area known by locals as "the badlands", scouring a 2,000ft ravine in the remote de Teno park.
Locals and experts warned of the perilous conditions in the area - where the air is "thin", temperatures change rapidly and the mountains drop sharply to the water below.
As the search enters its seventh day today temperatures are expected to hit as high as 29 degrees.
The UV rating also sits at "extreme" with a figure of 11 and 12 peaking at around 1pm - anything over 11 is classed as extreme and dangerous.
On Friday Lancashire Constabulary offered to help Spain's Guardia Civil in their efforts to find the teenager.
But Tenerife police rejected the bid and insisted they have the "resources" required to find him.
Jay's mum Debbie then slammed the investigation into her son's disappearance for not allowing British cops to contribute.
The mum also told The Guardian she spent eight hours in a police station as they revealed plans for ramping up the rescue effort.
Two new pieces of information came to light on Saturday - including a possible sighting of Jay after he vanished.
Debbie told Mail Online that a witness went to cops and claimed to have seen Jay sitting on a bench with the pair of men 3.5 miles away from his last known location in Santiago del Teide.
Pictures from Santiago del Teide show the church and bench that Jay was allegedly seen sitting on.
The heartbroken mum said she fears "something untoward" has happened to the teen.
And a shocking new picture of the teen showed him wading through a packed rave hours before he vanished on Sunday night.
