Spanish police are using helicopters, drones, and specially trained sniffer dogs - but there is still no sign of Jay Slater.
The British teenager, who had been in Tenerife for the three-day NRG festival, went missing on the morning of June 17. He was last located walking from an Airbnb where he had travelled with two British men he had met at the festival - who have since reportedly flown back to the UK.
Jay left the property, located in the northwest mountainous region of Teno Rural Park, on Monday morning after reportedly saying he wanted to get back to his hotel, however missed the bus. With just one per cent battery left on his phone, he called his friend Lucy Law to warn her that he had "no idea" where he was and that he was thirsty, but he was making the gruelling 11-hour trek back to the accommodation.
Ever since, police have been scouring the area of his last registered location, however he is nowhere to be seen. His mum, Debbie Duncan, and other family members have flown out to the Canary Island to join the desperate hunt, who have in recent days been accompanied by a leading British detective, along with amateur sleuths.
Key players in search
Emergency services
Police have been focusing on Jay's last registered phone location (Facebook)The Civil Guard is leading the investigation into Jay's disappearance. Staff and volunteers from the local police, fire brigade and civil defence force are using drones and helicopters and as of Tuesday, specially trained sniffer dogs from Madrid. The police said their efforts "are not being scaled back".
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They have focused their efforts on the area where Jay's last mobile phone signal was traced to, in the mountainous region of Rural de Teno Park in the north west of the island, miles away from his hotel in the south of the island. A spokesman for the police in Tenerife confirmed expert dogs and their handlers are out looking for Jay.
They added: "The Civil Guard is continuing with the search operation for the young British man. Several dog trainers and their expert dogs who have transferred from Madrid have joined the search. These dogs are specifically trained in searching for people over large swathes of land."
The local mayor of Santiago de Tiede - the nearest town to Masca where the 19-year-old was last located - Emilio Navarro has said "all our resources" were going into the hunt for missing Jay. He said: "As a father, I understand. All our resources and means are being used to find him."
The Civil Guard is now using specialist dogs from Madrid (BBC)Providing insight into the operation, a fireman involved in the search has told how it is "increasingly strange" that the missing teen hasn't been found yet in Tenerife. Ricardo, from the Brigada Forestal, said how tough the conditions make it to find a missing person.
"It's very difficult to find people here, because of the ravines and the mountains," he said. "I've seen the case and about the missing boy on the internet... but the days are now passing by and it's increasingly strange that he hasn't appeared yet." He continued in an interview with the Manchester Evening News: "The information we have is that Jay [and his friends] were going to a music festival, and afterwards, the last sign of him was around here in the Teno Rural Park. I don't know if he was walking, hiking... I just don't know. That's where I lose the thread."
Family and friends
Mum Debbie Duncan and Jay's brother Zak, 21, flew out to Tenerife the day after he went missing police informed them of his disappearance. Debbie, 55, has vowed to not leave the island until her son is found.
Jay's father, Warren Slater, 58, arrived last week and has been staying in the town of Santiago de Tiede, where he was seen putting up missing posters for his son. The dad has been critical of the Spanish police, saying they have been kept in the dark about the progress of the search. Frustrated by what he described as a lack of communication, he said: "Nobody's told us - the mountain police brilliant, but I don't know how the other police [force] works.
Jay's brother Zac and dad Warren (Stan Kujawa)"They could be doing everything but if they are doing [something], they're not telling us what they're doing, if you understand what I'm saying." Jay's friends have also been up in the mountains in a bid to find their pal.
Lucy said she joined the major search operation, "driving around all day with no trace of him". She drove around the area until she found the Airbnb, using the mountains and flower beds from his Snapchat photo as markers to locate it.
"We managed to find the house," she said. "I knocked on the door and there were two people there." The occupants told Lucy how Jay had gone out for a cigarette before going back in and saying he wanted to go home. "They told me he'd spoken to the next-door neighbours and they'd told him there was a bus every 10 minutes back down to Los Cristianos," said Lucy.
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"The bus stop was right next to the house. So obviously if he'd gone to get the bus he wouldn't have got lost because it [the stop] was visible from the front door." Raising questions about the pals Jay met at the festival, Lucy said: "The two boys that he was last with have left the country. They need to be questioned by British police."
Lucy said she drove around 'all day' to try and find her pal on the day he disappeared (facebook)
Jay left the Airbnb on Monday morning (Stan Kujawa)Sharing similar suspicions, another friend claimed: "We've been told the two guys Jay was last with are from Luton. One is known by the nickname Johnny Vegas. We're sure they know something.
