The search for missing Jay Slater in Tenerife has entered its 11th day.
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.
With the case captivating Britain and Spanish police appearing no closer to finding him, The Mirror examines the case.
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Members of a search and rescue team search near the last known location of Jay Slater (PA)Confirmed movements
Monday June 17, 1am : Jay is seen looking worse for wear while partying inside Papagayo nightclub, which closes at 4am, on Veronica's strip in Tenerife's Las Americas party area. Shortly after leaving, he gets in a car with two older British men who drive him to their remote holiday apartment in Masca just over 20 miles away.
7.30am : Jay posts a snapchat photograph of himself holding a cigarette while standing on the steps of the men's holiday rental Casa Abuela Tina.
8am : Jay is seen "walking fast" uphill after leaving the property and asking a local for the time of the next bus to Los Cristianos, an 11 hour walk away.
8.30am : He phones pal Lucy Mae Law, 18, and tells her he is in the middle of nowhere, trying to get home with no water and 1% phone battery.
8.50am : Jay's phone runs out of battery, giving its last location close to Cruz de Hilda viewpoint in Rural de Teno nature reserve.
The search
Sniffer dogs and drones are helping (MEN Media)Jay was reported missing at 9.04am on Monday July 17, prompting police to launch a mountain rescue operation using a helicopter. The search has focused on three separate ravines across an 18-mile area, including Masca gorge and has involved a multi-agency response, with police, fire and mountain rescue officers all working together.
They have also been assisted by drones and sniffer dogs, including some brought in specially from Madrid. Jay's friends and his family have also joined the search alongside local volunteers and British tourists. The search has even been joined by TikTok sleuths, who do not know or have any connection to Jay.
The family, the fund and the TV investigator
Tens of thousands of pounds have been raised for the family (gofundme)Jay's mum Debbie Duncan, 55, flew to Tenerife on Tuesday morning after police knocked on her door in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, at 2.30am and told her Jay was missing. She is now on the island with Jay's dad Warren, 58, and Jay's older brother Zak, 24, as well as a number of other family members and friends, including Rachel Hargreaves, who has been running a Facebook page pleading for information.
Warren Slater and brother Zak have been helping with the search by going door-to-door asking locals on the island for information and putting up missing posters. A GoFundMe, titled 'Get Jay Slater home' was set up by Jay's pal Lucy has so far raised more than £36,000 and is set to be used to help with their accomodation costs and other expenses.
British Detective Mark Williams-Thomas (Stan Kujawa)The family are also being helped by former British police detective Mark Williams-Thomas, 54, who is conducting his own investigation into Jay's disappearance. Speaking about the family while giving a press conference on Wednesday, he said: "They are an incredibly united family. They are all very focused in terms of obviously finding Jay."
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The sightings
Police moved their attention to Los Cristianos and Las Americas on day three of the search after a man believed to be Jay was seen getting out of a taxi in the area. However, it turned out to be a false sighting.
Earlier this week Jay's family shared a photo of a possible new sighting of him walking next to a church in Santiago del Teide, four miles downhill from the mountain village of Masca where he had last been seen. The grainy image was captured by a webcam at 6pm on Monday last week – 10 hours after the 19-year-old’s last confirmed sighting.
A grainy sighting of the teenager (MEN)
British TikToker Paul Arnott has joined the search for missing Jay Slater (downtherapids/Instagram)Family members believe the webcam footage may well be of Jay as they say the person in it walks in the same style as him. Santiago del Teide’s mayor Emilio Jose Navarro has also revealed that several people in the resort town of Los Gigantes have told police they believe they saw Jay celebrating at a bar while watching the Euros.
He said: “Police have interviewed people who could have seen him. Some think they saw him celebrating in a bar during the Euro matches. Police are studying CCTV images."
The wild theories
Conspiracy theories and wild rumours have raged since Jay's disappearance, including he may have been kidnapped, taken by wild animals, people-trafficked to Morocco and even he faked his own death to escape alleged debts. It has bizarrely been claimed the disappearance has been set up to con the public out of money and his mum Debbie is the half-sister of Karen Matthews, who was jailed in 2008 for faking the kidnapping of her daughter Shannon.
Even crackpot conspiracy theorist David Icke has waded in, claiming Jay's friend Lucy Mae Law, who he phoned shortly before he vanished "doesn’t exist”. Debbie believes Jay has been taken against his will. She received a message on Snapchat stating "Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money."
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