JAY Slater's best friend who jetted out to Tenerife with him for their first holiday together is "not coping" with his disappearance.
The 19-year-old has been missing for 12 days - and his loved ones say they are "living the worst nightmare".
Close friends Jay, Lucy Mae and Brad flew out to Tenerife earlier this month to enjoy the three-day NRG festival.
But on the morning of June 17, Jay vanished and has not been seen or heard from since.
His pals Lucy and Brad have stayed on the island as they join the desperate bid to find any trace of their friend.
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Brad's mum, Rachel Hargreaves, said her son is "not really coping" with Jay's disappearance.
She and Brad have vowed to stay in Tenerife for "as long as it takes" to support Jay's distraught family.
Ms Hargreaves, from Accrington, Lancashire, has also slammed online trolls peddling vile conspiracy theories and posting malicious comments.
The mum, 34, has been targeted relentlessly by key-board bashers after agreeing to run an online Facebook group for Jay's family, which now has almost 600,000 members.
She told BBC: "We’re living the worst nightmare you can live and this does not help.
"You can’t put into words how you feel. I’m just here trying to support and be strong for her [Jay's mum Debbie].
"The things she can’t do I am trying to do for her, mother-to-mother.
“We have become a lot more closer friends since this.
"We’d always chatted about Jay and Brad, we were just caring mothers who wanted to make sure they were safe."
After going to a rave that finished in the early hours of June 17, apprentice bricklayer Jay headed to Masca with two British men he had met that night.
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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.
It comes as...
- Deluge of tip-offs flooding in for Jay appeal
- Search for Jay hones in on series of caves
- GoFundMe page for his family hits £40,000
- Crews fear he won't be found alive if he vanished in mountains
- Tenerife worst place to go missing, expert warned before Jay went missing
- 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
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 drones, sniffer dogs, helicopters, and dozens of on the ground emergency crews.
Rescue crews had been scouring a 2,000ft ravine in the mountainous terrain.
They have now shifted their focus to caves near Los Carrizales - around an hour and a half on foot from the Airbnb Jay went to with two men.
Los Carrizales is a small hamlet not far from Masca in the Teno mountains.
But police sources have warned that it is "very unlikely Jay has survived if he got lost in the mountains".
Yet authorities have said there are no plans to put a stop to the search yet, despite no signs of the 19-year-old.
It comes as the GoFundMe page set up for Jay's family today hit £40,000.
The teen's mum Debbie Duncan yesterday revealed she would be withdrawing some of the donations to fly supporters out to Tenerife
Distraught Debbie, 55, said cash would also be used to help search teams scouring the island's north for her son, who has been missing for 12 days.
The family will use some of the money to cover their accommodation and food while in Tenerife as well.
Some 3,600 well-wishers have donated to the page, so far raising £40,065 - more than £10,000 over its target.
