POLICE hunting for Jay Slater in Tenerife fear it is unlikely he will be found alive if he got lost in the mountains.
Authorities on the island are pushing on with the search for the 19-year-old, who vanished 11 days ago.
Cops say there is no talk yet of halting the search despite growing concerns they will find a body.
The Civil Guard which has been leading the operation near the village of Masca where the teenager was last seen said today it was continuing as normal.
More sniffer dogs trained in searching for people over large expanses of land were flown in from Madrid and incorporated into the operation on Tuesday.
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A spokesman said: “The Civil Guard is continuing to search for the young British man who disappeared, carrying out inspections of all the paths, trails and ravines belonging to the village of Masca within the municipality of Buenavista del Norte."
The force also released footage showing officers moving on foot through some of the rough and remote terrain.
Other cops could be seen carrying out aerial inspections in the Civil Guard helicopter.
A well-placed source added: “No-one at the moment is talking about the search being brought to an end, even though it’s very unlikely Jay has survived if he got lost in the mountains in the way we were told he did.
“There will be a point when the operation that’s taking place at the moment has to at least be scaled back but right now the search teams appear to have decided they want to give themselves more time.”
After going to a rave that finished in the early hours of June 17, Jay headed to Masca with two British men he had met that night.
He shared a final Snapchat from their Airbnb of a hand holding a cigarette at 7.30am.
Jay then tried to make his way back to his holiday accommodation - an 11 hour walk away.
But at around 8.50am he made a final frantic call to friend Lucy, telling her he was lost in the "middle of nowhere" with no water and had just one per cent battery on his phone.
It sparked a mammoth search operation involving helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs that has so far drawn blanks.
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Rescue crews have been focusing their efforts on the 2,000ft Masca ravine in the north, where his phone last pinged a nearby cell tower.
Police have described the area they are scouring north of the Masca Gorge as "immense".
A local woman called Anita warned it can take "months" to find any trace of a missing person in Tenerife.
She said tourists vanish every summer and rescue teams draw blanks as the "mountains are too difficult to search."
It comes as The Sun today reported how cops in Tenerife were warned over a soaring number of disappearances before Jay vanished.
It comes as...
- Jay's mum Debbie withdrawing GoFundMe cash to fly supporters out to Tenerife
- Ex-top cop who tracked down Raoul Moat reveals search theory
- Jay was attacked by gang when he was just 12
- New pics of Jay emerge at a pool party two days before he vanished
- Cops quiz locals who 'saw Jay watching Euros'
- Investigator reveals descriptions of two men who partied with teen
- Crews scour exact spot where mystery 'grainy figure' was seen
- Tenerife cops plan TV appeal as they hunt for clues
- Pals blast conspiracy theorists and TikTok sleuths
- Jay's mum says she's 'barely slept'
Authorities were told two years ago their resources were insufficient and were urged to improve them after repeated failures.
Jay, 19, is one of 11 people who have gone missing in Tenerife in just six months.
The coordinator of SOS Disappeared in Tenerife, Santiago Carlos Martín, told how “families feel abandoned" during hunts for their loved ones.
Mr Martín, who leads a group of around 40 volunteers, said: "There are many who have disappeared in the Canary Islands and the number has increased since the pandemic."
He and his team have called for more multidisciplinary teams to be on standby to help with searches.
These would include not only the police, but emergency workers, health experts, psychologists and other professionals who could form a more accurate picture of why someone might have gone missing.
Between 2020 and 2023, official data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior reveals at least 460 adults went missing in that period on the Canary Islands from a population of just 2.2million.
It has the second-highest number of missing people in the whole of Spain.
And that was only behind Span's biggest region of Andalucia which had 755 missing people in the same period from a population four times larger of 8.5million.
Speaking in 2022 Mr Martin said: “There are many disappeared in the Canary Islands and the number has increased after the pandemic.
"We are at the head of the country, and we are not clear why.
"Perhaps the orography or the social structure have an influence, but we don’t know."
Despite an apparent lack of progress in finding Jay, his mum has praised investigators and called on the public to pray for her son.
She told Sky News: "I have every faith in them down on the ground and the amazing searches they are carrying out along with more amazing guys up there.
"As a family we are in a living nightmare. We have no further updates other than Jay is still missing and we are just ignoring the social media side of things."
Today, Debbie revealed she is withdrawing some of the £36,000 worth of donations raised amid the hunt for her son.
She said cash from the GoFundMe page will be used to fly out the "loved ones" of the "wonderful people" who are with her in Tenerife.
Heartbroken Debbie, 55, said money would also go towards the teams on their 11th day searching for Jay, as well as her family's accommodation and food.
She wrote on the page this morning: "We are currently working with GoFundMe to withdraw part of the funds, which are being safely held.
"I wanted to share that these funds will be used to support the mountain rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay.
"Additionally, since our stay in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will also use the funds to cover accommodation and food expenses.
"I'm surrounded by wonderful people who are by my side, but far from their loved ones, so we'll also be using part of these funds to fly them to Tenerife so we can support each other during these dark times."
