Who is Jay Slater? Full timeline of teen's disappearance in Tenerife

24 June 2024 , 15:23

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The 19-year-old from Lancashire went missing after a music festival in Tenerife

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Timeline of Jay Slater's disappearance

Sunday June 16

Jay attended the NRG (New Rave Generation) music festival in the southwest of the island with his friends, including mate Lucy Mae Law.

At 8:35pm, he posted a video of himself laughing with his pals on Snapchat.

He befriended two other British festival-goers, who invited him to come back to their holiday rental.

Monday June 17

At some point in the night between Sunday and Monday morning, Jay left with the two Brits.

He partied at their Airbnb accommodation near the village of Masca in the Teno Rural Park, posting a Snapchat picture of himself holding a cigarette at 7:30am.

Jay reportedly told those at the property that he wanted to go home, and was informed that there was a bus every 10 minutes going to Los Cristianos, where he was staying.

The owner of the Airbnb later saw him heading uphill, stating: "He was alone. He was walking normally, though he was walking fast."

Jay was likely unaware that the route would take about 10 hours to walk.

At 8:30am, he phoned his friend Lucy and told her he had missed the bus and was lost in the "middle of nowhere".

He added that he had been walking for about half an hour, needed water, had cut his leg on a cactus and only had 1% of battery left on his phone.

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The call then cut out — it's last ping was still in the mountainous Teno Rural Park.

A missing persons report was filed at 9:00am and the search for Jay was launched with drones, sniffer dogs and a helicopter.

Lucy headed to the area where Jay was last seen and was driven around by a woman who offered to help with the frantic search.

Tuesday June 18

At around 2:00am, police knocked on the door of Jay's mum, Debbie Duncan, and informed her of his disappearance.

She flew out to Tenerife at 7:00am along with Jay's older brother, Zak.

Later that day, Debbie was bombarded with prank calls from people claiming to have kidnapped her son, while her partner said he believed Jay had just taken a wrong turn.

Wednesday June 19

A huge development was believed to have occurred when Spanish police received reports of a sighting of Jay in Los Cristianos.

The investigation moved to the south of Tenerife, but the sighting was found to be false and the search was forced to return north to the area around Masca.

Cops also searched Jay's room in Los Cristianos but found nothing untoward; his passport, money and clothes were all as he had left them.

Jay's mum gave a heart-wrenching interview, saying: "I just want my baby back."

She said: "It's just an absolute living nightmare. It's like a dream — it's like it's not happening, it really is. I wouldn't wish this on anybody."

Lucy Law also spoke out and dubbed the situation "suspicious and weird".

Thursday June 20

New footage emerged from the NRG festival where Jay could be seen.

The film, taken by another rave attendee showed Jay walking through the crowd of clubbers with sunglasses on his head.

Friday June 21

The operation focused on the 2,000ft Masca ravine, which is 3km long and has a steep hiking trail that goes into the sea.

Lancashire Constabulary offered to assist in the search but the Guardia Civil declined, saying they already had sufficient resources.

This decision was criticised by Jay's mum, who had spent eight hours in a police station that day.

The mystery acquaintances who he had stayed with flew back to the UK.

I just want my baby back

Debbie DuncanJay Slater's mother

Saturday June 22

Reports came in of a possible sighting of Jay in Santiago del Teide, a village about 3.5 miles away from Masca.

A witness claimed to have seen Jay and two men sitting on a bench outside a church at about 6:00pm on the Monday — some 9 hours after the missing persons report had been filed.

The revelation of the unconfirmed sighting came as Jay's dad, Warren Slater, visited the search area.

Friends of the missing man also spoke out to slam online trolls who had apparently hacked Jay's Instagram account.

Sunday June 23

The investigation entered its seventh day as search teams honed in on outbuildings in the area and a journalist who had worked on the Madeline McCann case reached out to the Slater family to offer help.

A GoFundMe page set up by Lucy Law surpassed its goal of £30,000.

Monday June 24

Grainy CCTV footage surfaced from Santiago del Teide showing a figure walking past the village church around the time of the last reported sighting.

Jay's family shared a still from the video, claiming that it has a likeness to him.

In an emotional plea, Debbie Duncan said: "I really hope I am not taking my son home in a body bag."

Jay Slater's dad Warren, 55, told The Sun: “I just want him to be found. I just want my son back, end of. 

“What more is there, it’s been a week now, a week of nothing. So somebody somewhere must’ve found out something. Somebody.

“It is a living hell, unless you’re going through it, you cannot explain.

“Please, please please, if anybody knows anything just come forward and help us."