"The island police say they have copies of their passports, but we've been told they flew back to Gatwick yesterday." Detailing their desperate attempt at finding Jay, they added: "We drove all round the ravine yesterday for 12 hours and we're getting out shouting and screaming Jay's name, but we couldn't find anything."
In recent days, more of Jay's friends have travelled out to Tenerife to join in with the search efforts, attending Sunday's mountain visit. Alongside three pals, Jay's ex-girlfriend Jessica Ingham is now also on the island.
UK police
Lancashire Police have offered to help in the search (Stan Kujawa)Friend Lucy Law has also been critical of the Spanish police and said they were "not doing a good job" as she called on British police to intervene. However, the Guardia Civilia declined an offer of help from Lancashire Police.
Lucy said: "We are having to do this all by ourselves as Spanish police are not doing a good enough job. They don't even speak English. It's been a very slow process here so we need the British police to come out and help them."
A Lancashire constabulary statement said: "Whilst this case falls outside the jurisdiction of UK policing, we have made an offer of support to the Guardia Civil to see if they need any additional resources. They have confirmed that at this time they are satisfied that they have the resources they need, but that offer remains open and they will contact us should that position change."
Private investigator
Mark Williams-Thomas outside the holiday rental where Jay Slater was last seen in Masca (Stan Kujawa)Leading British detective Mark Williams-Thomas has flown over to Tenerife to help the family and has hit the ground running on how he plans to find Jay. Mr Williams-Thomas, an experienced investigator who worked on the disappearance of Nicola Bully, says he is working closely with Jay's family in Tenerife to build a detailed timeline of the teenager's last steps.
The former cop was yesterday seen carrying out inquiries at the holiday rental where Jay was last seen last Monday. Approached outside the property, Mr Williams-Thomas told the Mirror: "I don't want to talk in detail at the moment, but I've spent time with the family and my focus now is to build a clear timeline of the last 24 hours before Jay disappeared.
"My focus is very much to ensure that I'm here to support the family and work with the Spanish authorities to get answers. I would quickly be able to establish whether or not there are suspicious circumstances - but I'd need total access to everything and to speak to all the witnesses involved."
Mr Williams-Thomas previously said he would get answers on Jay Slater "in three days" as he offered to join Spanish police in Tenerife urgently. He said: "Having feet on the ground and looking at the scenario and circumstances, I know I will get to the bottom of this in three days. If the family work with me, I will get the answers. It is crucial for the family. It is difficult for them, dealing with foreign police who handle it differently."
New footage and expansion
Jay Slater search team releases new footage from helicopters searching 600-metre ravinesBrand new footage released by police shows helicopters circling 'treacherous' mountains and sniffer dogs scouring the area of Tenerife where British teenager Jay Slater disappeared. The Civil Guard, leading the investigation, revealed the search area being probed to find missing Jay had been expanded, with specialist dog teams drafted in from Madrid.
It announced that rescue teams extended the 'immense' search area, previously said to be around 30km wide focusing on three main ravines. The Civil Guard later released brand new, dramatic footage of the search efforts. It showed helicopters continuing to hover over the mountainous landscape, as sniffer dogs were also seen being walked through the area.
The post, shared on X by the Civil Guard, said: "We continue with the search for the young British man who disappeared in Tenerife Different civil guard units from the area are participating, joined by agents, with their dogs specialised in searching for people, from Madrid."
Amateur sleuths
Thousands of miles away from the comfort of their own homes, a group of online sleuths are conducting their own investigation. They have been scouring Google maps, tracking the area where Jay was last located, and posting wild conspiracy theories online.
Jay's family have raised concern about the interest his case has seen, fearing that the online "noise" could even hamper the investigation. Other sleuths have even flown out to join the search thinking they could be of use, including mountaineer Paul Arnott, 29, of Flitwick, Bedfordshire.
He described his role in the search operation through ravines as like "looking for a needle in a haystack". He told the BBC: "You cannot believe how steep and big an area it is until you get out here. I thought there would be more people searching, though." Paul, who is sharing clips on TikToks as he makes his way around the search area, told Sky News: "I was following the story and I wasn’t planning to come out but as soon as I heard they needed help, that’s when I came out."
Paul has been joined by another British TikToker, Andrew Knight, who is a lifestyle blogger. He has arrived to the island armed with a drone in a bid to help locate Jay.
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