Cops looking Jay Slater discover a lacking Brit who was ‘disoriented’ in identical space
Spanish police searching for missing Jay Slater have found another Brit who got “tired and disoriented” in the same area.
Locals alerted the officers after becoming concerned for the 51-year-old and they broke off their hunt for the British teenager to start looking for the walker.
Cops said overnight after locating the unnamed man and helping him out of the gorge near the spot where Jay was last seen just over a week ago that he would never have made it to safety alone.
READ MORE: Missing Jay Slater ‘spotted’ on CCTV hours after Tenerife disappearance
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(Image: PA)
A spokesman for local police employed by the Buenavista del Norte town hall, the municipality which the village of Masca in north-west Tenerife near Jay’s last-known location is part of, said: “Officers acting alongside a Civil Protection mountain rescue team have helped rescue a Scottish hiker aged 51 in the Asomada Gorge in the Los Carrizales neighbourhood.
“Local residents saw how the hiker went into an area of difficult access which was not suitable for transit early in the morning and had yet to return to his starting point several hours later.
“They alerted officers who were at that moment involved in the search for young Jay Slater. He was found tired and disorientated by the officers and the rescue team who helped him out of the gorge.”
(Image: MEN Media)
The spokesman added: “We want to thank the local residents who alerted us to this situation because the difficulty of the terrain and lack of phone cover in the area meant this hiker would not have been able to get out alone and without the help he received.”
The rescue happened last Friday but local police only went public with the news late last night. The officers involved have been assisting the Civil Guard, a different police force which is leading the search operation for Jay, alongside firefighters and Civil Protection workers.
Eva Maria Garcia Herrera, mayoress of the municipality of Buenavista del Norte, said soon after the search got underway at the start of last week: “Local police employed by the town hall are assisting but it’s the Civil Guard that are leading this search and investigation and there’s not a lot more I can say.
(Image: PA)
“The area they’re covering is a very large area that includes all the Teno Massif where there’s mountains. The focus area appears to be Masca and Carrizales and they’ve got drones up trying to establish why this lad might be. Masca is surrounded by mountains and what might be a bit strange is why he’s ended up in the Masca area but I can’t speculate or offer any hypotheses because I haven’t got up-to-date information about the investigation.
“We’re obviously hoping this has a happy ending. It’s not nice that a young man gets lost in our municipality and we hope he can be found soon and that he’s well and can be reunited as soon as possible with his loved ones.”
Jay Slater, 19. from Lancashire was reported missing a week ago (June 17) after he called his friend Lucy, telling her he was lost in a rural area of the island with only 1% battery left on his phone.
His last known location was half a mile north of Masca village. Despite ongoing efforts by emergency workers, including the Civil Guard, mountain rescue team and fire crews, the challenging terrain of the Rural de Teno park is proving difficult to search.
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