21 June 2024 , 20:47
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The mother of missing Brit Jay Slater says online "noise" and speculation about her son's disappearance has began to frustrate police in Tenerife.
The teenager vanished shortly after he told his friend that he was going to start an 11-hour walk back to his hotel after he missed the bus on Monday. He shared that he only had 1 per cent phone battery at the time. Local authorities have launched a manhunt for the 19-year-old which is underway, as his family report that he still hasn't be found on the fifth day of the search.
However, his mother Debbie Duncan, says that the police have "stepped up" in a bid to find him, but are concerned that online sleuths could affect the case. The search for Jay, who is from Lancashire, has sparked widespread help across the north west of the Spanish island.
Debbie flew overseas the day after her son went missing (ITV News)Debbie is hoping to help in anyway that she can and earlier flew out to Tenerife with other friends and family to assist the investigation. She told Manchester Evening News: “We’ve been there [the police station] all day today, and I think it’s been stepped up. We’ve had a problem with the language barrier.
"It’s difficult with all the Spanish police and British police; they have to let the Spanish police do the investigation. They [the police] have actually said that there’s too much noise - that’s affecting it. They’ve got all the plans, their locations. They have got this map they were showing us, all shaded in different colours.”
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An intense search operation is underway (Stan Kujawa)The vast search area - around 30km - focuses on three main areas, Masca Gorge, La Vica, and Las Portelas. Along with the dangerous landscape, leading to helicopters and drones being deployed, hot and extremely dry conditions reaching up to 25C also make the search all the more challenging. Civil defence teams were seen planning new areas to combat, using binoculars to map out the next phase in their efforts throughout the afternoon.
Search teams have been looking in the north west of the island (BBC)Civil Defence officers at the search base explained how the vast area was split up into three different ravines and is around 30km wide. Explaining they were doing "everything we can", a member of the team said: "We still have hope that he's alive, up until the last moment when the last hope is lost. The truth is that we feel a bit frustrated because we can't find him. It's so big [here] that it's very difficult to search in such a steep area. But we're doing everything we can."